Review "Tracking the Tempest"

Title: Tracking the Tempest (Jane True, #2)
Author: Nicole Peeler
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: July 1st 2010 by Orbit

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and Ryu - Jane's bloodsucking boyfriend - can't let a major holiday go by without getting all gratuitous. An overwhelming dose of boyfriend interference and a last-minute ticket to Boston later, and Jane's life is thrown off course.

Ryu's well-intentioned plans create mayhem, and Jane winds up embroiled in an investigation involving a spree of gruesome killings. All the evidence points towards another Halfling, much to Jane's surprise...


*SPOILER AHEAD*

A few words about the cover first: I LOVE it. Honestly. It´s cute and adorable and original. After you´ve read the book, you once again notice that it´s not random but there are many details depicted that you can also find in the book.


If you´ve read the previous book in the series, you´ll know the Nicole Peeler has put together an incredibly original and funny cast of supernatural creatures you don´t find very often out the in the Urban Fantasy genre.
The story continues only a short while after the events of the last book. Jane is now training her new powers and tries hard to make her relationship woth Ryu work.
As a Valentine´s gift, he sends her a plane ticket so that she can visit him in Boston.
Their relatioship is definetly changing in this book. They still have great sex and they seem really close, but there are the first problems as well. Janes tries to come to terms with the implications of him being a vampire, while Ryu tries his best to convince Jane to stay with him in Boston permanently.
I really thought he was sweet at the very beginning, but throughout the book, he becomes somewhat patronizing. It seemed like he dind´t take Jane serious, even though she was the one helping him most with his case.
Jane is in this book once again great. The inner dialogs between her libido and her reason are always hilarious. I really appreciate that she is afraid, yet she still tries to overcome her fear and act against it. She´s witty, snarky and full of surprises.
The rest of the characters is almost unrivaled. We meet Ryu´s co-workers, including a mother-son vampire duo, a djinn and a satyr; the new bad guy of the book, an ifrit and a very fnny new creature called Brownie (I so want to see more of them and their mysterious connection to Anyan in the next book!). Plus, together with Jane he is just awesome. Hands down.
We also meet some of the charaters we´ve got to know and grwon to love in the first book; Tracey, Grizzie and Iriy the ever horny succubus. And we finally get to see Nell´s real power. o.O
Nicole Peeler succeeds in giving each race and creature her/his very own voice and oddities to create a rich and tightly woven mythology for her book.
Anyan Barghest however remains a mystery, even though we get a few glimpses of his past.
The story is entertaining, amusing and also violent at times, but not as unpredictable as other books I´ve read. I had a huch of who the bad guy(s) really are quite soon. Still the end surprised me. It is an open ending without a major cliffhanger, but enough questions remain unanswred to guarantee for a gread read in the next book.
Favorite Scenes: One of those I enjoyed most was definetly when Grizzie took Jane to her hair stylist. Not only is Grizzies secret revealed, I also almost thought it was me stitting there instead of Jane (I´m very protective of my hair and I don´t trust any stylists at all. Too many bad memories.) Anyan and Jane´s cooking scene also made me chickle really hard. In the end, when a drunk Jane is being brought home by Iris, Nicole Peeler shares a very insightful view of how relationships should or should not work.

So let me sum "Tracking the Tempest" up for you:

one of a kind worldbuilding with some of the most surprising creatures ever - check
a cast of interesting and memorable secondary charaters - check
hot sex - check *grins*
love triangle potential - check
explosive and high adrenaline action - check
absorbing and tightly written story - check

Jup, Tracking the Tempest has all the necessary ingredients for a stay-up-all-night or read-it-in-one-day book!

4.5 out of 5 points from me (I think I´m on a roll here. I seriously haven´t read a book I didn´t like at all in the last four weeks, there were so many great new books in June/July. I hope this trend continues!).

The only bad news I´ve got for you is that the next book in the series, Tempest´s Legacy is coming out in February 2011.
Until then, check out Nicole Peeler´s funny hompage
where I´ve read not too long ago that we can look forward to at least 3 more books after Tempest´s Legacy!