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In a far future vaguely post-apocalyptic London, a girl begins to discover that she has more questions than answers. She is the only female in an enclave of Engineers, where she is taught to be rational -- she shaves her head (hair is unnecessary) and does not give in to feelings (instincts are a vestige of humanity’s primitive past, a good Engineer learned to suppress them). When she accepts her first assignment as an Engineer, however, this rational worldview is challenged as events begin to unfold that she cannot explain, and is increasingly uncertain how to respond to... a coming-of-age story filled with adventure, reflection, and the age-old tension between heart and mind. Scholastic Press, $17.99. April 2010.
-- Silvia Mancini, Guest Reviewer

As a shunned witch, Rachel Mariana Morgan is unable to shop in most stores or purchase supplies for her charms. After an altercation in a grocery store with an unidentified witch, Rachel is really in trouble. The soft-spoken witch was a representative of the coven of moral and ethical standards – the coven who arranged to have Rachel shunned. In response to the coven’s threat, Trent has drafted a contract tying Rachel to Kalamack Industries exclusively and forever. Of course, Rachel refuses to sign the document or believe that Trent is trying to help her. Released from FIB headquarters, Rachel is transported by ley line to the west coast and the coven. Without a trial, the witches send her to Alcatraz where she is faced with a chemical lobotomy, a surgical lobotomy, or the removal of her ovaries. How did the coven learn she was both a witch and a demon and that her children would be demons? Pulled out of isolation for a meeting with coven member Brooke, Rachel is transported home – by Nick. Her ex-boyfriend is helping her? Every time Rachel is summoned her plans are altered. The interruptions cause twists and turns which keep the reader guessing. Algaliarept, Rachel’s demon teacher, assigns Gordion Nathaniel Pierce to protect her. A couple of the coven members appear to have their own agenda and it is beginning to look like the coven of moral and ethical standards in neither moral nor ethical. In an attempt to end her shunning and get Trent to leave her alone, Rachel is forced to come up with a questionable and dangerous plan – steal from Trent. With Ivy out of the picture and Nick helping her, Rachel’s nerves are on edge. Personalities clash and verbal slings and arrows abound. I wanted the book to last forever, but unable to put it down, stampeded through the story. Rachel’s escapades in this book surpass the previous books. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next installment. -- Guest Reviewer Sandra Hale

A historical thriller set in Tudor England in 1583, Heresy introduces the erudite and excommunicated Giordano Bruno, a Italian Catholic priest on the run from the Inquisition. The book cover says: "Choose a side, Know your enemies, Stay alive." In the academic setting of Oxford, being ambivalent about religion or having an interest in philosophy or alchemy can be treasonous. It can also be deadly, and as soon as Fra Bruno arrives to debate Copernicus' theories (and on a secret mission for Queen Elizabeth's master spy, Sir Francis Walsingham) a series of grisly, macabre murders commences. The tension between doctrine and science, between the cloistered scholars and newly entitled and enriched students builds to a thrilling climax of good v. evil. The heretic Bruno has to solve the murders in order to save himself and uncover the treasonous plot to save the Queen. The plot is surprisingly thrilling and the details historically accurate. The atmosphere of the cold, dank stone architecture and pedantic academics reminded me of The Name of the Rose. An excellent and intelligent mystery by Parris, a pseudonym for an English journalist. -- sd

Requiem in Vienna is a procedural mystery that takes place in 1899, during Gustav Mahler’s tenure as Court Opera Director in Vienna. Jones, an authority on Vienna, has written a series of excellent books, both nonfiction and fiction, and excels in historical thrillers. An interesting and diverse set of main characters, including lawyer Karl Werthen (newly married to ardent feminist, Berthe Meisner) and visiting criminologist, Hans Gross, become involved in solving a series of incidents surrounding Mahler that turn from accidents into murder. In the tradition of other fin de siecle Viennese stories like The Fig Eater and The Little Book that combine fictional and actual characters, this story includes a scheming Alma Schindler and Arnold Schoenberg. Requiem in Vienna highlights the social tension between Austrian aristocracy and Jewish intelligentisia, as well as the contemporary obsession with music, furniture, art and journalism. There’s plenty of action in the opera house, as many of us fans know, and here we find stage accidents, murdered musicians, crushed singers, poisoned conductors, and artistic envy that provide enough motives to keep all three detectives frantically trying to save Mahler. This is a perfect book for a January winter day -- stay by the fire, drink Viennese coffee, put on Mahler’s 9th Symphony and enjoy a satisfying whodunit. --sd