Waiting on Wednesday: Quicksilver by Amanda Quick

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted over at Breaking the Spine.  It highlights books we just can't wait to get our greedy, book loving hands on.

QUICKSILVER by Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz)
Book Two of the Looking Glass Trilogy
Hardcover
On Sale April 19, 2011
The Blurb:

Virginia Dean wakes at midnight beside a dead body, with a bloody knife in her hand and no memory of the evening’s events. Dark energy, emanating from the mirrors lining the room, overpowers her senses. With no apparent way in or out, she is rescued by a man she has met only once before, but won’t soon forget....


Owen Sweetwater inherited his family’s talent for hunting the psychical monsters who prey on London’s women and children, and his investigation into the deaths of two glass-readers has led him here. The high-society types of the exclusive Arcane Society would consider her an illusionist, a charlatan, even a criminal, but Owen knows better. Virginia’s powers are real — and they just might be the key to solving this challenging case.

This is part of the Arcane Society series (and 2nd in the Looking Glass trilogy) that spans Jayne Ann Krentz's three names and genres.  I haven't read the first one in the trilogy yet, but plan to before April.

Review: The Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick

While definitely not one of Quick's better novels, this one did keep me moving fairly briskly through the pages--and did serve up a surprise or two.

I have several complaints about the novel, but primarily, my complaint rests with the characters. I just didn't enjoy either the heroine or hero as much as I usually do with Quick's books. Normally, the plot is secondary to the characters. The heroine is usually quite well developed. The hero is almost always a broody sort. But in this, I felt like I didn't really know that much about either character. They felt shallow to me. Almost overwhelmed by the paranormal and suspense parts of the book. And that disappointed me.

The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick

Amanda Quick aka Jayne Ann Krentz's Arcane Society series is unique. She switches from Victorian to Contemporary settings depending upon which name she uses, but the underlying themes and premises remain the same. Two very different styles dealing with the psychic powers and filled with suspense.

The last Quick installment left me a bit bored. The characters seemed overwhelmed by the themes of psychic power, murder and mayhem. And without strong characters, the plot really doesn't matter. This one brings Quick back to the strong heroes and heroines that made me pick up her books in the first place. Even her earliest historicals had suspenseful plot lines, but over time the heroines had succumbed to a high degree of wimpiness.

So, while not perfect--the suspense was not very suspenseful this time--the Perfect Poison is a vast improvement over previous Quick installments in the Arcane Society series.

If you like your Regency or Victorian historicals without the paranormal or psychic aspects, though, you should avoid this one.