Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland



Any Given Doomsday is well-written and fast-paced. I found the story to be imaginative, and the characters solid. For anyone interested in the paranormal, fantasy, and stories involving vampires, shape-shifters and other such creatures, this book is for you. The main female character, Liz, finds out early on that all is not what it seems in the world she grew up in, and that those she has been closest to have secrets.



Liz is feisty, strong, and refreshing, and she never gives up even when she discovers she might be the only one able to stop doomsday from happening. As the story evolves, we see her struggle to understand and deal with the changes in herself, and the world around her. Until now, she felt like only she was different, but her encounters with creatures like skin-walkers, fairies and dhampir and other creatures of legend prove that she is not alone.



For an urban fantasy, which is what this book is, I believe it fits the genre quite well and when taken at face value, it is an interesting and involving story. I would willingly read the next books in this series.



There is a short story called "In The Beginning..."that is a prequel to this book, that I was also able to read. It was short (16 pages) and simplistic and did not prepare me for the complexity of "Any Given Doomsday". It's main purpose seemed to be to introduce the reader to Liz's psychic abilities, and to describe the events that led to Liz losing her partner while she was a cop. Although it is nice to have that information, it isn't necessary to the main book.

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