Customer Reviews

Diana Tregarde Investigates (Children of the Night, Burning Water, & Jinx High)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I discovered Diana Tregarde years ago, but only was ever able to find "Burning Water" and "Jinx High" - the 2nd & 3rd books. So I was so excited to find this volume, that includes all THREE books - "Children of the Night" (the first) and the two previously mentioned. I plan to do individual reviews of each book on their respective pages, so as not to take up too much space here, but if you are a fan of the earlier Anita Blake books, or the new books by Kim Harrison, you will truly enjoy Diana Tregarde. Click on "See all my reviews" if you don't want to search up each individual book to read my review of each specific book.

Diana is a witch and a guardian who is in charge of taking care of any bad things that come her way or else bad things will happen to her. She also writes romances on the side to pay the bills!

The first story Children of the Night has her helping out an old boyfriend and meeting a vampire (which she didn't know really existed until this moment). The vampire is a good guy and they work together to try and save a band group that has been possessed. This story is told from Diana's point of view and she kept referring to things that happened in the past...well, she would hint at them but not come right out and tell the whole story. I found this rather annoying (as I thought we should be told everything!) and I liked the second story Burning Water better because it was told by Mark Valdez, a former college friend and now police officer. He made Diana more likeable that I had thought her in the first story. In Burning Water she is helping him track down a killer or killers who is wiping out the population of Dallas at a fast rate. Diana doesn't find it easy to track down an angry Aztec god who has taken over a human man in Dallas. It was really a good story and fast paced.

The third story is called Jinx High. Diana is called to Oklahoma to help out an old college chum from her Spook Squad days who thinks someone is after his son. This story is told by the high school kids as well as Diana. Some kids have already met their deaths in odd ways and she must find out who the witch is that is destroying the town. She never dreamed it would be a 300 year old witch. There was one annoying thing about this story also (which is why I graded it 4 instead of 5)...the author kept mixing up the name of the main kid. Sometimes he was Deke and sometimes Derek. That should have been caught by the proofreader. It was a little distracting but I liked the book anyway. All 3 stories have some humor also.

I totally agree with the other reviewer in compairing the Diana Tregarde series (all 3 of the books) to Anita Blake(LK Hamilton) and the Hollows (Kim Harrison). I discovered Tregarde first,and really wish that Ms.Lackey hadn't received so much flack about this set, and had continued it. This is an excellent insight to a rich occult world, and will keep you reading throughout the night simply to finish the book.
I can only hope one day that Ms.Lackey will add to the series. But for now, if you're a fan of either of the other mentioned authors, by all means check this set out!
GSL

This is one of these books I could hardly put down. Reality and the supernatural are so well blended that one flows naturally into the other. With the nice details, you get a real sense of place, but the stories move right along. Intriguing characters and clever plotting kept me reading far into the night.

I have read many of Mercedes' books but this is one of my favorite. I like the way she goes through the investigations to really keep the reader right there with Diana. I could barely put it down long enough to eat and sleep. I didn't even want to put it down at work! I can't wait for the next book in this series.

At last, 3 of the Diana Tregarde investigations in one book! I never knew that there was such a thing, but when I saw it, even though I owned the original 3 separate books, I knew I had to have it.

Unlike other typical Heroines, Diana has flaws, and the Author is not afraid to show us what they are. In a totally original fashion, we are shown how one's less fleeting gifts, like faith, can get you through a rough day frought with Gods and falsely reincarnated sorceresses.

If you haven't read it, you really, Really should! Well done Ms Lackey! As with all your works, this stands high above the others in your genre!

I remember picking up "Children of the Night" and falling madly in love with this series. It's still one of my very favorite urban fantasy series, one that I dearly wish that there was more of. The blend of fantasy and reality, of the supernatural and the natural, is so well done that it is just absolutely magnificent!

Fans of Kim Harrison's novels, as well as Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" and the early Anita Blake books by Laurell K. Hamilton, will love this series. Give it a shot!

I have always loved this group of stories. It has sat in my keepers pile since I bought it new in paper back years ago. If you like a good action series about the occult this is the book for you. It has been my personal hope that Ms Lackey will continue the series at some piont, perhaps now is the time. The books are Ms. Lackey at her personal writting best, and the story draws you in and keeps you reading til the end. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Anita Blake, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the Dark hunter fans out there. Ms Lackey did it first and in my opinion set the tone for the this genre that is so popular now.