Santa Olivia [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Jacqueline Carey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 2009

Lushly written with rich and vivid characters, SANTA OLIVIA is Jacqueline Carey's take on comic book superheroes and the classic werewolf myth.





Loup Garron was born and raised in Santa Olivia, an isolated, disenfranchised town next to a US military base inside a DMZ buffer zone between Texas and Mexico. A fugitive "Wolf-Man" who had a love affair with a local woman, Loup's father was one of a group of men genetically-manipulated and used by the US government as a weapon. The "Wolf-Men" were engineered to have superhuman strength, speed, sensory capability, stamina, and a total lack of fear, and Loup, named for and sharing her father's wolf-like qualities, is marked as an outsider.





After her mother dies, Loup goes to live among the misfit orphans at the parish church, where they seethe from the injustices visited upon the locals by the soldiers. Eventually, the orphans find an outlet for their frustrations: They form a vigilante group to support Loup Garron who, costumed as their patron saint, Santa Olivia, uses her special abilities to avenge the town.





Aware that she could lose her freedom, and possibly her life, Loup is determined to fight to redress the wrongs her community has suffered. And like the reincarnation of their patron saint, she will bring hope to all of Santa Olivia.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Departing from epic fantasy (Kushiel's Dart, etc.), Carey sets this powerful near-future tale in Outpost 12, a small town trapped in a œbuffer zone shielding Texas from pandemic-stricken Mexico. Two half-siblings chafing under General Argyle's military rule make very different plans to beat the status quo. Tom, the son of a soldier, lives at the gym, where he trains in boxing and hopes to win his freedom from the town by defeating the general's boxing champion. Loup, who has inherited her escaped father's oddly engineered genes, joins a group of church wards called the Santitos, a tight gang of vigilantes who masquerade as the local saint, Santa Olivia. Carey's fans will enjoy meeting another strong, fearless heroine with special powers, while new readers will appreciate the tight focus that intensifies the depth of character and emotion. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

'Jacqueline Carey has created a postmodern fable of enormous scope and force. Santa Olivia is a cautionary tale of people caught in a web of lies and creeping terror and a love song to the beauty and power of being different. At the novel's heart the the kind of grace Carey is known for: an illumination of the strength that lies hidden inside all of us' - Eric Van Lustbader 'Santa Olivia is a terrific book that is both a romantic romp - and a deep piece of literature that left me breathless and cheering' - Patricia Briggs

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (May 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044619817X
• ASIN: B003P2VDHY
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jacqueline Carey is the author of the New York Times bestselling Kushiel's Legacy series of historical fantasy novels, The Sundering epic fantasy duology, and postmodern fables "Santa Olivia" and "Saints Astray." Carey lives in west Michigan. Although often asked by inquiring fans, she does not, in fact, have any tattoos.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Santa Olivia does not forget... May 21, 2009

By Kelly (Fantasy Literature) TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

_Santa Olivia_ is a coming-of-age story; it's a story about being a misfit; it's a story about an underdog up against towering odds; it's a love story; and it's a hero(ine)'s journey story.

_Santa Olivia_ is set in southern Texas in a bleak, plague-ravaged near future. The military has taken over the area, supposedly to protect the citizens from a shadowy external threat. Poverty and crime are rampant. Into this setting comes Loup, who rises from humble beginnings to become a symbol of hope and freedom for the downtrodden people of the town of Santa Olivia. Caution: you may find yourself cheering aloud! Despite the very different settings, I was sometimes reminded of Donna Gillespie's The Light Bearer as I read Santa Olivia; the two books brought out the same pumping-my-fist-in-the-air impulse in me.

Fans of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel novels will not be surprised that the love story in Santa Olivia is sensual, touching, and bittersweet. Loup and her lover are painfully "real" to me in their trials and tribulations. Both characters have made very specific plans for the future, and both find that their relationship complicates those plans more than they ever imagined.

I should also mention that Carey sets herself a hard task and does it well. One of Loup's special qualities is that she does not feel fear. It can't have been easy to write almost all of the novel from the perspective of someone who simply isn't ever afraid (even when the reader is nailbiting on her behalf)!

I could not put Santa Olivia down, and I highly recommend it. It had me on the edge of my seat, and while I was already a Jacqueline Carey fan, it has given me even more respect for her abilities. This is completely different from anything she's done before, and it's darn good.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Different but good May 13, 2009

By greenlady

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Jacqueline Carey's Santa Olivia is very different from her Kushiel and Sundering series, but is still good. Unlike her other works, which are set on a grand stage with a large cast of characters, Santa Olivia is set entirely in an isolated town trapped in a no-mans-land between Mexico and the United States, created following a flu pandemic that decimated the population and caused the U.S. to take extreme measures.

I found it to be a more intimate novel than her previous works, with fairly simple but gripping plot. The main character, Loup, is fascinating study of what a person would be like if they were born with all the human emotions except fear. Despite the suggested tags, this is not a "werewolf" novel - rather than being outside of society, Lupe is part of the fabric of this damaged town, despite (or perhaps because) of her extraordinary gifts.

Highly recommended!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The start of a new series?!?!?! I sure hope so! May 24, 2009

By K. Carey

Format:Paperback

I go through books like there's no tomorrow. This book, although completely different than the Kushiel's series, was a true pleasure to read and incredibly hard to put down. It goes without saying that the writing was excellent, the character development was true to Jacqueline's style and for being told in one location, it was a true adventure.

What I enjoyed most about this story was the Loup's ability to rise above her gender and circumstances. She was determined and yet conflicted in her resolve to do what she set out to do. It parallel's our own confliction in everyday life to make hard decisions.

In the same way Michael Crichton's books were perfectly setup for the big screen, this could easily be turned into a movie, except with WAY better writing! :)