After Dark, After Glow

Romance author Jayne Ann Krentz (writing as Jayne Castle) has created a pair of delightful future-fantasy mystery romance novels: After Dark and its sequel, After Glow. Set on the far-away planet of Harmony, the books feature Lydia Smith, para-archaeologist, Emmet London (Lydia's first consulting client and a man of some mystery), and Fuzz, a dust-bunny (a small, intelligent, predatory animal, native to Harmony).

Following an accident in the catacombs under the ancient, abandoned, City of Old Cadence, Lydia finds herself abandoned by her former friends and colleagues. The "experts" claim this type of accident is too traumatic — Lydia should consider herself lucky not to be permanently confined to a psych ward.

Thanks to these "expert" opinions, claiming she'll never be able to work underground again, Lydia loses her position with the University. She takes a low-end job at a third-rate museum (Shrimpton's Ancient House of Horrors) while planning to go into private consulting work. Her first client, Emmet London, offers more than she bargained for...

I thought both books were terrific — snappy dialog, excellent world-building, and people I'd be happy to know in "real" life. I look forward to the next novel set on Harmony. (Keep an eye out for Ghost Hunter.)

(Disclaimer: the most notable difference between good romance fiction and good fiction of any other kind is that romance fiction invariably contains at least one, fairly explicit, obligatory sex scene. Sadly, these are not suitable for younger readers. Use your own judgement; feel free to skip these pages. (I'd rather go out on the balcony with Fuzz and eat pretzels... :-))

After Dark, After Glow ( in category Books, Movies, Music ) - posted at Sun, 11 Dec, 12:15 Pacific | «e»