The Taste of the Night by Vicki Petterson
Jul. 28th, 2007 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreThe Taste of the Night is the second book in Petterson's Sign of the Zodiac series. Zodiac is about JoAnna Archer, a photographer who's been looking for the man who raped her and left her to die in the desert when she was a young teen. When she turns 25, she learns why that happened to her: Her mother, Zoe Archer, was a member of the Zodiac of Light, a group of supernatural warriors who protect the world from the Zodiac of Shadow. Why yes, it IS half urban fantasy/half superhero comic homage, why do you ask?
Zoe ARcher was a deep cover agent...so deep that before she was discovered, she became the lover of Tulpa, the head bad guy. She fled after being discovered, without Tulpa realizing she was pregnant, and hid herself right under his nose...by marrying one of his human flunkies and passing JoAnna off as his daughter. Neither side tracked her down until her 25th birthday, when JoAnna gained the powers inherited from both her parents. Unfortunately, the bad guys found her first and killed her sister, Olivia, in the crossfire(then got killed by JoAnna themselves.) Since everyone who knew Olivia was dead was a good guy, they gave JoAnna plastic surgery to make her look like Olivia, and now JoAnna is living her sister's life.
This first book was good but very rough, with much of the dialogue feeling forced. The second book was much better with far smoother dialogue. Unlike most books with comic book send offs, this doesn't mock comics or it's fans, and the mythology is interesting. And, for once, it's an urban fantasy with no signs of werewolves, vampires, or demons. In addition, JoAnna's strength and modernness isn't constantly thrown in our face...she's extremely damaged(being raped and left to die in the desert @ 13-14, almost immediately abandoned by her mother, then learning years later than it was your biological father who sent your rapist, and learning that on the heels of your sister's death and your being forced to take over her identity? Not fun.) and very hard, but the author never uses it as an excuse for JoAnna screwing up, much less always being right, and no character makes exceptions for it.
Her love life isn't exactly fun, either. She's been in love with Ben Traina, a cop, pretty much since birth, but pushed him away after her rape, only to reconnect with him right before her "death." So there he is, pouring his heart out to "Olivia," who he'll only ever see as his girlfriend's little sister, with JoAnna wanting to scream something along the lines of "Figure it out already!" at him. Meanwhile, JoAnna has bonded(literally) with Hunter, another member of the Zodiac. There's an interesting theme in their relationship...with the possible exception of JoAnna herself, Hunter doesn't really care about anyone but his daughter, who only JoAnna knows about, and even that is only because of when their minds joined. Meanwhile, JoAnna learned she was pregnant after her rape and gave her daughter up for adoption, assuming she was fathered by her rapist, and refuses to acknowledge her.
I have to say that, while I like Ben, I prefer JoAnna with Hunter. Yes, she still loves Ben, and he's a great guy, but he's too pure...he'd never be able to survive her life, or to accept her as she is now. Hunter, OTOH, is the only one to fully accept all sides of JoAnna. Or, more specifically, he simply doesn't care. He does his job and expects JoAnna to do hers. She chose to be a good guy and he expects her to be one and, unlike everyone else, doesn't hold her parentage over her head. When everyone else gives up on her because she messes up, he follows her and helps her because he knows she's the one who will be able to figure out what's going on and stop it. He and JoAnna both stick by their own and don't let biases and games and tradition get between them and what needs to be done. They're both grey area characters, and work better together than either would with a "White" or "Black" character.
Zoe ARcher was a deep cover agent...so deep that before she was discovered, she became the lover of Tulpa, the head bad guy. She fled after being discovered, without Tulpa realizing she was pregnant, and hid herself right under his nose...by marrying one of his human flunkies and passing JoAnna off as his daughter. Neither side tracked her down until her 25th birthday, when JoAnna gained the powers inherited from both her parents. Unfortunately, the bad guys found her first and killed her sister, Olivia, in the crossfire(then got killed by JoAnna themselves.) Since everyone who knew Olivia was dead was a good guy, they gave JoAnna plastic surgery to make her look like Olivia, and now JoAnna is living her sister's life.
This first book was good but very rough, with much of the dialogue feeling forced. The second book was much better with far smoother dialogue. Unlike most books with comic book send offs, this doesn't mock comics or it's fans, and the mythology is interesting. And, for once, it's an urban fantasy with no signs of werewolves, vampires, or demons. In addition, JoAnna's strength and modernness isn't constantly thrown in our face...she's extremely damaged(being raped and left to die in the desert @ 13-14, almost immediately abandoned by her mother, then learning years later than it was your biological father who sent your rapist, and learning that on the heels of your sister's death and your being forced to take over her identity? Not fun.) and very hard, but the author never uses it as an excuse for JoAnna screwing up, much less always being right, and no character makes exceptions for it.
Her love life isn't exactly fun, either. She's been in love with Ben Traina, a cop, pretty much since birth, but pushed him away after her rape, only to reconnect with him right before her "death." So there he is, pouring his heart out to "Olivia," who he'll only ever see as his girlfriend's little sister, with JoAnna wanting to scream something along the lines of "Figure it out already!" at him. Meanwhile, JoAnna has bonded(literally) with Hunter, another member of the Zodiac. There's an interesting theme in their relationship...with the possible exception of JoAnna herself, Hunter doesn't really care about anyone but his daughter, who only JoAnna knows about, and even that is only because of when their minds joined. Meanwhile, JoAnna learned she was pregnant after her rape and gave her daughter up for adoption, assuming she was fathered by her rapist, and refuses to acknowledge her.
I have to say that, while I like Ben, I prefer JoAnna with Hunter. Yes, she still loves Ben, and he's a great guy, but he's too pure...he'd never be able to survive her life, or to accept her as she is now. Hunter, OTOH, is the only one to fully accept all sides of JoAnna. Or, more specifically, he simply doesn't care. He does his job and expects JoAnna to do hers. She chose to be a good guy and he expects her to be one and, unlike everyone else, doesn't hold her parentage over her head. When everyone else gives up on her because she messes up, he follows her and helps her because he knows she's the one who will be able to figure out what's going on and stop it. He and JoAnna both stick by their own and don't let biases and games and tradition get between them and what needs to be done. They're both grey area characters, and work better together than either would with a "White" or "Black" character.