[REVIEW] Vicious Circle by Linda Robertson

Title: Vicious Circle
Author: Linda Robertson
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Persephone Alcmedi #1

Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages

Publication: June 30th 2009 by Pocket

Buy the book
|AMAZON|BOOK DEPO|

Source: Publisher

|SUMMARY|  
 A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do....
 
Being a witch doesn't pay the bills, but Persephone Alcmedi gets by between reading Tarot cards, writing her syndicated newspaper column, and kenneling werewolves in the basement when the moon is full -- even if witches aren't supposed to mingle with wolves. She really reaches the end of her leash, though, when her grandmother gets kicked out of the nursing home and Seph finds herself in the doghouse about some things she's written. Then her werewolf friend Lorrie is murdered...and the high priestess of an important coven offers Seph big money to destroy the killer, a powerful vampire named Goliath Kline. Seph is a tough girl, but this time she bites off more than she can chew. She needs a little help from her friends -- werewolf friends. One of those friends, Johnny, the motorcycle-riding lead singer for the techno-metal-Goth band Lycanthropia, has a crush on her. And while Seph has always been on edge around this 6'2" leather-clad hunk, she's starting to realize that although their attraction may be dangerous, nothing could be as lethal as the showdown that awaits them.


|REVIEW|
Persephone ‘Seph’ Alcmedi is a solitary witch and makes her living by writing a column in the papers educating people about Wæres. Seph’s life gets turned upside down when she finds out her friend Lorrie, a Wære is murdered. The following day the local priestess, Vivian Diamond reveals that she know who killed Lorrie, and hires Seph to take care of the guy because human authorities don’t care about any Wære business/problems. Seph reluctantly agrees thinking of Lorrie’s daughter, Beverly, but one crucial fact that Vivian decided to leave out is that the murderer, Goliath Kline is a vampire. Enlisting the help of her Wære friends, Seph is in for a big surprise as she faces a powerful vampire and discovers a power/destiny she never knew she was capable of. 

Vicious Circle is told from the first-person narrative, and takes place in Cleveland, Ohio where all the witches, Wære and vampires are known to the human public. Every group abhors one another, and like the tagline says ‘‘witches and werewolves don’t mix…’’ but Seph is an exception becoming friends with the Wære she kennels on the full moon.  The book moves a pretty constant pace; there weren’t any big crazy revelations or shocking twist/turns. In spite of that, I found myself absorbed in the story and the characters. Seph is a down-to earth type of heroine, relatable and realistic. Readers immerse themselves in Seph’s regular life (problems with her old high school friends and guy problem *ahem* Johnny) and the supernatural side. While Seph isn’t kick-butt like most UF heroines, she has the potential to become one in future books, which is hinted with her supposedly being the ‘Lustrata’, a witch that bring balance to the three groups/walk in all three worlds.

Vicious Circle is the first book in the Persephone Alcmedi series, and is a solid urban fantasy series worth checking out. Although Vicious Circle doesn’t really bring anything new to the urban fantasy genre, Robertson does a great job in captivating readers with her writing and created a world with characters you want to read more about. This first book is just the tip of the iceberg of what we see from the characters and storyline for there is much, much more to Seph, Johnny and Menessos.  I really enjoyed Vicious Circle, and can’t wait to see where Robertson takes this series.