Apr 17, 2013

Double Review & Deleted Scene: Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective


Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective by Christine Amsden

Summary

Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family’s reputation isn’t easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs.

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Deleted scene
A couple of years ago, when I was attending a local junior college, I had a friend named Jen who loved to read fantasy novels. Despite her best efforts, she never got me to read them, but she loved to tell me all about the adventures of sword and sorcery and, to a lesser extent, tales of modern fantasy.
            I told her stories about my family, too. On more than one occasion she would burst out laughing and tell me I ought to write my ideas down.
            I guess she never actually believed that I come from a long line of sorcerers. Considering how normal I turned out, I suppose I can't blame her.
            One day, as we were chatting after class, my mom sent me a text message asking if I could pick up a couple dozen eggs on the way home from school. I mentioned the message to Jen, who got an oddly pensive look on her face. Then she said, “If your mom's a sorcerer, why's she texting you?”
            I drew a blank. “Because she's out of eggs?”
            “No,” Jen said, “I mean, doesn't magic cause modern things to break or something?”
            “Why would it do that?” I suspected that whatever she was on about had something to do with the books she liked to read. Though I'd never been interested in those types of stories myself, I was truly intrigued by the idea that magic and modern technology might not work well together.
            “Well, because magical energy and things like electricity might interfere with one another.”
            “You are aware that our bodies send out lots of electrical impulses, right? I mean, it's just a force of nature, like heat or sound.” I was picturing someone having a heart attack every time they managed to cast a spell.
            Jen frowned. “I hadn't thought of that. I guess it's not electricity, then, just modern gadgets.”
            “So what, anything invented after 1353?”
            “All right, all right, I get it,” Jen said. “But why would a sorcerer use a text message when she'd have magical alternatives?”
            “You mean, like a journey book, where she writes a message on her end and it shows up on mine?”
            “Yeah, something like that.”
            “Well,” I said, drawing out the answer for effect, “I guess it's because a journey book requires human blood and the cell phone company just wants a two year contract and a monthly service fee.”



Double Review

Wendy’s Review:


Let me start off by saying...WOW! I was immediately sucked into this story and I could not put it down. I think the book was well written and the storyline is enthralling.

Cassie was a smart and strong willed character despite feeling like an outsider within her own family. Without spoiling it, let me just say her family really ticked me off, well her parents anyway. 

Anyhow, I really want to know more about her and Evan!


This was an excellent start to what could be a fantastic (and long) series, and there are so many directions it could go. I will be reading the next book as soon as it is available

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5


Jen’s Review:

This book was an enjoyable read and a great way to pass an evening. I felt for the main character, Cassie, she's trying to make the best of an uncomfortable situation. She's a black sheep in her family, the only kid of 7 that was born without a magical special talent. Can you imagine what that would be like? And of course things manage to get much worse for her. Among other things, she is thrown into a paranormal investigation even though she was determined to be a 'normal' detective. In this book, she faces mystery, vampires, family drama, and a scorching scorcerer that she knows is bad news. If you're looking for a quick yet entertaining read I recommend checking this book out.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5
 


2 comments:

  1. Thank you both for your wonderful reviews and for including that deleted scene. It was a tough one for me to delete because it was one of the first I wrote as I was trying to get a handle on the world building. But in the end, I knew it was one of those things that didn't move the story, and I had to let go of it. Nice to see it serving another purpose. :)

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  2. Oooo I love the cover! This sounds like it would be good, I might like it. I'll add it to my wish list so I can explore it some more :-)

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