A friend surprised me by turning up at my workplace with four books she nicked from the publicity department. I told her a few days ago that I was slowly getting into reading romantic novels again. She was very supportive of the idea because she felt my life was revolving around work and travelling too much.
She brought along these books:
- The Keeper – Natasha Mostert
- Country Pursuits – Jo Carnegie
- Bangkok Haunts - John Burdett
- The Last Concubine - Lesley Downer
- Mistral’s Kiss - Laurell K. Hamilton
It’s the Mostert book that interests me the most because of its back blurb:
Mia Lockhart has a secret.
Her mother was a Keeper, as was her grandmother – women who were warriors, healers and protectors.
When a mysterious man enters her life, she is put to the test. Adrian Ashton is a brilliant scientist – and a killer. With the aid of an ancient Chinese text, he has mastered the art of capturing the chi of his opponents – the vital energy that flows through their bodies.
Mia finds herself drawn to his dark genius. But when he targets the man she loves, she is forced to choose between them.
Soon it becomes a fight to the death in which love is both the greatest weakness – and the greatest prize.
I don’t like magic (sorcery, the “Let me heal thee! I’m the nurturer of the world!” crap, paganism, witchcraft and other sorts, because of those people who came, wandered around and worshipped our lands and mountains*) in fiction, but the hero as a scientist? I’m already there.
Also with the aid of an ancient Chinese book, he captures the chi of his enemies? It sounds unscientific, doesn’t it? That is what intrigues me.
When I flipped through the book, it appears that Mia Lockheart is a tattoo artist, which I think is interesting. I thought the book blurb was being coy about Adrian being a killer because it mentioned love as the greatest prize, but he really is one. Damn my romantic-reader radar. The Keeper seems to be the kind I’d enjoy, so I’ll give Megan Chance’s The Spiritualist a break and read this one.
* I know not all are alike. It’s just that the fringe and the eccentrics used to be drawn to our very isolated mountainous area. For example, there was a woman who wandered into our village, asking for help with her map reading. One local casually asked why she wanted to go to that specific area. She explained she wanted to hold a Wiccan wedding. Oh, right. We had that around here sometimes. We eventually learned she meant a Wiccan wedding for her dogs. A farmer and owner of that specific area, upon learning her reason, refused her permission to use it. She tried to take him to court for discriminating against her beliefs.
We also had normal people, thankfully. Tourists from all over the world (especially Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan (because of Masataka Taketsuru & Rita Cowan) and the Netherlands), film fans who got lost trying to find the filming locations of The Wicker Man (the actual locations were over 100 miles away from where we were…they weren’t that good with the map reading, I suppose), language/linguistics researchers, aspiring storytellers, bird watchers, artists, Wiccans, pagans, historians, photographers, hill walkers, archaeologists, surfers, theologists, genealogists, mountaineers and the Revivists (the people who wanted to return to the simplicity of life by getting in touch with the nature and living off nothing but necessities, but many gave up after a month, which is understandable because the living and weather conditions of our area were very harsh and the isolation can easily drive anyone up a wall).
And my favourite: the Satanists.
I kid you not. They were very serious and all that, but we kids thought they were hilarious. Especially when they wandered around in those dark velvet jackets and trousers with ruffles shirts while looking all shifty-eyed. (We didn’t know until years later that they dressed like their apparent hero, Aleister Crowley.) We didn’t know why they came to our area, but since this was during when Dennis Wheatley‘s books were very popular, our guess was it might have something to do with him.
But as far as I know, all his books are set in England. It’s still a mystery why these people came to our area. The Wicker Man, perhaps? Who knows? My family tells me the Satanists rarely turn up nowadays. They were a common sight during 1970s and early 1980s.
Hang on. How the hell did I go from talking about The Keeper to the Satanists?