ann aguirre continues the corine solomon story in hell fire; action, thrills & the supernatural

Hell Fire returns readers to Ann Aguirre's Corine Solomon series begun in Blue Diablo. Corine helped her ex, Chance, find his mother with her ability to 'handle' objects or read information and emotions from things left behind. 

Read my review of Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre: Ann Aguirre's Blue Diablo brings new dimension to overcrowded urban fantasy genre 

So now Chance has to return with Corine to the town she was born in, Kilmer, and discover the reason behind her mother's terrible death. 

Aguirre's world is peopled by characters who can use magic, who are born with various sorts of powers, like Corine's 'handling', Chance's incredible good luck and others' abilities as empaths and mediums.
But her world is also our world; there are bills to pay, papers to sign, businesses to run and emotional relationships to deal with. 

Unlike many recent books in the urban fantasy genre, Aguirre doesn't dwell on the sex and romance too much. For her characters and storylines the love and romance is simply a part of being human.
Corine is an ordinary woman with an extraordinary gift, but she's troubled by the same insecurities we are. Is her arse too big? Does Chance really love her or he just after her talents? Was her mother really murdered?
OK, maybe not the same issues as all of us. Still, it's refreshing to read an urban fantasy novel without having to deal with too much unreality.
When Corine and Chance finally get to Kilmer they discover a town that's been forgotten; literally. No one else can find it on the map, it's not on the GPS nor has anything been added to it since Corine left when she was a teen.
Obviously there's something going on, even without Corine's memories of her mother being burned to death by people in dark hooded cloaks.
The pair also discover that over the years people have been going missing, and no body, not even the police, can be bothered going into the forest to look for them. 

Obviously that's where Corine is headed, but first she needs to find somewhere to stay where the landlady won't try to hex her, get Chance out of jail from being in the wrong place when an old lady died and try to solve the issue of whether or not she's going to sleep with her new magical friend Jesse.
Aguirre's storylines mix up action, thrills and esoteric magic in a clever way that enables the reader to easily slip into her world. It will be interesting to see how the series develops; book three is already on its way.

Hell Fire by Ann Aguirre is published by Gollancz and is available from good book stores and online.

ann aguirre's blue diablo brings new dimension to overcrowded urban fantasy genre

For lovers of urban fantasy, Ann Aguirre's Blue Diablo is the first in a new series – the Corine Solomon series – that looks set to bring a new dimension to the already overcrowded genre.

Unlike the usual type of urban fantasy there aren't any vampires or werewolves – thank goodness – but there is magic and mayhem a plenty, and a bit of love interest as well. But so far no raunchy sex, which is actually a good thing, considering it's everywhere else.
Corine Solomon is what's called a 'handler', when she touches objects a certain way she can read information about who had held it previously, what they were feeling or doing and the history of the thing they held.
Unfortunately, it's not an easy skill to have, and although she had previously used her talent to help people, she'd eventually burned out after a number of harrowing experiences with murders, rapists etc.
So, she's run away to Mexico to hide from her previous life and try to regain her sanity. Unfortunately, her peace is disrupted by her ex, a guy called Chance who has a talent for being unbelievably lucky. His mother has gone missing, and he needs Corine to help him find her.
Naturally there's plenty of sexual tension, but Corine doesn't jump into bed with him, she's more concerned about getting trapped in her old life, and with finding Chance's mother, whom she loves.
From the opening set-up, Aguirre just pushes the pace along, adding characters and back story in a jumble of new faces and histories, as well as setting up her world.
There are lots of references to traditional South American practices, voodoo, Native American magic and myth, as well as the usual round up of remote viewing, mediums, witches and possible devil or demon worshippers.
Wrapped up in the fantastic is a solid whodunit, with human trafficking, the Mafia, drug and gun running and a side attraction to a very helpful policeman.
All in all, Aguirre manages to mix her magic, mayhem and material into a nice read; the plot is twisted enough to be interesting without being confusing, the characters slowly develop and the action is well-written.
Touches of Mexicana in the food, drinks, language and culture, all add a nice difference to Blue Diablo, making it a solid first book in a series that looks set to do well; it's already won the PEARL Award , which bodes well.

Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre is published by Gollancz and is available from good book stores and online.