Review: The Scent of Shadows

The Scent of Shadows (Sign of the Zodiac Book 1)

by Vicki Pettersson

First Copyright Date: 2007

Type of Book: Paranormal Romance

ISBN No. 0-060-89891-7

Book Blurb by Paperbackswap:

When she was sixteen, Joanna Archer was brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert. By rights, she should be dead.

Now a photographer by day, she prowls a different Las Vegas after sunset--a grim, secret Sin City where Light battles Shadow--seeking answers to whom or what she really is... and revenge for the horrors she was forced to endure.

But the nightmare is just beginning--for the demons are hunting Joanna, and the powerful shadows want her for their own...

Joanna Archer is the daughter of a Light Zodiac Warrior (Zoe, aka the Archer) and Tulpa (leader of the Shadow Zodiac Warriors). She is what they call the Kairos and all the fates hinge on her. She is made up of both sides and can choose her destiny. Warren (a Light Zodiac Warrior) is her guide during her metamorphosis. Ajax is Shadow Zodiac Warrior sent to kill her during her metamorphosis.

This book is more fantasy than what I normally read. That does not mean I didn't enjoy it. It just means that it helped A LOT to write things down. I compare this book to The Matrix. You have Joanna (Neo), Warren (Morphius) and Ajax (Agent Smith). You also have the traitor among the good guys, who I won't reveal and ruin the entire book for you. Once I put it in this context the book smoothed out a bit. It is the basic good versus evil.

If you can get through the beginning chapters you will find a good story that Pettersson created. Joanna is a very strong character. She likes to kick ass and ask questions later and yet you see her soft side with her love for her sister Olivia and childhood sweetheart Ben. Warren is the fatherly figure that guides Joanna through this journey and will go to the ends of the earth because he believes she is the one. Ajax is the typical bad guy that just keeps coming back again and again until you just can't stand it. Plus there are a lot of other characters that are introduced that have potential. I am looking forward to reading the next book.

Rating:

3 of 5 Stars

**book personally purchased by me**

  About the author from her website:

Born and raised in Las Vegas where the Zodiac Series is set, Vicki has always been a voracious reader and writer. However, a post-college stint in PR convinced her she didn't want to spend her days writing on assignment ... so she did what any self-respecting Vegas girl would do. She became a showgirl. Ten years later she traded in her sequins for a laptop. She can most often be found haunting the true-life locales that appear in her urban fantasy series.