My Book Haul/In My Mailbox

**INSIDE OUT GIVEAWAY ENDS TODAY**

The Story Siren hosts a weekly meme where bloggers can share what goodies they've purchased/received this week. If you get a chance head over to The Story Siren and check out what everyone is up to! I picked up a few books this weeks that I'm excited about...

The Cursed Ones - Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie

Publisher: UK - Simon & Schuster

The Cursed Ones, or vampires, have made their presence known to mankind. They promised to help bring peace to the world but then declared war on humanity. The identity of their leader is unknown. Most people are too afraid or unwillingly to take a stand against them. Others, like eighteen-year-old Jenn Leitner, train secretly to become vampire fighters and risk everything in the process. Alongside her is fellow Hunter, Antonio de la Cruz. But Antonio has a secret - he is a vampire fighting on the side of humanity. Jenn must battle with her hatred of all things vampire, and her love for Antonio. For together only they can bring light into the darkness the vampires have drawn over the face of the planet...

I will admit that this was an impulse purchase based on the fact that I enjoyed Nancy Holder's Buffy books many moons ago...I haven't heard much about it but vampires, slayers, forbidden love - hopefully it'll bring something new to the story!

The Water Room (Bryant & May 2) - Christopher Fowler

Publisher: UK - Bantam Books

An oasis in the heart of Kentish Town, Balaklava Street is ripe for gentrification. But then the body of an elderly woman is found at No. 5. Her demise seems to have been peaceful but for the fact that her throat is full of river water… For the Met’s Peculiar Crimes Unit, led by London’s longest-serving detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, this curious death marks the beginning of a distinctly sinister investigation. And the new owner of No. 5 is understandably unsettled by the damp in the basement of her home, some particularly resilient spiders and the ghostly sound of rushing water. Unearthing hitherto undiscovered secrets, the two octogenarian policemen learn that, in a London filled with the rich, the poor and the dispossessed, there’s still something a desperate individual is willing to kill for. And kill again to protect. Armed only with their wits, their own idiosyncratic practices and a plentiful supply of boiled sweets, Bryant and May come face to face with madness, greed and revenge in a wickedly sinuous mystery that goes to the heart of every London home.

After enjoying the first Bryant & May book - Full Dark House, I wanted to get the next in the series! I have to say I do love the colouful covers to these books as well! :)

Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin

Publisher: UK - Bantam Books

In medieval Cambridge, four children have been murdered. The Catholic townsfolk blame their Jewish neighbors, so to save them from the rioting mob, the Cambridge Jews are placed under the protection of the king. King Henry II is no friend of the Jews-or anyone, really-but he believes in law and order, and he desperately needs the taxes he receives from Jewish merchants. Hoping scientific investigation will catch the true killer, Henry calls on his cousin, the King of Sicily-whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe-and asks for his finest "master of the art of death," the earliest form of medical examiner. The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno, an expert in the science of anatomy and the art of detection. But her name is Adelia; the king has been sent a "mistress of the art of death."

This is the second book I've recieved as part of Transworld Great Crime Caper so I'm looking forward to taking it for a test drive! :)

and finally the book I'm most excited about -

Rogue Oracle - Alayna Williams

Publisher: Pocket Books

Tara Sheridan is the best criminal profiler around—and the most unconventional. Trained as a forensic psychologist, Tara also specializes in Tarot card reading. But she doesn’t need her divination skills to realize that the new assignment from her friend and sometime lover, Agent Harry Li, is a dangerous proposition in every way.
Former Cold War operatives, all linked to a top-secret operation tracking the disposal of nuclear weapons in Russia, are disappearing. There are no bodies, and no clues to their whereabouts. Harry suspects a conspiracy to sell arms to the highest bidder. The cards—and Tara’s increasingly ominous dreams—suggest something darker. Even as Tara sorts through her feelings for Harry and her fractured relationship with the mysterious order known as Delphi’s Daughters, a killer is growing more ruthless by the day. And a nightmare that began decades ago in Chernobyl will reach a terrifying endgame that not even Tara could have foreseen . . .

I've just finished Dark Oracle (Review will be posted on Tuesday) and loved it! I've been extremely lucky to get an electronic arc of this sequel (many thanks to the generous Laura Bickle aka Alyana Williams) and can't wait to start reading it! It's released on Tuesdsay and to celebrate Alayna Williams,  the author Dark oracle & Rogue Oracle - aka Laura Bickle, author of the fabulous Embers & Sparks is stopping by to answer some questions...so stop by tomorrow and Tuesday for some insights :)

So what have you picked up this week? :)