Urban fantasy is usually often interspersed with violence and some sex, but if you do have precocious pre/early teens interested in your reading tastes in the household, do be aware that both the violence and sexual content of this book are dialled to adult tastes. And it is a fairly grim world, belied by Cassie’s laconic first person narrative. In such circumstances, surely you’d either become a gibbering wreck, or start adopting a cool sceptical stance to the world around you. Yes, I know this all sounds very familiar – and I’m not going to claim that Chance is breaking the mould, but she has nevertheless provided a streetwise heroine whose wary, smart attitude chimes realistically with an orphan regularly besieged by horrifying images and ghosts.

The undead senators won’t help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire – and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay… But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with vengeance on his mind, she’s forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection. Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. The ghosts of the dead aren’t usually dangerous, they just like to talk… a lot. I’ve read a slew of above average urban fantasy novels recently, and this is yet another to add to the list.Ĭassandra Palmer can see the future and communicate with spirits – talents that make her attractive to the dead and the undead.

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance