We're in a world very much like ours except magic works, there are vampires, witches and the standard Urban Fantasy types. Here are some of the problems I have with the series in general and with this book in particular. I thought the first one was average, the second so-so and this one sub-par. OK, I've now read the first three Jaz Parks books, which I bought sight unseen pretty much on the concept alone, and I have to say I should have bought just the first one and then thought about it. Still giving it four stars because I found it enjoyable enough to buy the next book, but I would not recommend it to anyone who is of Persian descent or values historical and cultural accuracy. I can set aside my disbelief of the James Bond-esque weaponry and gadgets, but such cultural discrepancies made it difficult to remain immersed in the book. Moreover, in a world where Islam was not the predominant religion in Iran, there would have been no reason for women to wear chadors at all, and the Islamic Revolution never would have happened, so there would be no reason for Iran to be at odds with the West. I can only speculate that the author was trying to avoid the pitfall of demonizing the Muslim religion by making everything Zoroastrian instead, but the parallels to Islamic terrorists were still striking, and the depictions of Iranian culture were frankly insulting. From the women all wearing chadors rather than hijabs often pulled back to show hair, to the hanging that took place from a gallows rather than a crane, to the Zoroastrian temples on every corner rather than mosques, to the weird capital letters in the middle of names, it felt like the author had failed to do even the most perfunctory research on the country. The portrayal of Iran was laughably inaccurate. Jennifer died suddenly at home in September 2010, just after finishing the last Jaz Parks novel. They come to feast at the feeders where she used to write on the back porch in the cool of the morning. No pets since the cat died, but the birds seem to appreciate his absence. She spent most of her adult life in an old farmhouse along with her husband and two teenagers. Once she figured out the answer to that question, she wrote Once Bitten, Twice Shy. After which she never really held a well paying job until Jaz Parks came along! Which is why her kids loved to sing that song to her from the musical “Avenue Q.” The one that begins with the line, “What do you do with a B.A. (See what happens when you grow up around farmers? Scary, huh?)Īfter a youth spent up to her eyeballs in fairy tales, Nordic myths and supernatural legends she made the solid and practical decision to go to college and major in English. However she liked to think of her birthday as the first frost-free date for her planting area. Her mom told her almost every year what crappy weather it had been that day. Jennifer Rardin was born in Evansville, Indiana on April 28, 1965.
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