Second Sight: Number 1 in series (Arcane Society) [Paperback]

I like Amanda Quick¹s books (and also the books she writes as Jayne Castle). I think they¹re fun, lighthearted, amusing - even if they can be rather samey and a bit, well, cheesy.

Second Sight seemed a little different to her other Regency/Victorian books.

Although the basic story is the same -¬ romance mixed in with a murder mystery and a bit of psychic/mesmerism included as well, like Wait Until Midnight and some other books, this one felt a little... well... stale.

It started off a little differently, with the requisite giving up of virginity to tall, dark, handsome rugged stranger at the beginning of the book rather than halfway through, and somehow the rest of the book didn¹t quite ever catch my attention fully.

Our heroine Venetia is a photographer and she has a special talent in that she is able to view people¹s auras. Gabriel Jones, the tall dark rugged man, is a secretive chappie who takes her virginity and then gets himself killed. Venetia pretends she¹s his widow so that she can make her way in her photographic business more successfully than being a spinster ¬ but then Mr Jones turns up alive and they start investigating murders and missing relics. It¹s all similar stuff to that which Amanda Quick has churned out before, but it doesn¹t quite have the magic that some of her other books have.

It¹s noticeable that the chapters are shorter in this book and that there aren¹t any real cliffhangers ¬ things resolve quickly, moments of scary fighting only last a page or two, and the resolution trundles along as expected.

Some of the vocabulary in this book is remarkably similar to that in Amaryllis that Jayne Ann Krentz wrote as Jayne Castle. The `hunting', `primitive', `throwback' descriptions of Gabriel Jones seem very like Rafe Stonebraker in that other novel;¬ is she running out of ideas?

Overall this book is a perfectly acceptable read, and none of her novels are great literature, but I usually find them better than this and Ghost Hunter, her latest Jayne Castle, was way better. This is still a step up from the Lavinia Lake books she wrote as Amanda Quick, though.

A family tragedy has forced Venetia Milton to set up business as a photographer to support her aunt and her two younger siblings. But luck seems to be on her side when she is hired for a very lucrative assignment by the rather secretive Arcane Society and, while at Arcane House, meets the handsome and mysterious Gabriel Jones. Their night of passion is cut short, though, when two thugs appear and Gabriel sends Venetia away to safety. A short while later Venetia learns that the man of her dreams died that night and forthwith she calls herself "Mrs. Jones" and pretends to be his widow. Everything works out fine, until her dead husband returns from the grave and lays claim to his "wife".

"Second Sight" is the first book in a new series centering around the Arcane Society in Victorian England and modern-day America (written as Jayne Ann Krentz).There is certainly some potential here, but "Second Sight" is, at best, a shaky start. Venetia and Gabriel are a fetching pair and there is an undeniable spark between them, leading to some nicely steamy love scenes. The story itself, the search for a murderer who ruthlessly kills for the sake of an ancient and secret alchemist's formula, is quite interesting, though never really riveting. The major drawback, though, is the disjointed feel of the writing: The individual scenes are good, some even very good; but too much time and emphasis is given to repeated and repetitive descriptions of Venetia and Gabriel's individual psychic powers (she sees Auras; he can detect the psychic residue of evil deeds and thoughts). These powers might allow Venetia und Gabriel some deeper understanding of the people around them, for the reader, though, most of these characters remain two-dimensional as they seem to appear in a total vacuum. Which is a shame, as I would have liked to learn more about some of them, Gabriel Harrow and Mr. Pierce in particular. And maybe Miss Quick's oddest decision is to introduce a new character in the last act - thus breaking every rule in story telling and writing. And robbing the reader of any chance of having any form of emotional response to said character. But still, there are always Venetia and Gabriel, and they make up for a lot while they make out ... a lot..

"Second Sight" is definitely not the best book by Amanda Quick. But it has its moments which make it a very pleasing, if ultimately slightly disappointing read. And it also whets the appetite for further adventures of the Arcane Society. If you are a fan of Victorian Romances and, especially, if you are interested in the paranormal, you will probably not regret curling up with this novel.

Having been a little disappointed in a couple of Amanda Quick's latest novels, I was really pleased to see that she is back to her creative best in 'Second Sight'.

The story centres around a hero and a heroine of the Victorian era, who both possess a degree of psychic ability. The hero Gabriel is part of the Arcane society, a secret assembly whose members all have special powers, though he is a little afraid of his own strong and often predatory abilities. Venetia, donning the pretence of being a widow so that she may pursue a controversial career in the newly developing (pardon the pun!) world of photography, gets embroiled in the mystery and danger surrounding Gabriel, partly through her own fault. She has adopted his surname as her own after meeting him and attempting to seduce him at his ancestral home, which she is hurried away from when intruders threaten the safety of those in residence.

This tale is fast paced, original, passionate and fun, with the kind of beginning that makes you want to read on. Not only is the angle of the romance different because of her career and of course, their strange powers, but the added element of mystery they have to solve makes this a really good addition to your bookshelf.