cover image The Watchtower

The Watchtower

Lee Carroll. Tor, $15.99 trade paper (400p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2598-3

Carroll, a joint pseudonym for mystery author Carol Goodman and her husband, Lee Slonimsky, continue their ultralightweight urban fantasy trilogy with this vapid tale. In 2010's Black Swan Rising, jewelry designer Garet James was tricked into opening a mysterious silver box that set off a cascade of otherworldly events. Now Will Hughes, her vampire lover, has absconded with the box for his own purposes. Garet tries to move on with her life, but an anonymous gift sets her on a quest to find Will and follow him to the Summer Country. In alternating chapters, Will explains how he became a vampire and how he intends to cure himself so he can live with Garet and love her as a mortal. Miscommunication and misunderstandings abound in this bizarre amalgam of urban fantasy, mythological evils, fairies, and easily deluded, flat characters who shift with the changing of the breeze. (Aug.)