One of the perks of my job is that I get asked to give blurbs to upcoming books, which means I also get to read them long before they come out. Usually such requests come from editors, or agents, or writers I’ve met at conferences, but occasionally they come from good friends who also happen to be good writers. That’s how I was lucky enough to read Wickedly Dangerous, the first in the Baba Yaga series by Deborah Blake, out today.
The Baba Yaga in Russian folklore is not exactly…sexy. Here’s a quick overview. But what Deborah has done is imagine how this figure, with the same goals and tasks, might function in a modern American world. Her chicken-footed shack becomes an Airstream trailer, her dragon disguises himself as a pit bull, and her three companions ride motorcycles. It’s the kind of myth tweaking after my own heart, and I loved it.
Here’s the blurb I sent to Deborah:
“Wickedly Dangerous translates a terrifying figure from folklore , the Baba Yaga, into the smart, resourceful, motorcycle-riding Barbara Yager, who travels with her dragon-disguised-as-a-dog best friend, righting wrongs and helping those in need. But when she stumbles into a town whose children are vanishing, and meets the haunted young sheriff trying to save them, what was a job becomes very personal. This is urban fantasy at its best, with all the magic and mayhem tied together with very human emotions, even when the characters aren’t quite human.”
The pre-release reviews have backed up my enthusiasm:
“Wickedly Dangerous is innovative and fun, introducing some lesser known mythological characters and giving them a 21st century makeover.”–Romantic Times four-star-review.
“Wickedly Dangerous is a fast-paced book with an entertaining chemistry between Barbara and Liam and some really cool secondary characters.”–The Blogger Girls
Some may gripe that this is a paranormal romance, a genre not noted for getting a lot of respect. To them I say, yes, but it’s a good story. When the story’s good, genre doesn’t matter. Genre snobbery hurts no one but the snob, so don’t be one.
Starting tomorrow, you can get Wickedly Dangerous at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local indie bookstore.
One Comment on “Out today: Wickedly Dangerous by Deborah Blake”
Thanks for the shout-out, Alex! (And the great blurb.)
I like to think of the story as a modern fairy tale, but there isn’t a classification for that…