LED ASTRAY Anthology: The Best of Kelley Armstrong-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 17, 2015

Two brand new tales anchor this wide-ranging collection from one of urban fantasy’s most successful authors. Here is the first time that best-selling fantasy, YA, and crime author Kelley Armstrong has had her stories collected from Otherworld and beyond. With her signature twists and turns, Armstrong gives a fresh spin on city-dwelling vampires, werewolves, and zombies, while also traveling further afield, to a post-apocalyptic fortress, a superstitious village, a supernatural brothel, and even to feudal Japan.

With tales that range from humorous to heart-stopping, these are the stories that showcase Kelley Armstrong at her versatile best.

– Rakshashi (standalone)
– Kat (Darkest Powers universe, non-series narrator)
– A Haunted House of Her Own (standalone)
– Learning Curve (Otherworld universe, Zoe)
– The Screams of Dragons (Cainsville universe, non-series narrator)
– The Kitsune’s Nine Tales (Age of Legends universe, non-series narrator)
– Last Stand (standalone)
– Bamboozled (Otherworld universe, non-series narrator)
– Branded (Otherworld universe, non-series narrator)
– The List (Otherworld universe, Zoe)
– Young Bloods (Otherworld universe, non-series narrator)
– The Door (standalone, original to this collection)
– Dead Flowers by a Roadside (standalone)
– Suffer the Children (standalone)
– The Collector (standalone)
– Gabriel’s Gargoyles (Cainsville universe, Gabriel)
– Harbinger (standalone)
– V Plates (Otherworld universe, Nick)
– Life Sentence (Otherworld universe, non-series narrator)
– Plan B (standalone)
– The Hunt (Cainsville universe, non-series narrator)
– Dead to Me (standalone)
– Devil May Care (Cainsville universe, Patrick, original to this collection)

•••••••••

REVIEW: LED ASTRAY is a collection of short stories, novellas, glimpses, and chapters from author Kelley Armstrong. Because there are twenty three (23) entries in the anthology, I am not going to review each one individually but review the collection as a whole.

For followers of Kelley’s CAINSVILLE series we get four short stories and/or chapters that reveal some of the back story and history behind the residents of Cainsville including two installments that look at Gabriel Walsh and his inception; his connection to the current series; and a little bit about his life as a young child.

For fans of Kelley’s OTHERWORLD series most of the short stories or chapters do not connect directly to the original series except for V Plates-a short story with Nick and Noah; and The List-another short story featuring the female vampire Zoe who slips in a quick mention about a hunky blonde werewolf male.

All of the entries in the anthology are paranormal or fantasy in origin: zombies, vampires, demons, fae, werewolves, ghosts and Kitsune. The anthology can be read by all ages; there is one entry from each of Kelley’s YA Darkest Powers and Age of Legends series while the majority of the other short stories are stand alone without any direct connection to her previously released adult series. I had previously read several of these short stories in other anthologies or collections.

LED ASTRAY is a great introduction for readers who have yet to climb onto the Kelley Armstrong train. You do not have to have read any of the established series to understand the premise behind the short stories; every entry can be read as a stand alone that will tease your paranormal pallet leaving you wanting a little bit more.

Copy supplied by the publisher.

Reviewed by Sandy