"Here he comes to save Fate's Darkest Day"
The Superhero and the Psychic: Eugenia Kinneally had implored her niece, Vivian, to come
to Oregon for what she had cryptically called "training".
Vivian had always found an excuse not to go, and now it was
too late. Vivian who had always stood out because of her
unusual psychic abilities had witnessed Eugenia's death
from her home in California. Now against her brother's
protests, she has temporarily moved to Oregon to
investigate the murder, and search for a more recent will
that should include her two siblings. No sooner has her
brother and his son headed back home for LA, strange things
begin to happen. Vivian is awakened from her sleep unconscionably early the
next morning by frantic knocking at her door. Vivian
doesn't realize this but she has just opened the door to
her future. Enter the three Fates, Atropos, Clotho, and
Lachesis. Well the original fates anyway. It seems that the
Powers That Be had recently been influenced to impose term
limits and new qualifications, one being that the
applicants must experience what it is to be powerless. The
former Fates had complied and now it was clear that the
instigator of the new rules, Eris the goddess of discord,
was out to eliminate them permanently. They had come to
Vivian for aid, not realizing that she had not yet come
into her powers and had no inkling who they were. The presence of the Fates brings Vivian's building under
attack by Eris' son Strife. The fates teach Vivian to use
her mind to protect the building and send her for the
nearest available mage, Henri Barou, owner of a local pet
store. Henri, who just slightly over 100 years old is still
a young mage by immortal standards. He is currently going
by the name Dexter Grant. Vivian who is a comic book
fanatic does a double take when she notices Dexter's exact
resemblance to the Man of Steel, who also happens to be the
man of her dreams. How could she help but lose her heart to
him. It's love at first sight for Dexter as well. Dexter had been a great humanitarian until he had been
outted in that dratted comic book. The Fates' warning had
been intimidating enough for him to desist in his do
gooding where humans were concerned. Now his heroics
were reserved for needy animals, but he had always longed
for someone to love him as much as he loved them. Vivian is
the woman he's waited for all his life. But she is asking
him to assist the Fates, and though he's not really sure he
wants to help them, he follows her home. It seems that the Fates need more help than the two of them
can give and the efforts to break in are causing Vivian
real pain. Henri whisks them to the restaurant next door,
run by two familiar characters from Ms. Grayson's previous
books. These mages however have been punished severely in
the past by the Fates and their ambivalence makes Dex
decide to handle things on his own. He sends the ladies off
to a protected shelter, and then takes Vivian home knowing
that its only a matter of time before the her aunt's
murderer would attack. Will they be ready, or will their
great love end before it's begun? While this story, like the others in this loosely connected
series, focuses more on the mystery/suspense plotline than
the romantic aspect, it is vital to the story that these
two soul mates work together in order to resolve the
crisis. And they do, as only soul mates can. This story
does not contain descriptive sex scenes and therefore would
be suitable for a younger audience as well as for adults.
Though the crisis has been averted for now, the fate of the
Fates is left up in the air, which hopefully means at least
one more fateful tale is in the offing. Copyright © 2003
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted May 12, 2003
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