Poisoned Pearls

My first thought upon finishing this book: Well, that was fun!

The prologue set me off balance, making me feel like I was reading three stories but very curious as to how they would come together.. and come together they do! This book is gritty and risque. Science, psychic abilities and Norse gods fit together like puzzle pieces with wisps of familial drama snuck in. I was curious about where the story was going and how they would meet and I was not disappointed.

Early on in the story we learn that our main character, Cassie, is a lesbian. As a lady lover myself I appreciated this attribute as well as how it plays out in the book. She’s crass, flirty, stands by her friends and gets things done that need doing. She’s a character that show more I can get behind, pun absolutely intended. Her situation in life isn't ideal but she doesn't complain about it and is happy for what she does have. I enjoyed how she interacted with the other characters in the book, all of whom I found entertaining.

There’s an element of government/private industry/military involvement with the psychic abilities here that I thought it was well played.

and that concludes all of the POSITIVE things that I have to say about Poisoned Pearls.. Now onto my criticisms!...

*stares at ceiling*looks from one side of ceiling to the other*makes fart noises with mouth*

ah.. Well, it looks as though I have none! Although I do feel that I should warn there are topics here that may make some people uncomfortable, drugs, sex, bad language. If these things are an issue for you then I wouldn't recommend delving into this very entertaining world.


Finally, here are a couple of quotes that I found extra amusing.

"Careful, or you'll lose an eye," I joked.

"I'd finally stopped and looked at the date--December twenty-first, the longest night of the year.
Normally, that was something I'd celebrate. All that extra loving time." show less

I really liked the protagonist, Cassandra, named for the doomed seer of Trojan War fame whose prophetic warnings were ignored by everyone. Cassie, the daughter of a wealthy politician/socialite who'd been kicked out of her home as a teen when her mother discovered she was a lesbian, is now working in a sex toy shop run by Chinaman Joe and living in a tiny apartment in a seedy part of Minneapolis. She refuses to be tested to see if she may have any paranormal gifts, though she suspects she might, and continues to smoke cigarettes, though she knows they're expensive and unhealthy, because these two things are pretty much the only things she feels in control of in her life. She's intelligent, though she denigrates her smarts with negative show more self-talk, and funny, though she doesn't see that either. She's also lonely, having few real friends and her last lover having betrayed her for a stripper almost right under her nose. What she admits to being is stubborn and capable, which, along with her other strengths and weaknesses, make her a very likable character.

When a gay friend is discovered dead in the alley behind the sex toy shop, no sign of what killed him evident but a happy grin on his face and his pants undone, Cassie gets pulled into the investigation of a series of similar deaths of hookers and drug dealers, during the course of which she meets Samantha, a high-class psychic working with the police and, coincidentally one of the most appealing women Cassie's ever met, though Sam's "not really her type," if Sam were even interested in women. She also meets Hunter, an emotionally wounded veteran of military action in the Mideast whose paranormal gifts are off the chart and who believes Cassie is his "blood brother." Together, they take on the god Loki who is trying to start his own special version of Ragnarok.

Like I said, I really liked Cassie, and I liked the world that Cutter built, where multiple universes are possible and psychically "blessed" people are searched out and trained by the government to use their gifts. I wasn't sure whether the Norse gods were really necessary, but Cutter tied them into the action well enough at the end. Some of the plot was a bit less clear than it should have been, at least for me, and I found a few grammar errors which, as always, took me out of the story, but it wasn't enough to make me stop reading.

Looking forward to reading more from Cutter. show less

My first thought upon finishing this book: Well, that was fun!

The prologue set me off balance, making me feel like I was reading three stories but very curious as to how they would come together.. and come together they do! This book is gritty and risque. Science, psychic abilities and norse gods fit together like puzzle pieces with wisps of familial drama snuck in. I was curious about where the story was going and how they would meet and I was not disappointed.

Early on in the story we learn that our main character, Cassie, is a lesbian. As a lady lover myself I appreciated this attribute as well as how it plays out in the book. She’s crass, flirty, stands by her friends and gets things done that need doing. She’s a character that show more I can get behind, pun absolutely intended. Her situation in life isn’t ideal but she doesn’t complain about it and is happy for what she does have. I enjoyed how she interacted with the other characters in the book, all of whom I found entertaining.

There’s an element of government/private industry/military involvement with the psychic abilities here that I thought it was well played.

and that concludes all of the POSITIVE things that I have to say about Poisoned Pearls.. Now onto my criticisms!...

*stares at ceiling*looks from one side of the ceiling to the other*makes fart noises with mouth*

ah.. Well, it looks as though I have none! Although I do feel that I should warn there are topics here that may make some people uncomfortable, drugs, sex, bad language. If these things are an issue for you then I wouldn’t recommend delving into this very entertaining world.

Finally, here are a couple of quotes that I found extra amusing.

"Careful, or you'll lose an eye," I joked.

"I'd finally stopped and looked at the date--December twenty-first, the longest night of the year.
Normally, that was something I'd celebrate. All that extra loving time." show less

A quick but unloved read. This novel reeks of a passion project, which is admired, but lacks substantial background content. Moreover, there are many elements presented that were both uninteresting and a bit overwhelming.

Three storylines are presented, the first of which throws us into the world of Norse gods and fantasy. The protagonist of the second story is a loyal lesbian working at a sex shop. She happens to be friends with the prostitute murdered near her job. She embarks on a mission to expose the killer by herself. The third story brings in supernatural elements with humans who have telepathic powers.

Frankly, this novel was all over the place; consequently, it was hard for me to enjoy it. Also, it is littered with show more controversial elements (prostitution, murder, sex shop work environment, supernatural powers, etc.), which seems a bit much. One or two should suffice. show less

Leah Cutter’s book, “Poisoned Pearls” was a page turner and not what I expected. I really liked the story line and the characters personalities fit in the story even when mixed with the Gods. However, I wished there was more background information about Cassie, Sam and Hunter. I couldn’t really connect with the characters as it seems they kept jumping around, appearing, disappearing, coming out of walls, etc. Maybe if the scenes were better described along with the characters history it would be a fascinating story. The story has great potential but it was a quick read.

Very different from the other books by Leah that I've read. This is a pretty much 'normal' urban fantasy with lots of added graphic sex for bonus. The more direct plot and writing style highlights the contrast with Leah's otherwise more esoteric and sparse style. As a re-working of the classic Odin legends though it is quite novel!

Cassandra is as far as she knows 'normal' rather than 'blessed' with any form of mental powers that afflict (by official figures) upto 10% of the population - telepathy, pre-or post cognition, and various others - but as a lesbian ostracised by her family she's struggling to make ends meet, her current job managing a sex and toys shop doesn't pay very well and has extremely unsocial hours. Life is made harder show more when she finds the body of one of her customer/friends outside the shop. The extremely attractive police post-cog knows she didn't do it, but also sees Cassie's involved somehow. Cassie just wants revenge and embarks on a little vigilante investigation. Which leads her to discovering plenty of surprises.

As a re-working of the Loki/Odin/Ragnarok legend it was interesting modern interpretation. Freda however needed a lot more integration into the main world plot. The graphic sex descriptions didn't seem like they added anything to the story either. Cassie is an interesting character, but everything else is not quite fleshed out well enough for the novel to properly work. show less

Poisoned Pearls by Leah Cutter is an urban fantasy set in a world like our own except that psychic abilities are routinely tested for and exploited. Cassie is a young woman who works in a sex shop. All her friends are street people and her life is pretty ordinary. She doesn't believe she has any special abilities. When she finds the body of her best friend in the alley behind her shop, and the psychic who works with the police says that she is somehow involved in the murder, she tries to solve the mystery herself. She discovers she is not as ordinary as she thought, which is a good thing since it seems it is up to her to prevent a mad god from starting Ragnarok.

I have to admit it took me some time to get into this novel. The switching show more back and forth between the different perspectives was initially confusing and made it hard to invest in the story. Once the novel really got going, however, I found that Cassie's character began to grow on me and I wanted to find out what happened to her. Cassie is funny, self-depreciating, stubborn and brave. All the other characters were interesting as well. When the various strands of the novel came together the action was fast and exciting. There was some sexual content in the novel, but I didn't find it too explicit. show less