FLIGHT FROM DEATH - Yasmine Galenorn
Fly By Night , Book 1
Berkley
ISBN: 978-0-425-27215-2
July 2015
Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Seattle and Port Townsend, Washington - Present Day

Found guilty of a few crimes related to a theft, Shimmer, a blue dragon, is sentenced to five years Earthside.  Even though she is outcaste in the Dragon Reaches, it is her home, and moving Earthside has been a challenge.  She's currently working for Alex Radcliffe at Fly By Night Magical Investigations Agency, and after five months she's started to settle into her life and job.

Then Alex's friend, Patrick, calls for help with his Bed & Breakfast.  During reconstruction there were some odd occurrences, but the closer he gets to opening the inn, the more things go wrong.  Port Townsend is well known for its spirits and legends, but Alex figures between himself (a vampire), a dragon and a werewolf, they should be able to handle whatever is haunting his friend and fellow vampire's home.

It quickly becomes apparent that this is no simple haunting though.  The house itself has a checkered past, and there were problems on the land that predate the house.  Something other than a ghost has a hold on this land, and it may be something bigger than Shimmer and her friends can deal with.

A spin-off from Yasmine Galenorn's Otherworld series, FLIGHT FROM DEATH is the first book in her new Fly By Night series.  While there are definitely characters in common and a few references that you may not understand if you haven't read them, this book stands very well on its own.  With no family, Shimmer is an outcaste in the Dragon Reaches and has no status since she has no lineage to claim.  Banished from her homeland, Shimmer has settled into Seattle, and after a few bumps, life is settling into a rhythm that she can live with.  Alex is the sexy, Aussie-born vampire who runs the Fly By Night Magical Investigations Agency, and Ralph is the werewolf IT expert that she'll be working with on this case. Though Alex drives her crazy sometimes, he's also incredibly attractive, and now that he's free, Shimmer's feelings for him are a bit more difficult to ignore.

What they find in Port Townsend is more than they could have expected, and Shimmer, Alex and Ralph will have to call on some extra help.  Shimmer's oldest friend, Chai, arrives when he senses that she is in danger, but because he's a Djinn, getting him to help will be tricky. Patrick knows a local witch, Tonya, and they also get the help of a Spiritwalker, Degoba.  This diverse group will have their work cut out for them, as the evil they are facing is something nobody has ever dealt with before.

Filled with interesting characters and fast-paced action, FLIGHT FROM DEATH is a captivating tale.

Jennifer Bishop