Ever notice that the boundary between the supernatural and mundane worlds is very thin in eastern Canada? Tanya Huff made Toronto a vampire territory and hotbed of evil eruptions (Blood Price, Blood Trail, Blood Lines, Blood Pact, Blood Debt). Now she moves to Kingston, Ontario, for Summon the Keeper.
Claire Hansen, the Keeper, is summoned to the Elysian Fields Guest House to reseal a hole in the basement, which is literally an opening to Hell. The owner and monitor of the site disappears, leaving Claire stuck managing the place until the problem is solved. Her new employee, Dean McIssac, is a gorgeous Newfie who cooks, cleans, and lives the Boy Scout oath. Then there's Jacques Labaet: very French Canadian, very sexy, very dead. Jacques is a ghost who wants to be the man in Claire's life. Oh yeah, and there's Austin, a talking cat with attitude: "I barely know you, but I'm assuming you're human. I'm not saying this is a good thing, it's just the way it is."
Huff keeps the plot moving and the quips coming to the very end. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series will find this novel light but refreshing. --Nona Vero
Book Description
Being one of the Earth's protectors is never easy, but when Claire the Keeper and Austin the cat find themselves in charge of the Elysian Fields Guesthouse Bed and Breakfast, all Hell breaks loose in the form of a gateway residing in the basement! Do not miss the latest from one of the top writers in the fantasy genre!
Compares to best-selling fantasy authors Mercedes lackey and Charles deLint Tanya Huff's DAW books were chosen by the New York Public Library system as part of their Books for Teens program!
Summon the Keeper (The Keeper's Chronicles #1) FROM THE PUBLISHER
Being one of the Earth's protectors is never easy, but when Claire the Keeper and Austin the cat find themselves in charge of the Elysian Fields Guesthouse Bed and Breakfast, all Hell breaks loose in the form of a gateway residing in the basement! Do not miss the latest from one of the top writers in the fantasy genre! Compares to best-selling fantasy authors Mercedes lackey and Charles deLint Tanya Huff's DAW books were chosen by the New York Public Library system as part of their Books for Teens program!
FROM THE CRITICS
VOYA - Susan Dunn
When Claire Hansen is summoned to the Elysian Fields Guesthouse in Kingston she is expecting business as usual, and is not prepared for the current Cousin to abandon his post and leave her stuck there. Soon enough, Claire begins to see why a powerful Keeper like herself received a summons in the first place. On the third floor of the guesthouse is another Keeper, covered in dust, who has obviously been kept in slumber for some time. Claire realizes that someone in the guesthouse did something they shouldn't have, resulting in a hole in the fabric of the universe. The energy coming through the hole keeps the Keeper asleep, at the same time as she is keeping the seal on the hole. To break the seal would be disastrous, ultimately resulting in Armageddon. In the furnace room, Claire finds the hole--more like a pit--that leads directly to hell. Fortunately, Claire has some help in dealing with this situation. First there's Austin, her traveling companion and best friend--who also happens to be a talking cat. Then there's Dean, the hired help at the guesthouse. Claire fights her attraction to him every step of the way. Dean is mortal, but perfectly willing not only to believe in things like talking cats and holes to hell in basements, but to offer to do whatever he can to help--even, as it turns out, to nearly become a sacrificial virgin. This funny, fantastical journey with a motley cast of characters will be a hit with cat lovers as well as fantasy buffs. The good news is that at the end Claire, Austin, and Dean get in his truck and drive west following Claire's next summons--which, of course, paves the way for a sequel. Here's hoping!. VOYA Codes: 5Q 4P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written, Broad general YA appeal, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).
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