Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher/author through the LibraryThing.com Members Giveaway program. I was asked to post an honest review (though not necessarily a favourable one). The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

This book had the potential to be really cool, from firts principles, however it let me down quite hard. These are some of the reasons:

- The characters are quite flat and unlikable, especially Angeline, whose reactions at times strike me as completely illogical. Some characters come across as doing things at random instead of acting mysteriouly, and the motivations driving some characters are completely unexplained.

- Shopping for Manolo Whaterver shoes in Rome... Why????

- Obviously Rome is full of thieving gypsies and unwashed street kids. Go figure... Talk about streotypes, eh?

- One character imbibes a poisonous brew and walks it off with no consequences, then the next time, the same brew kills him dead.

- Magic is initally very weak and then time-travel and other major chenges happen due to magic. Chaos magic is used without being properly introduced/explained. Maybe it was in the other books? Well sue me, 'cause I haven't read them.
Was this book low-magic or high-magic in the end? Who knows?

- There was a standard memory-impaired villain who promptly recovered their memories just in time to have it out with the heroine.

- My pet peeve with this book was the penchant for re-writing the same scene from different POVs but often with the same exact words. If I had a quid for each time the "chaste facade" of Church of So-and-So in Rome was decribed by copy-and-paste, I'd be able to buy a better book.

Not recommended. ( )

This review is for Raven's Blood by Deborah Cannon. This is book four in The Raven Chronicles. It is the latest in the series and is the first and only one I have read in the series. I received this book for free from the author through LibraryThing.com's August Member Giveaway.

The only thing that bothered me about this book was that the author spelled out the year or time or something along those lines near the beginning of the book. I can't find it now and it only happened one time so it's not even really an issue.

I learned that the term "spelunking" comes from the Latin term "spelunca" which just means "cave". It's not as strange of a word as it sounds now.

I am very thankful that this was an ebook and not a paperback novel because the dictionary on my iPod was absolutely necessary to get through about 90% of the book. I'm okay with that because I got to learn some things but I am definitely not an archaeologist.

This book reminded me of the movies Tomb Raider and The Mummy. I love stuff like that. Archaeological stuff is such a mystery that it makes for a great fictional setting. Deborah Cannon uses her extensive knowledge of archaeology and her wild imagination expertly. She writes like a professional. I expected that she had more books out that she does because she's just that good.

Ironically, the day before I read the scene where Cristine rents the Lancia, my fiancé (who is a car fanatic) was looking up Lancias online.

Susanne saying she had "sampled" Jake's body set off alarms in my head. What the fuck is up with her? Whatever.

The ending is a major cliffhanger. I didn't expect it to end the way it did and since this is the most recent in the series, it makes me anxious to read more. I definitely want to read the other Raven Chronicles and I definitely recommend this book, but make sure you have a dictionary handy (and Wikipedia)! ( )

I won this book from LibraryThing as an early reviewer. I did not realize that it was the fourth book of a series. I was wondering why I just wasn't "getting" it. It was slow to start with and I felt uninformed. I did not feel that it "stood alone" on its own and recommend taking the entire series in from the beginning. That way the foundation is laid. I plan to get the first three books and start from the beginning, so that should tell you that I am interested enough to do that.
That being said, I really loved the storyline. I felt it was presented with just enough twists and turns to keep me interested. At times I found it to be somewhat unbelievable, like the girls in the tunnels in gowns and stiletto heels, just didn't ring true as told. My imagination just didn't follow along for the ride. I needed more in-depth descriptions to make me "feel it". I really wanted to feel the dark and damp of the tunnels. I wanted to feel the development of the characters, feel more of their situations. Again, that could be from lack of reading the previous books. It felt rushed in an effort to make the most happen in the shortest period of words and time.
I would love to know if reading the series from the beginning would make a difference, my first thought is, yes, it would.
If there are more books in this series future I look forward to reading them as well. ( )

I did not realize this was the fourth in a series until I was over halfway through and flipped to the end where there are summaries of all the books in the series. I am definitely interested in reading the first three, but this one stands perfectly well on its own.

A very intriguing mystery involving ancient legends and beliefs, the story takes you deep into labyrinthine mithraea under the cathedrals of Europe. A must read for anyone who's into ancient legends or just loves a good mystery. ( )

Part four in this Raven Chronicles series takes the reader to ancient underground passageways in an attempted revival of an ancient dark Mithra cult. Jake Lalonde, half-Haida archaeologist is seeking his own truth of his heredity as a shaman and is caught up in a deadly fight for his survival. He is off the radar as far as his fiancé Angeline is concerned, and concerned she is. She is preparing to go to Europe to find him, his last known whereabouts place him in Rome. She is not aware of the other two people who are following her. Her deep knowledge and perception, of Jake, plus her gut instinct, says he is in trouble. A morbid discovery is found in Israel, when the body of the man Jake is to meet in Rome shows up in the truck that has arrived from Italy to take an iconic statue found at the site in Israel to Rome.

Deborah Cannon has gone deeper than ever in her latest book, mystic, full of twists and turns in plot, labyrinths, hallucinogenic mushrooms, visions, paranormal, Mithraic Mysteries, thrills and chills, if you like unusual mysteries you've found the right book! The action clings to the rails at full-speed. The characters are strong and unique. Deborah's previous books in the series have taken the reader to Tonga, the San Juan Islands in the US, and Haida Gwaii in Canada.

What Angeline learns when she finds Jake terrifies her. He is not himself, and appears to be spellbound by Sophia Saveriano, an archaeologist earlier laughed out of the academic community and now bent on proving her theories with Jake's assistance, but she is unlike anyone Angeline has ever met and seems ethereal. Who or what is she? She is everywhere and nowhere, she's like a will-o'-the-wisp. Who is the man from "Interpol" who followed Angeline and keeps turning up in strange places? What is happening to young men in Rome who disappear? Are the gruesome discoveries related?

The author has outdone herself in a story I couldn't put down. A great read. For anyone interested in Haida lore, ancient mysterious cults, the paranormal and thrillers, this book is for you. I was enthralled from beginning to end. A real winner! ( )