Serpent's Kiss (Rogue Angel) by Alex Archer

My first Rogue Angel read. Awesome cool read full of suspense, legends, myth, archeology, science and intriguing historical realities all wrapped into one!

In India in 509 BC, a man's love for a woman leads to a daring plan of escape, to take her from a secret village. Carrying with him a book in snakeskin leather and jewels, Sahadeva escapes only to find worse trouble.

Annja Creed joins the archeological dig of Professor Rai on the southern coast of India to investigate a burial pit of the Shakti, a culture known for human sacrifices. When a tsunami hits, the sea opens up the secrets of the past, as ancient relics. Nagas, figures with one part human and one part snake that have been hidden for centuries, indeed millenia, now come to the surface. Pirates, the most ruthless pirates now doing business in the waters around India, have turned their aim on Annja Creed's find. Can Annja discover the archeological significance of these relics before the thieves can stop her? Will an ancient curse, the curse of the nagas, follow all those touch or hunt for these relics? A relic with writing in a language unknown to the world's lingusitic experts tantalizes with its hint of a lost culture. What strange mix of legend and reality will archeology unearth?

This author's writing is breathtaking. Fine details, very fine details all in place create an aura, a level of suspense and myth, that make this read intriguing from start to finish. From knowledge of skin diving to knowledge of ancient civilizations and linguistics, this novel is written with a firm unpinning of detailed research but never heavy or pedantic --- it just seems to flow from his pen (or keys) as part of the story. I love the way this author writes characters. Annja Creed is magnificent --- intelligent, dynamic, sassy and downright funny at times. The father and son relationship between the pirate Rajiv and his son Goraksh is emotionally moving as well as suspenseful. A stunning ending!

All I can say is that Debiw and my husband were not kidding when they talk about how awesome Rogue Angel is. This is the 10th book in the series but it works well as a stand alone. One may not know all the history of how Annja Creed found the sword, Joan of Arc's sword, or the entire history of Garin and Roux, people who have lived for centuries, but this story in and of itself with its sea legends and snake legends is so awesome, and this author's style so incredible, that it is well worth reading as a stand alone. Suspense, action, great characters, myth and legend mixing with history and even science, curses and archeology and science all are so finely sculpted together.

Mini-Challenge: New to Me

This part of the Rogue Angel writing team is not to new to me. I already read an awesome book by him so I confess, I did have a very strong feeling I would love this..and I did! Rogue Angel is new to me in terms of reading one. I have bought previous ones with a strong feeling that I would love them. Sometimes you just know a book is going to be great just from knowing what you like to read, reading the blurb. Added to the fact all the good things I kept hearing about this series. This was the case with Rogue Angel. I have to thank Debiw and others for bringing this book and this author to my attention. I just want to reinforce their praise for this book. It is not a romance --- although this author really writes some really fun exchanges between Annja and the men in her life. I just think this book might really, really appeal to readers who loved the Bombshells and love suspense, esp. if readers also like a bit of myth and legendary feel to the read. Why in the world did I wait so long to read this series?!?!?! My TBR is way out of control but I just can't let it delay me in reading series like this one!

AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus