Tainted Waters: The Cassie Stories, #2

By Leah Cutter

A bomb explodes on a busy street in Minneapolis, just before the annual Aquatennial celebrations. None of the pre-cogs in the city sensed the disaster before it occurred. None of the post-cogs can catch a glimpse of the bomber.

Cassie thinks she can solve the case. But no one listens because of how she acquired her powers. 

Seems sarcasm can only get a girl so far.

"Tainted Waters"—the second novel in this fast-paced urban fantasy series—casts our favorite smart-mouthed lesbian down the rabbit hole with insane gamers, jealous gods, and shadowy corporations.

Be sure to read the first of the kickass Cassie novels, "Poisoned Pearls" as well as the rest of the series: "Spoiled Harvest," and "Blooded Ice."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book View Cafe
• Release date: May 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781611385113

Leah Cutter

Leah Cutter--a Crawford Award Finalist--writes page-turning fiction in exotic locations, such as New Orleans, ancient China, the Oregon coast, ancient Japan, rual Kentucky, Seattle, Minneapolis, Budapest, etc.  Find more fiction by Leah Cutter at www.KnottedRoadPress.com. Follow her blog at www.LeahCutter.com.

Book preview

Prologue

Everyone needs to roll one-dee-four, Gary, the game master, suddenly announced.

Shit. Steve looked up from the laptop displaying his character sheet. Why? he asked.

Roll against insanity, Gary said with a maniacal grin. Mwah-ha-ha-ha.

Steve couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

What about— Mary, the group’s rules lawyer, started to ask.

No mods, no saves, Gary insisted. Roll.

Steve shook his head. He knew coming to this island had been a bad idea. It had screamed insane asylum from the first description Gary had given. All that mud and ooze along the coastline, the buildings set at odd angles, and nothing growing? They should have steered clear, no matter what treasure they’d been told about.

High or low? Steve asked as he plucked the clear, triangular, four-sided die from his pile of dice. He liked to imagine his dice as a hoard of jewels sometimes. It was why he always got the translucent dice, in bright colors, and kept them scattered across the top of his purple-suede dice bag next to his laptop.

Low. Very low, Gary assured him, obviously lying.

Steve rolled a four.

Safe, Gary growled.

Steve nodded as relief spread across his shoulders. As the party leader, it would have been a real pain if he’d suddenly gone crazy.

All the other players around the gaming table—there were seven of them that night—reached around their laptops and rolled their dice, trying to make their save.

A tall lamp that Gary had found at an estate sale stood in the center of the round table, casting just enough light for everyone to see, so that only the golden wood of the table was lit. Beyond the table, the rest of the basement room was in shadows.

Even Steve had to admit it was a nice effect, isolating the six of them while they played, cutting off the real world, making them live more in the world of the game.

The lamp itself was old and brass. Clawed feet dug into the wooden table, then flowed up to a fluted column. Three bulbs spun out from the top, covered by a swirling yellowed-glass shade.

Steve had laughed at Gary when he’d claimed the lamp threw strange shadows—told him that he needed to get out of his mother’s basement more. The shadows came from the unevenness of the swirling shade. The southern corner did not hold more darkness than the rest of the room. It just wasn’t as well lit.

Even when they’d started playing this crazy campaign of Gary’s, Steve refused to acknowledge Gary’s claims. The game was creepy enough without real-world weirdness.

Only Pat, the cleric, blew his roll. Of course, he was the only one who could heal the rest of the party of explorers.

Steve told himself that it was just the luck of the dice roll, really, that Pat blew his save, not the fact that he sat the closest to the southern, darkest corner of the basement.

So just how insane am I? Pat asked, leaning back. He was the newest addition to their regular group of gamers. Mary had brought him in—probably thinking they could start dating.

Steve wasn’t going to be the one to point out to Mary that Pat seemed to be much more interested in Gary than in her.

This is a quiet, disturbing insanity, Gary told him. Open up a private chat window on your computer with me. You’re going to start seeing things the others don’t.

Great. More eerie weirdness. Just what they needed.

The game went downhill from there surprisingly fast. Mary, their thief, botched springing a trap and nearly got decapitated. The others also blew saves and attacks.

All the while, Pat continued to say more and more disturbing things about the Great Old Ones, describing the creatures he was seeing, such as the elephant-like man with fangs at the end of his trunk, or the slithering green-jelly mass with thousands of eyes all seeking out those who lied, or even a slimy, pale worm the size of a city, blindly eating every soul it could find.

When everyone in the party of explorers was either dead or near death, they decided to call it a night, regroup, and figure out how to get off the damned island so they could heal their wounds and raise their friends.

After making plans for meeting the following week, the others traipsed off, leaving only Gary, Steve, and Pat.

The Great Old Ones will return soon, Pat told them darkly. Resume their horrifying and terrible rule.

Dude, give it a rest, Steve said, though he knew this was the kind of shit that Gary would eat up with a spoon.

Pat spouted a line of harsh gibberish. It seemed to be mostly constants. Grated like hell on Steve’s ear.

Huh? Steve asked, looking from Pat to Gary to Pat again. What the fuck was he saying?

Gary grinned at him. It’s what Cthulhu’s followers chant. About his place—in R’lyeh—and how he waits, dreaming.

Crap, Steve said. "I know you said you were going old school with this campaign, but I didn’t think you were going that old."

Our dread lord Cthulhu is timeless, Pat said solemnly. Eternal and evermore.

Gary just grinned. We will need the blood of fifty virgins to complete our despicable ritual.

Good luck with that, Steve told him. Or are you just going to use your own fifty times?

Gary punched Steve in the shoulder. Could just use yours.

Instead of joining in, Pat proclaimed, The darkness shall not hide you. Yigoph will find you and shred your souls. Not even Poseidon will save you.

Steve just looked at Gary, who gave a minute shrug. Evidentially he hadn’t told Pat to continue on after the game.

Whatever you say, buddy, Steve told Pat.

You have been warned, Pat said before he turned and left.

That was weird, Steve said, turning to Gary.

Gary gave a more expressive shrug. Kinda. But it was kind of cool, too. Don’t you think it would be cool?

"What, some kind of hell on earth? The Great Old Ones coming to their terrible rule? Why would that be cool?" Steve asked. It sounded stupid to him. He had a good enough life—worked at a phone store, lived on his own (okay, so he had a roommate), even had a car and an X-box. Life was good.

Naw, not that, Gary said. He shivered. But what if they really did exist? Like, the Old Ones or maybe a Sigil of the Elders?

A what? Steve asked. God, Gary needed to get a life sometimes.

It’s this gray-green stone. Supposed to give you one hundred percent protection against psionic attacks.

That could be cool, Steve said. Keep all the creepy blessed away, the people with paranormal abilities, the ones who could read your mind, or even your future or your past.

Did you see that? Gary asked suddenly.

See what? Steve asked, though he’d seen it.

One of the shadows thrown by the light standing in the center of the table had seemed to move. In his mind’s eye, Steve saw it grow. Become something gelatinous and huge.

Something other.

We should go, Gary said, heading for the stairs.

Yeah, my alarm is going to go off way too early tomorrow morning, Steve agreed, hurrying right behind Gary.

There wasn’t anything in the basement. They’d just been talking too long about creepy things. Gamed too late into the night. Nothing dark breathed down there. No amorphous being slobbered in the corner.

Exactly, Gary said as he rushed up the stairs.

Steve was glad that Gary actually did have a room upstairs and that he didn’t have to sleep in his mom’s basement, despite how Steve teased him about it. Dude was in his mid-twenties, though. Steve was going to have to find him a place, a roommate, a girlfriend, something. Get him out of there.

See you on Friday? Gary asked as he walked Steve to the door.

Steve paused for a moment. Gary had used a very odd tone asking his question. Steve turned to look at his friend.

There was something dark in Gary’s eyes, something that Steve had never seen before, that disappeared so fast after Steve noticed it that he wondered if he’d been mistaken.

You bet, Steve said, though he might actually tell the gaming group he was sick when Friday rolled around.

He didn’t want to go back into Gary’s basement. Not anytime soon.

He’d never admit that something down there had spooked him, but it had.

Hunter snapped his right foot out and back.

Pow. That would dislocate the opponent on his right’s kneecap.

Hunter spun, letting the momentum add power to his arm as he clotheslined the opponent who would be standing on his right.

That opponent was down now.

Jab. Jab. Jab. That took out the one on his left, three quick strikes, neck, gut, balls.

A final kick with his left foot toppled that opponent.

On to the next.

Jab. Punch. Strike. Kick.

Hunter increased his circle of decimation. Took out all the ghosts and opponents and everyone, everything he could see.

Finally, when Hunter reached door of the VA yoga room that he’d taken over as a private gym, he realized someone was standing there.

Someone real.

Hunter pulled himself up abruptly. Otherwise he would have struck out at the stranger.

Maybe. Hunter generally had better control than that.

But there was something off about this guy.

Hunter stayed where he was, exactly one arm’s length from the door, examining the stranger.

The guy looked ordinary enough. He was dressed like an orderly, wearing blue scrubs. Smelled like disinfectant. Jar-head haircut, no beard or mustache, but with huge reddish sideburns, like from those bad porn movies in the ’70s. Weasel-like face, with a small, sharp nose, thin lips, and beady eyes.

There was something about the guy’s shadow, though, as if it was denser or thicker than it should have been. Like it trailed too far behind him, dragging itself through more than one world.

Then the guy seemed to snap back into place. There was nothing wrong about him. Nothing disturbing at all.

Had Hunter imagined it? Was his own gift playing tricks on him again?

Or was there something more to this guy?

That was amazing, the guy said. How’d you learn to move so fast?

Hunter shrugged. He’d been learning not to tell people the truth, that the ghosts had taught him, the beings from so far in the future that they could cross the timelines, the world lines, and interact with him.

Practice, Hunter finally said.

Because that was also the truth. Hunter practiced. A lot. Every move. Every gesture. Until nothing was wasted, everything was automatic. Smooth. Nothing mistranslated in either this world or any other.

Could you teach me? the guy asked. I’m Erik, by the way.

Hunter, he replied, merely nodding at the outstretched hand and not taking it.

He still didn’t like to touch people. Didn’t have any problems hitting them. But touching? No.

Not because there were likely to have a super-powerful secret government drug on their hands that they wanted to infect Hunter with, but because Hunter was afraid he might see something accidentally.

That they might trip a pre-cog vision when Hunter wasn’t prepared for it.

Hunter cocked his head to the side as he pondered Erik’s question, looking for a trace of that misshapen shadow he’d seen before.

He’d tried to teach Cassie—his one, true, blood brother—how to fight. When she let him see her. When she wasn’t too angry at him about, well, everything.

However, she wasn’t any good at it.

She could fight—mean, dirty—and win. Not against Hunter, of course, but she could certainly hold her own against an untrained assailant.

However, she didn’t have the discipline, or patience, or whatever it took to drill. To practice one move at a time. Hell, she couldn’t even break a move down into pieces. With her, it was all or nothing.

Was her failure because Hunter couldn’t teach her? Like he hadn’t been able to teach her how to use her own post-cognitive abilities? Or was it because Hunter couldn’t teach anyone anything? Were his abilities too different? Or was he too different?

I can try, Hunter announced. He realized he’d been quiet for a while, staring off into space, weighing options, pushing at his own inadequacies like a sore tooth, unable to just let it be.

He was okay with that. At least he hadn’t been arguing with ghosts the entire time.

Great! Erik said with a big grin. At least his expression looked honest.

Maybe Erik wasn’t a secret agent. Maybe he was fully of this world. Maybe Hunter’s gift was to blame. There had been a time, before Loki had kidnapped him and forced him to view all possible futures, when Hunter’s gift had been more reliable.

Well. Sort of.

But Hunter was still cautious. Josh had fooled him for a long while, claiming to be a friend before Hunter had figured out that Josh was a corporate spy for the Jacobson Consortium.

Meet me here on Friday, Hunter announced. 3 p.m. And maybe he should go and pay Josh another visit. Hunter wouldn’t break the restraining order, of course, wouldn’t come within one hundred yards of Josh.

However, Josh would still know Hunter was there. Staring. And laughing.

Freaked Josh out every time.

You got it, Erik said with a grin.

Hunter picked up the towel and water bottle sitting next to the door.

You finished? Erik asked, gesturing toward the now empty room.

Hunter looked back. With his regular vision, he could see the empty wooden floor, the mats piled up along the walls, the blocks and straps in baskets.

With the tiniest shift, he could also see the pile of bodies he’d left behind, ghosts and former companions, all lying motionless.

I am, Hunter said. He could come back and banish the bodies at some other point.

Or maybe they’d all rise up and he’d have to fight them again.

Either was acceptable to him.

1

The bomb blew up. Again.

Damn it. What was I missing? I pulled back along the time thread, still following the brightest of the blue lines that represented the timelines surrounding the event.

There had to be something I was missing. Something we’d all missed. There had to be a way to see the guy planting the bomb, not just watch it go off again and again.

The strongest blue line in that great fanning wave of lines spread through my area of knowing represented the present. This world. My modern-day self.

The lines that traveled along either side of that bright blue one were all weaker.

Alternate timelines. Alternate pasts.

Different me’s. Usually still bleached blonde, tall, zaftig, with great boobs.

On the one hand, I had to be able to swear under oath that I’d found the guy in my timeline. Lawyers were freaky clever like that, once they’d learned that some of us could see more than one past or future.

Most of the blessed hadn’t come to grips with that as fast as defense attorneys.

Not that I blamed them. Much. It meant that a bunch of us, the ones who had been labeled crazy, were now part of their club.

They weren’t always chummy about it.

Maybe there was a clue in one of the other timelines about who’d set the bomb. So far, I’d stuck with just the primary past, despite how tempting the other lines were. I didn’t want to look at those alternates until I was forced to.

Not that I’d ever admit how tempting they were to my girlfriend Sam, but traveling alternate pasts was slightly addictive.

Whoever had planted the bomb on the sidewalk in the middle of University Avenue on a slow Sunday morning had done a fucking good job of hiding his footsteps.

The guy had assembled the bomb in an abandoned warehouse building in northern Minneapolis, close to the Mississippi, where the gentrification hadn’t taken hold.

Then the asshole had hired someone to torture and murder people on the site. The creep had created three masterpieces before the cops had caught him.

That much emotion messed up any kind of reading. No one had been able to get through the pain of the other events. They’d just been too big. The lines were too blurry.

The police might have some physical evidence that a bomb had been created on that location. But they didn’t have anything else.

So now it was up to the PAs, those with paranormal ability, to figure out who this fucker was.

Before he did it again. Because the rambling note that the news released promised more retribution. He’d only killed two people with the first bomb—couple of kids. The next deaths would run in the thousands, or so he said.

Other, better trained post-cogs had been working on this puzzle for a week. Sam had finally called me in.

Okay, so I may have bugged her about it a little. Teased her that her and the other blessed just didn’t want to get their minds dirty.

Possibly threatened to withhold sexual favors until she let me try.

But now I saw what she meant. The event happened too damned fast. The bomb kept going off before anyone could spot who planted it.

Either that, or…

I opened my eyes, slipping out of the area of knowing where I’d been traveling along the past timelines and into Sam’s place. I’d been lying on her couch—a wave-like piece of furniture that was far more comfortable than it looked, supporting my back fully while keeping my knees slightly raised.

Still thought we should break it in someday. But Sam didn’t want the overtones of a sexual encounter on her seeing couch.

I kind of got that. Kind of pissed me off that she was such a prude about such things, though.

The July day outside her lovely suburban apartment with the AC blasting looked perfect—that thick Minnesota summer sky, so blue it could choke you. Just beyond the perfectly manicured lawn was a private lake, surrounded by sturdy maples and oaks. I think even some elms had survived Dutch elm disease and prospered there.

I wasn’t about to step one foot outside the wonderful cool of Sam’s place though. It might look lovely outside, but it was probably ninety-five degrees out, with ninety percent humidity. The grass that looked so lush was more harsh to walk on than AstroTurf. And that scenic lake bred mosquitoes the size of crows.

I picked up my phone. No messages. I’d told Tom we might hang out later, but I’d been vague about it. Didn’t surprise me that he hadn’t called. I was going to have to remember to call him, and de’Angelo, and maybe Tess….

With a sigh, I got up off the couch and stretched how I usually stretched, arms up over my head then down toward the floor. I wasn’t about to touch the floor—I was pretty sure I hadn’t been flexible enough to do that since I was seven. Particularly with my tits. They always

Reviews for Tainted Waters

[teria2m · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great read. A little confusing as this is Volume 2, but that is a minor issue. Loved the story and the premise - mixing paranormal with mythology. The story was strong, enjoyed meeting all of the characters. Be prepared - some foul language and sexual content.

[autumnturner76 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Meh. Wasted time.

[terriko_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wish I'd realized this was book 2 sooner: I spent a whole lot of time being very confused! Intriguing world, a couple of interesting characters. I'm curious enough to maybe go back at read book 1, especially since I've enjoyed other stories by Leah Cutter, but I'll say that unlike previous books which I've read nearly cover-to-cover, I think this book had kind of weird pacing due to the interspersed larp sequences. In hindsight, I probably could have skipped them and not missed much story, and they felt like they just slowed the pacing down and introduced characters who I didn't know enough about to care about them. Definitely not my favourite from Leah Cutter, although the premise is interesting enough to shine through some weird cutscenes.

[moniqueluque · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a great read. You must read the first book in the series to understand it though. Tainted Waters pulled me in from the very first page to the very end. I recommend it to all readers especial those who love adventure.

[benboo-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good story, though took a bit too get started. A group of gamers are introduced, followed by the main character and once I got the connection, the scenery moved along nicely. It probably would have helped if I had known it was book two of a series, but it still read well on its own. Could have used more context. I want clear if it was sweet in the future, which is what it initially felt like. But good anyway. I reviewed a few preview copy.

[xxcoder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not bad, walls of reality is bit weak, and people who used certain drug can see and have certain powers like ability to see future or past.Meanwhile certain people is abusing Dragons and Dungeons group to weaken reality to summon evil being.I didn't read first book but it stands on it's own pretty well. The story is good read.

[tzevaf · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I received this book free through LibraryThing in exchange for my review. I was a fan of Cutter's book "The Changeling Troll," but I could not get through "Tainted Waters." To be fair, I did not read the first book in the series but there should be some background and history for new readers. I was unable to find any details about the world from the reviews of the first book in the series, so it made "Tainted Waters" extremely hard to follow. This book jumps right into the story with characters interacting and living in a dynamic, paranormal world that is completely foreign to new readers. Nothing is explained, no characters are introduced - in fact, acronyms are used for the paranormal abilities and not spelled out. Perhaps all of these details were in the first book, but for a new reader, it is very alienating. I did not become engaged in the story and did not like the main characters. They may have been more likable if I understood their motives and quirks from the first story, but then again, maybe not. Unfortunately, I could not finish the book.

[zjordi_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Pre- and post-cogns, and drug ninjas don't really mix well with the Great Old Ones and roleplaying games. And the overtly sexual overtones didn't add anything useful to the plot IMHO.A failed effort.

[solnechnaja-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

'Tainted Waters' continues the story of Cassandra, quick tempered and homosexual girl. In the previous one - 'Poisoned Pearls' - readers observed world salvation from forthcoming Ragnarok including 'not-telling-the-truth' Odin, cunning Locke, Minneapolis prostitutes and drugs, switching paranormal abilities on. In the second novel, instead of dark and frosty winter Minnesota is under the suffocating summer heat; Norse pantheon is replaced with Great Old Ones (Greek Poseidon has somehow got into this company), and Cassy is eager to find a decent job, where she would use her newly discovered post-cog ability. But all those changes relate to the exterior. 'Tainted Waters' is actually the same dynamic young adult novel, but those readers who's already read the first part of the series, won't find the charm of the novelty, that accompanied 'Poisoned Pearls'.I didn't like the romantic line between Cassy and her girlfriend. It used all the YA-stamps, from 'oh, I feel so good together with her' to 'she doesn't understand my yearnings' and 'we belong to different social classes'. That line was emotionally typical and boring, concerning the plot. But making Hunter one of the main characters, and not just some strange guy without any significant use, was a really good change. In the first novel he was the most intriguing hero, and 'Tainted Waters' showed him to us from an unusual point. Another character, used to reveal the malicious plans on rising the Great Old Ones, was Steve. He is not a big person in world salvation, but the image of 'just-an-ordinary' guy, being made to participate in strange rituals without understanding the whole meaning of this was suitable to the plot development.Also I'd like to mention, that the readers will find out new information about Jacobson Consortium and the 'blessed'. However, the plot wasn't so captivating, as in the first part of the series. Events went by smoothly, without breathtaking twists and OMG feelings. This is partly the fault of the scenery - it's really difficult to be scared of chtonian tentacles under burning sun. To conclude with, 'Tainted Waters' is just an average YA-novel, quite good, but not so crazy and epic as 'Poisoned Pearls'. The final twist hints at the continuations, resembling Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, but if that is the point - I'd wait for more young adult stamps and descent of the series intrigue and interest.

[chutchi-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fascinating book and is well written. The only drawback is that you have to read the first book to be able to follow the second book. I was confused so much of the time. The characters are interesting and the whole plot was exciting as a fantasy novel. A good teen novel or Fantasy fiction fan.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A rather depressing book, though it ends on a better note. I haven't read the first Cassie book, and I'm mildly interested in doing so; I'm more interested in seeing where she goes from here. The world is intriguing, the threat is _weird_ (both the actual threat and the angle it comes from), the characters are a bit hard to take. Cassie's screwed up her life pretty badly, and knows it; she spends rather too much time focusing on all the dead ends before her. And I don't think her relationship with Sam is all that healthy (though it may improve, now that she's not coasting. Assuming she doesn't!). Hunter is more broken than he appears to be at the beginning - I thought he was just handling things from a weird angle, but he's really not fully functional. Still the best warrior, but he seems mentally rather too fragile. And what's to become of him? He's still/again a fugitive at the end of the book... I found it hard to find anyone in the book I really wanted to read about - Steve was probably the most stable person there, and he's pretty peripheral. A lot of interesting detail on the Blessed and how different sorts of powers work; meddling by various gods (some left over from the previous book, some new in this one); way too much brooding about messed-up lives and how there was no way out. Glad I read it, will look for the next one and perhaps the previous one, but unless the series gets a lot brighter I don't think I'll reread.

[rjlouise · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Cutter is so hit or miss for me. It's really frustrating. I've both enjoyed and really disliked her work and this was one of those times that I simply DISLIKED her work.I didn't care much for the narrator in the second book (I read the first, which I think was better, though not by a significant margin). She's very observant of the physical aspects of people, but she's also totally physically clueless (she can't imitate or translate to her body what she sees when she needs to on ANY level, which seems odd to me). She's also physically focused (I cannot tell you how many characters had "nice tits." Ugh.), which wouldn't be bad in moderation, I guess. But it's definitely not great at the frequency in this novel.With all the open-endedness of the last novel, I was frustrated to see that this novel was spent on an entirely different pantheon with little reference to all that was left unresolved in the first book.Cutter writes a good story, but this was a miss for me.D (disliked narrator, felt too disconnected from prequel)

[cfraser_38 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I had not read the first in the series and as a result I was a bit confused at times i.e. the book did not always stand on its own that well and not much was explained. It was a pretty easy read, but I felt the action at the end of the book was rushed - lots of build up and then it was over very quickly. Also, the logic was a bit flawed even for this genre. I don't know if I would recommended the book - especially without ready the first.

[antares1_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tainted Waters by Leah Cutter is the second in a series. I had also received the first book as an ARC, and had the background. The prolog seemed to have nothing to do with the book for quite a while, and I was wondering why the author had bothered with it. It wasn't until much later that it started to make sense. I found the initial pacing of the book to be quite slow. It wasn't until the end that things picked up and became engrossing. Before that I would do well just to get a couple of pages read, because it was taking so long for the story to unfold. I do wish the author had chosen another pantheon to use for this book. To me "the Old Ones" has been over done, and no one does it quite as well as Lovecraft.

[reading_fox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Second in the series, and more of the same which is starting (already!) to get a bit unbelievable, after all how many gods are there floating around un-loved in the world. This time someone - never specified why or who they are - is influencing a bunch of DnD gamers to attempt to summon Cthullu back into the world, to the general detriment of humanity. Fortunately for everyone, this turns out to be happening in Maine, where our heroine is living happily enough with her new hot girlfriend the Police assistant Sam. There's also a bit more investigation around the corporation that has been sub-contracted to perform all the psychic testing, and Cassie finds a few things not quite as she (or her mum) expected them to be. In this episode it's now summer and to contrast with the freezing cold descriptions of the last book we now have repeated boiling hot, muggy ones instead. It is no particular improvement. The absence of graphic sex is welcomed, and it looks like even Cassie's stints in a sex and toy shop might be coming to an end after she's forced to make several choices - saving the world vs keeping her job, girlfriend and family. This is not high literature. It's not even the better end of urban fantasy, it's never going to become a world-wide best seller. There are plot holes and inconsistencies, the characters apart from Cassie are thin and vague and drift in and out as necessary. It isn't even particularly believable in it's own internal logic. And there's no explanation of the gaming or Cthullu legends if you're not already familiar with Dungeions and Dragons or Lovecroft. But it is fun in a relaxed and kind of sassy way. Cassie is fun, knows what she wants, always goes in full throttle both feet first, stubborn as all hell, and you as a reader know she's always going to save the world, and emerge OK. If that's what you're looking for in a book then you'll enjoy the series.

[drjoantmueller · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tainted Waters by Leah CutterThis novel is a very well written approach to an alternate reality timeline. It shows a world where psychic power is recognized as an asset controlled by corporations and regulated by the government. I liked the matter of fact approach to everyday life in this novel. The plot combined elements of a mystery, science fiction, romance, and mythology without getting too involved in farfetched ideas. I loved how the book engaged my attention from beginning to end keeping me reading to find out what happened next. I would highly recommend this book!!

[loboal-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As I started out reading this book, the changing of one narrator to another was a bit disconcerting. However, shortly thereafter it made sense as the two were interwoven into the story. This book has a great storyline that keeps the reader yearning for more and I was finding it hard to put it down until I finished it. After finishing this book, I will have to read its predecessor, as well as (hopefully) the next book in line. Well done, Ms. Cutter!

[amkj-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the Cassie Series. Book one is titled Poisoned Pearls. The ebook version does not indicate on the title page that this is in a series. Unfortunate considering I quickly realized I was missing out on the world building and character relations from the first book. However the book was still fascinating with references to the gods and rulers of many cultures, both real and fictional.

[liveshipvivacia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a book where I really have to gather my thoughts. For starters, let me say that I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. Moreover, I started reading this book without reading the summary or having read the first book in the series. I went in completely cold.World-building for this series is pretty good. The writer provides a clear grasp of what different people can do, although I would have liked to have seen Cassie interact more with the alternate timelines. The world-building is part of what kept me reading, because I genuinely found that world immersive. Leah Cutter also demonstrates that she can alternate writing styles fairly well too, between Hunter and Cassie. I prefer her third person POV, because first person POV, aside from being very limited, is in Cassie’s case rather crude compared to Hunter. Ideally, the book would have been in third person for me with alternating perspectives on a regular basis, so that one got the full story. There wasn’t a sense of that here.Like I said, world building is pretty good, but there were still gaps. Steve’s story was underdeveloped, to the point where the climax felt entirely too anticlimactic. Beat up some bad guys, save the day, without any real build up to it. Or, rather, build up but no release. It’s like running flat out, expecting to jump, and then tripping. Cassie’s POV, as I mentioned before, was problematic for a few reasons. For one, I didn’t particularly enjoy being in her head. Cassie is rude, crude, and has an attitude. She is also very repetitive. On the one hand, that made not reading the first book a non-issue, because she summarized everything that happened there. On the other hand, points were hammered in when I already got the message.The setup reminded me of Anita Blake, before the series turned into plot what plot. In that sense, it was good at hooking the reader, but not necessarily cluing them into everything. It would make a decent second or third draft, but the lacking parts require revision.Did I enjoy this book? Yes, to a degree. Would I recommend this book to others? Yes, with the stipulation that it may not be entirely satisfying, depending on personal preferences. 2.5 stars on LibraryThing, 3 stars on Goodreads.

[carod_51 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second novel about Cassandra, and it is advisable to read the first in order to understand the alternate world the author has created. In this sequel to “Poisoned Pearls” Cassie is still trying to adjust to her new psychic powers. She tries to help her girlfriend Sam, a psychic who works with the police, to find a terrorist bomber who is threatening Minneapolis. All the psychics find the time lines corrupted and are unable to track the bomber. Because she came into her abilities through the use of drugs, Cassie can’t find a job to use her gifts legitimately and has to help behind the scenes. Hunter, the vet who is trying to train Cassie, is under suspicion in the bombing case. Cassie learns that there is more at stake as someone is trying to raise the Old Ones which could bring about the end of the world. In the first book of the series, Cassie encounters the Norse Gods (Loki and Odin make appearances in this novel as well). In this novel Cassie is dealing with the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. I enjoy the way the author involves different mythologies in this series. I found this novel faster and easier to get into than the first book, possibly because I already knew who the main characters were and how this alternate world works. Cassie continues to be a rebellious outsider, although she makes some efforts towards growth. The world the author depicts is rather dark and gritty but there is humour in this novel as well. I have one quibble: Cassie is constantly smoking. I realize that her smoking represents her rebellion, but I dislike cigarettes so intensely that I find it distracting. I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy urban fantasy, but suggest reading the series in order.