#7 in the Jazz Park series. This finds them in Marrakesh and Vayl has lost his memory. He thinks that Cole and Jaz are his servants and that Bergman is his teen ward. Jazz and the gang are there to try and find the mythical tool that will help her banish Brude for good as well as get Vayl his memory back. ( )

I wanted to love it, I tried so hard to love it. That was the problem, I was forcing myself to get through to many parts of this book. I struggled to figure out who was saying what, with all the voices inside her, Jaz's head, ARGUH, frustrating ! There was too much thinking, not enough action it really did not push the story ahead much at all. i am a fan of this series, I love it, just not this one. Off to read the final book in the series.... ( )

Love of all kinds grabs every character by the balls and squeezes which didn't always end happily. Loss has always played a big part in this series but it's showcased in a new light in this one. I found Jaz's approach to not leaving Vayl even though he wasn't himself (he'd regressed to his 1777 self and viewed everyone close to him as characters from his past), possibly permanently so, very moving. Their love letters to each other were very emotional and not cheesy in the least. I appreciated her finally understanding the pain of Cole's unrequited love, there's nothing like experiencing something for yourself.

I'm worried about Cole. He goes through hell. I'm figuring he's going to have trouble with PTSD and will probably have to work through some trust issues. Physically, I'm wondering what the after-effects of what happened to him will be. I hope we haven't seen the last of this adorable and jovial man.

Bergman, another source of hilarity, exposes his secrets in a drug-filled haze and jeez, were they embarrassing. I'm so glad he was surrounded by friends, or rather family as I like to think of them, to help him get passed his issues.

Now for a one-off character: Yousef -masochistic stalker. What do you do with a man who won't back off? Who grins when you hit him? Loved his advice about women: Let them beat you...but don't let them break you.

Despite the many funny lines and emotional scenes it wasn't the easiest of reads. I did quite a bit of skimming because I simply didn't think I could finish the book without doing so. I'm not sure why.

[b:The Deadliest Bite|9414140|The Deadliest Bite (Jaz Parks, #8)|Jennifer Rardin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298806972s/9414140.jpg|14298250] is the last in the series and I hope it wraps everything up as there are quite a few loose threads and unanswered questions.

2.5 stars. ( )

This is the 7th book in the Jaz Parks series, you do need to read previous book to understand what is going on in this book. There will be eight books total in this series with the 8th book, The Deadliest Bite, being released in June 2011. This book starts out a bit rough, but ends up being a very good addition to this series and resolves a lot of plot lines that were left hanging in the last book.

Jaz and crew are in Morocco on a mission to retrieve the tablet that can free Jaz from her possession by Lucifer's Assassin, Brude. Unfortunately something has happened to Vayl and he now believes that he is living in the year 1700 something; as a result he doesn't recognize any of his crew for who they really are and thinks they are actually people from his past. While Jaz and crew try to figure out how to fix Vayl, Jaz's possessions symptoms are starting to affect her physically and are making her increasingly ill.

This book starts out pretty horrible. It jumps right into the story and, as the reader, you are totally confused. Vayl is calling everyone with different names and I couldn't figure out when/why he had lost his memory. It was really confusing, boring, and incredibly hard to get through the first fifty pages or so. But, trust me, get through that part and you will absolutely adore the rest of the book.

Once you get past that beginning part there are fight scenes galore, wonderful humor, and many resolutions to plot threads that were left dangling in the last book. Once Vayl gets back to himself the book gets even better; but I will admit some of the parts where Vayl thinks he is still living in the past are pretty darn funny. Seriously this book had me laughing so hard at points I was almost in tears. Astrid, the robo-cat, plays a pretty large role in things and she is absolutely-fricking hilarious.

There is a lot more tension between the characters than in previous books. Vayl kind of assigns everyone characters of people in his past and some of those don't agree with Jaz's crew (for example Vayl think Bergman is a little girl named Helena). Cole and the demon have some romantic tension going on. Bergman has romantic tension going on with the lady who owns the house they are staying in. Jaz is having her heart ripped out everyone time Vayl sees her but can't recognize her.

We also get a lot of info about Vayl's past (since he is kind of living in the past). We get to see the type of guy he was and some of the things he went through, this helps fill him out even more as a character.

Overall, despite a rough start, this book ended up being a wonderful addition to the series. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are lots of awesome fight scenes, some romance, good character development, tons of humor, and many dangling plot points are resolved. I am super excited to see how Rardin tied up this series and can't wait to read the last book in the series, The Deadliest Bite. ( )

Full review posted at http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com
The story starts out with Val having lost his memory and the crew, Jaz, Colin, Bergman, trying to find out what has happened to him and how to get his mind back to the current century. There is a TON of tension going on, Jaz being upset that Val doesn't remember her, Colin being in love with Jaz but Jaz not loving him back, The inn owner that likes Bergman but Bergman just doesn't get it, and of course the presence of the Demon Kyphos who wants Colin but Colin will never love her. I was pretty lost for most of the whole memory loss bit, It was all a bit confusing in the beginning and they hardly do anything about what they are really there for (in Morocco) until half way threw the book. Right before Val gets his current memories back it finally picks up and the actions starts, it gets much better from there. Bergman completely blew me away with some of his actions and Cole went through hell for a while and the book kinda left some stuff with him unfinished But Im sure that will be cleared up in book 8 The Deadliest Bite. The story was so unpredictable towards the end that I was glued to the pages wanting to know what else could possibly happen. If you start off reading it and want to put it down DON'T keep going it gets better. ( )