Maelstrom

Highly Recommended!

Okay, imagine this: a one-of-a kind novel which manages to be thought-provoking, laugh-out-loud hilarious, wry and satirical, and sweetly romantic, all at the same time. How many authors can pull that kind of thing off? Not many, but here's one who can: Ann Pino, the author of Maelstrom.

Not only is this a rollicking read, but it's a rock-and-roll read. Maelstrom is the name of the band featured in Ann's novel, but they're no ordinary band. They're not even human.

Maelstrom is comprised of Kalila (a genie, or more properly termed, a djinn), Vic (a vampire who loves all blood types except AB negative), Lazaro (a zombie who likes to hang around college campuses for the smart food, and I'm not talking about campus buffets), Bo (an incubus with one thing -- lustin' -- on his mind), and Nevin (a sweet-tempered fairy who loves nature and tries to urge the band away from misbehavior and toward philanthropy).

And the band manager of this motley musical crew? Ricky Landon, who just happens to be a good-hearted but quite ordinary human. His biggest struggle with his otherworldly band members is that being immortals, they just don't understand human conventions, and as a result, they tend toward wreaking havoc everywhere they go and everywhere they play. Oh, and did I mention, the roadies are werewolves? And that Ricky has a crush on the gorgeous Kalila, who thinks that physical relationships with humans are icky?

Complicating the situation is the bet which Maelstrom has with Ragnarökkr , a band made up of washed-up deities whose front man just happens to be Thor. The two bands are competing to see which will be the first to win fame by human means -- in other words, no magic allowed. The losers -- including poor Ricky -- will be banished to Hades for five hundred years. No big deal when you're immortal, but for Ricky, we're talking about a life-and-death situation.

Maelstrom is chock-full of delights, from the mysterious yellow cat who attaches itself to Ricky, to Echo (the answering service Ricky uses to contact members of the band via his Blackberry), to Kalila and her eccentricities regarding her lamps, which serve, of course, as her homes.

Particularly entertaining is the interplay of the strong personalities of the band members, juxtaposed with their struggles to comprehend human ways, and Ricky's earnest endeavor to understand the ways and means of immortals.

The plot cracks along, keeping the reader turning pages to find out just what the Hades is going to happen next, while throughout the mayhem and hilarity, we see developing a message of friendship and tolerance -- no matter how starkly individuals may differ from one another, common ground can be discovered and nurtured if they work from a foundation of compassion and understanding.

And from Ricky's adventures with the band, we also see that sometimes what looks at first like an infernal mess might just turn out to be one of life's most meaningful lessons.