More Phaedra Weldon: Zoe Martinique series: * Wraith * Spectre * Phantasm

Weldon has managed to keep the action, the romance, the suspense, and the interest on full-bore for two, and now three books. Throughout the series, Zoë has been relying on others to tell her what she needs to know. But she's now on her own. Slowly she's shed the help of anyone she believed was betraying her, and that leaves very few people to rely on, or help her. Now, she has to pay attention and she still tunes out the information in order to wonder about her life, her loves, and her problems when a bit of concentration could make all the difference to her staying alive. While extremely annoying, this habit of Zoë's is congruent with her characters and as much as it drives this reader up the wall, the story line and the action keep me reading in spite of the fact that sometimes I just want to whack her with a clue stick. Luckily, several other characters want to do the same thing -- more power to them.

Ultimately, Zoë must grow up as we all do. But before she can take that step she must delve into her own past and remember some events that were buried long ago. To find her mother, she must learn more about her and their life. Zoë has power but where did it come from? How did it develop? Was it inherited and if so was it from her mother? Her father? What does it mean? She must look into the past in order to find the beginning and understand herself. To do this she must accept responsibility for herself and her actions. Not an easy thing for anyone and especially hard for Zoë who has managed to avoid thinking for herself since the attack which released her powers. She likes to think she's in control but she just hands it over to others -- first Rhonda who found her jobs and set everything up for her, her mother, Joe (the cop who can see the dead), Dags, who now has two familiars, and Daniel who can't cope with what he's seen.

In a very strange way this is a coming of age novel, Zoë learns to rely on herself and her instincts and that she is responsible for her actions and the results and she'd better pay attention in the future because as Spider-man said, "with great power comes great responsibility".

This series continues to improve with each book, so check it out.