i started a new trilogy series books named:  mind games, double cross & head rush (tentatively titled this – and will be out 6th Dec 2011). 


Mind Games Plot:  Justine Jones has a secret. A hard-core hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem.
Or is it? In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers. And while Justine’s first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye. Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets. With Packard’s help, Justine has freed herself from her madness—only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone’s worst fears.
my thoughts:  mind games is the debut novel, first in a trilogy, of up and coming author carolyn crane.  this book is darker than the normal urban fantasy books.  her first novel is nothing like anything I have read before.  i must admit that it took me awhile to get fully immerged into the book because i found justine (the main character) a bit too much at some stages (the hypochondriac bit). her mind and inner workings make for truly disturbing reading.  justine lives in constant fear of the most miniscule, unsubstantiated things. It's hard to understand, but crane makes it easy to sympathize.  justine’s ‘illness’ is like an addiction that she can't stop; she can hear herself annoying those around her with incessant worries, but she can't stop articulating her fears. but at the end of the day `Mind Games' is so good because crane has woven together a thrilling story. her plot takes so many twists and turns, especially toward the end when i was thrown for several loops and knocked off balance.
Double Cross Plot:  Justine Jones lived her life as a fearful hypochondriac until she was lured into the web of a mysterious mastermind named Packard, who gifts her with extraordinary mental powers—dooming her to fight Midcity’s shadowy war on paranormal crime in order to find the peace she so desperately craves.
But now serial killers with unheard-of skills are terrorizing the most powerful beings in Midcity, including mastermind Packard and his oldest friend and worst enemy, Midcity’s new mayor, who has the ability to bend matter itself to his will. 
As the body count grows, Justine faces a crisis of conscience as she tests the limits of her new powers and faces an impossible choice between two flawed but brilliant men—one on a journey of redemption, the other descending into a pit of moral depravity.
my thoughts:  after finishing mind games, i was eager to start with double cross.  the difference for me between mind games and double cross was that i felt less like a spectator in this book than in mind games.  crane's writing style brings you in and makes you a part of her story before you even realize you are fully engaged with her characters, and wrapped up in an urban fantasy world that feels real and believable.  double cross definitely lived up to his title.  i know where my loyalties lie with the characters but there is still a tiny flicker of doubt as all the characters involved are appealing in their own way, yet they are flawed and have given plenty of reason why they should not be fully trusted. The ending absolutely blew me away.  i loved this book and can’t wait for the last book in the trilogy to come out at the end of this year.