Finally finished The Mystery of Grace

So I just finished reading the "The Mystery of Grace" by Charles De Lint, which will be out March 17, 2009. I tried to finish it last night... but I it was just to late! So I brought it into work to finish. What can I say it was the end of the book, and I wasn't going to wait all day to find out how it ends. I do work in a bookstore... and reading is part of my job. Plus I only had 12 pages left to read, though I didn't realized that last night...anyways.

If your Charles De Lint Fan your going to love this Ghost story. It may not be Newford but this fictional southern Californian Latino community that he creates has a cast of interesting characters and places. The story centers around the main character Grace who is a car enthusiasts who works in a shop with a bunch of gear heads rebuilding hot-rodders. If my Cd's were not still packed away I would have popped in my Reverend Horten Heat or Stray Cat Cd's every time I picked up the book. Lucky De Lint lists off a great soundtrack of old-school rockabilly and surf music, which I am definitely going to check out! What I love about his stories is that Charles De Lint always gives you a well written story that feature great characters!!

Mystery of Grace

Three years after his last major adult novel, Charles De Lint returns with a new tale of magic, loss, and redemption, his first book set in the Southwest. Centered on a remarkable female protagonist and entirely self-contained, this is a modern contemporary fantasy as invented band pioneered by de Lint himself. Altagracia—her friends call her Grace—has a tattoo of Nuestra Señora de Altagracia on her shoulder; she's got a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg; and she has grease worked so deep into her hands that'll never wash out.

Grace works at Sanchez Motor Works, customizing hot rods. A few blocks around her small apartment building is all her world—from the grocery store where she buys beans, tamales and cigarettes to the library, the little record shop, and the Solona Music Hall. Which is where she meets John Burns, just two weeks too late.

Grace and John fall for one another, and that would be wonderful, except that they're both haunted by unfinished business. Before their relationship can be resolved, they're both going to have to learn things they don't know about the world of the living and the world beyond. About why it's necessary to let some things go.

If your just discovering Charles De Lints work you might want to know that doesn't just write urban fantasy but also has some fantastic horror novels done under the Samuel M. Key pseudonym. His novel Savha is also a great sci-fi read and De Lint has also written some young adult works as well as children books.

Svaha

Out beyond the Enclaves, in the desolation between the cities, an Indian flyer has been downed. A chip encoded with vital secrets is missing. Only Gahzee can venture forth to find it—walking the line between the Dreamtime and the Realtime, bringing his people's ancient magic to bear on the poisoned world of tomorrow. Bringing hope, perhaps, for a new dawn.