Dead on the Delta

Annabelle Lee #1

by Stacey Jay

Once upon a time, fairies were the stuff of bedtime stories and sweet dreams. Then came the mutations, and the dreams became nightmares. Mosquito-size fairies now indulge their taste for human blood—and for most humans, a fairy bite means insanity or death. Luckily, Annabelle Lee isn’t most humans. The hard-drinking, smart-mouthed, bicycle-riding redhead is immune to fairy venom, and able to do the dirty work most humans can’t. Including helping law enforcement— and Cane Cooper, the bayou’s sexiest detective—collect evidence when a body is discovered outside the fairy-proof barricades of her Louisiana town.

But Annabelle isn’t equipped to deal with the murder of a sixyear- old girl or a former lover-turned-FBI snob taking an interest in the case. Suddenly her already bumpy relationship with Cane turns even rockier, and even the most trust-worthy friends become suspects. Annabelle’s life is imploding: between relationship drama, a heartbreaking murder investigation, Breeze-crazed drug runners, and a few too many rum and Cokes, Annabelle is a woman on the run—from her past, toward her future, and into the arms of a darkness waiting just for her. . . .

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Fae, Romance, Mystery, Adult

389 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 31, 2011

About the author

Stacey Jay is a recovering workaholic (or at least working hard at recovering) with three pen names, two small children, and a passion for playing pretend for a living. She’s been a full time mom-writer since 2005 and can't think of anything she'd rather be doing. Her former careers include theatre performer, professional dancer, poorly paid C-movie actress, bartender, waiter, math tutor (for real) and yoga instructor.

Learn more at http://staceyjay.com.

Reviews

[MISS VAIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I can't believe you're dating the hottest piece of ass in town. You must be as filthy in bed as you are out of it."


What a fantastic and refreshing start to a new series and world created around killer Fairies! Dead On The Delta is a story set in present day Donaldsonville, Louisiana after the fairies have mutated and become beautiful killers. To those that have the misfortune of receiving a fairy bite, if they don't die instantly are sent to iron camps to live among the infected for the safety of the uninfected, and wait for their slow death or gradual insanity. To those five percent lucky enough to be immune to fairy bites are graciously given employment with the FCC a government ran agency in favor of the containment of fairies.

Annabelle Lee is one of those fortunate immune workers, though an underachiever and plagued with monsters of her own. I was drawn to unstable Annabelle and her gritty fairy world from page one. Not sure what it says about me, but I'm always in favor of a protagonist with low self worth, immoral habits and socially unacceptable behavior. Which is why I feel Annabelle Lee is awesome!! Best of all Annabelle Lee is a survivor.


Alcohol is a standing tool that leaves me agonies, glossier, better than I was before. At least I feel better. After a couple Restalin and a few beers, nothing seems quite as scary.

Hell, I could probably do motherhood as long as I stay buzzed for the first few years, until the kids Learn not to eat electrical cords or toddle out into traffic. Too bad intoxication is frowned upon during pregnancy and the raising of small children.


Her gorgeous devoted police detective boyfriend Cane Cooper is a hot commodity in town sought after by others including her gay best friend Fernando, but he only has eyes for self loathing and distant Annabelle. Though he desires a future with her, she turned her back on "love" six years ago, in favor of a life of casual relationships to avoid pain. After being involved with Cane she's now discovering she has failed to keep it casual, and fears failure.

"I'll take care of you when you're sick, I'll take out your trash, I'll cook your meals, and I'll tell my mama to leave you be so you can eat your dinner in peace when we go over to her place. But I won't let you lie to me or treat me like a fool. I'm a simple man in a lot of ways, but I've got too much pride for that."

When Annabelle's best friend Fernando is arrested for a murder he didn't commit, she embraces the journey of investigating the crime on her own to prove her friends innocence. I enjoyed the untrained investigation Annabelle conducts in the name of friendship. I was on my toes the entire time guessing, just who could the murderer be? Stacey Jay did an unbelievably outstanding job at pointing the finger in all directions to throw me off, essentially confussing me just to who the guilty party is. I found all of her research to be laughable because all her clues were so juvenile and relatable such as if the dead child was referred to as "that little girl" instead of something more endearing they obviously were guilty. Lol


When her former lover turned FBI arrogant but deliciously good looking Hitch arrives in town turning his nose up at Annabelle, her world turns upside down casting judgement in her habitual daily routine of drinking, drugs and lazy self deprecative lifestyle. Their emotionally charged break-up six years ago has left her a shattered and unstable shadow of her former responsible self. Its clear to Annabelle and us readers that the break-up was clearly a misjudgment of honesty and they have plenty of issues that are begging to be repaired. The sexual tension and anger and resentment between these two are shouting to be resolved immediately!

He doesn't remember that he loved me. That he should still love me. Because he should. It should hurt him the way it hurts me.
.

I recommend this book to anyone with an open mind about a witty troubled protagonist that loves a dark and gritty Urban Fantasy with mystery that tests the boundaries of love, lust, loyalty, friendship, survival and goodness.

"Thanks for...."

Thanks for what? For coming back? For smiling at me? For asking me to risk my life for something important? For trusting me? For maybe, just maybe considering me a friend?

"Thanks for.........thinking of me."

"I think of you all the time."


Like what you see here, check out more of my reviews at http://missvainsparanormalfantasy.com/

[Dija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead on the Delta features a different take on fairies than the one most children grow up believing. In Annabelle Lee's world, fairies are mosquito-sized, murdering little monsters, out for the blood of any human they can sink their teeth into, and for most, their bite results in death. Annabelle is one of the Immunes, however, and her job is to help the higher-ups out by doing all the dangerous work that involves contact with fairies.

I had a number of issues with this book, mostly pertaining to Annabelle, but no matter how repulsive I found some actions of hers, Dead on the Delta is one of the most gripping stories I've read in ages. This is one book that doesn't waste any pages getting into the action or building up the suspense, but dives into the plot and mystery from the very first sentence.

Jay has outstanding talent in bringing her characters and their stories to life. I'm positive I wouldn't have liked this complicated book nearly as much if Jay hadn't written it so well, with the romance and humor placed exceptionally well amidst all the action and suspense.

Annabelle is selfish, snappy, weak, and plain mean at times. And she knows that. She knows exactly how she is (even though she's in pretty strong denial about her "habits") and I think that's why it's impossible to pity or even hate her. She is a fascinating and complex character who you can't help but wish with all your heart gets her happy ending, because no one deserves it more. Her character development, narration, witty comebacks, genuine concern over the fate of innocents, all hint at a strong woman with a heart of gold hidden beneath the drunkard she has become due to all the trauma and grief in her past and present, and I'm sure it'll come out gradually, as long as there's someone around who believes in her.

Now, who that "someone" might be, I have no idea. I love Tucker, mostly because he seems like the one love interest with the least baggage, but there's not enough about him in Dead on the Delta to say anything for sure. Between Cane and Hitch, Hitch clearly loves Annabelle more but I really don't want her to have to deal with his and Stephanie's kid, immature as that sounds but Cane could give her everything she wanted, if only she'd come to truly love him. Basically, I'm rooting for whichever man gives Annabelle the most happiness and the least pain, even though I'm not sure who that is just yet.

The ending left me utterly speechless, more than a little disgusted (not with Annabelle though), and completely in awe of Jay's amazing story-telling prowess. I can't believe I put off reading Dead on the Delta for so long, but I'm also immensely relieved that there's just one more week to go before Blood on the Bayou comes out. What started off as something I was very, very reluctant about reading quickly turned into an unputdownable, so-absorbing-you-read-it-in-one-sitting read, and I can't wait to find out what happens next in Annabelle's messed-up life.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

[Cat Russell (Addicted2Heroines) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally good!! Even better that it's this outstanding and the first in a series.

Annabelle Lee is far from your ideal protagonist. You won't find a hundred different variations of her character in every heroine you read about in the urban fantasy world.

She is fascinating.... in a morbid way. She has questionable morals and is unapologetic. She has people she cares about, but could care less what people think of her. She is severely lacking in ambition and is addicted to alcohol and sleeping pills.


"I like toxins. I figure they're human preservatives. I'll probably live to see Cane and the other organic-eating, healthy-living people dead and buried. I'll be like a cockroach, obnoxious and toxic and indestructible."


But no matter how broken down and pitiful she may seem, you never doubt that she is one of the "good guys". She values the few relationships that she has and would willingly place herself in harm's way to protect others.

With her extremely rare immunity against the venomous bite of the Fey, she is able to venture into places that normal people would not be able to go.

The story follows Annabelle as she works with (and often against) her detective boyfriend and FBI former lover as they attempt to bring down a drug ring and apprehend little Grace's killer.

If you enjoy disturbed characters, dark humor, evil blood-sucking fairies, and don't mind reading a variety of alternatives to the word "shit", then go on and try it out.

If you don't enjoy these things.... then stay far away from this book..... because I don't want you bringing down the average rating with your sucky 2 and 3 star reviews.


"Making love to Hitch is a soul-deep experience, like stepping through a secret door into a world of pleasure, where powerful forces are at work healing the universe one orgasm at a time."

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book by Stacey Jay that I've read. The first one--YA Fiction--You Are So Undead to Me, was a fun and entertaining read. It was so enjoyable I was glad that I took a chance on an author I'd never heard of before. The second--also YA Fiction--Juliet Immortal, was decidedly not so entertaining. Or fun. Or imaginative. Or worthwhile. Heck, I'm almost done reading it but I just can't muster the strength to finish--I just don't care what happens anymore.

So why did I buy this book which, by the way, was purchased while I was in the middle of forcing myself to slog through the pages of Juliet Immortal? Because it was marked 60% off at Borders, that's why. Also, like I said Stacey Jay's first offering was quite good, so I was willing to give her another chance. I'm so glad I did.

Dead on the Delta is a new UF series--not YA--that isn't horribly original. Meaning there is a Kick-A Protagonist who has some sort of special ability or power. This Kick-A Protagonist? Has--you guessed it--a troubled past, intimacy issues and a drinking problem that goes hand in hand with her tendency to pop pills. Did I mention this story is set in Louisiana? Because it is. Also? This book has killer fairies.

That's right. Killer. Fairies.

So why did I like Dead on the Delta despite the fact that it doesn't seem to have anything new to bring to the table, you ask? The protagonist, a 20-something FCC employee/former debutante/med school dropout by the name of Annabelle Lee, is a loveable, albeit prickly, character that I couldn't help but root for. Also her "special power"--immunity to poisonous fairy saliva--is actually not all that special, though only about 5% of the population is immune. So it's not like she's an all-powerful (read: unbearable) Mary Sue.

Honesty Time! Look, I could give you a pretty good rundown of what this book is all about, but it's going to be a unoriginal variation of what's posted in the book description box, though my description wouldn't include the word 'sexy'(because, for whatever reason, every time the word 'sexy' is used in a book description it makes me cringe; makes the book sound trashy--which, by the way, this book isn't trashy). And anyway, I'm tired--it's been a long day. Maybe I'll take the time to type something up later, but until then just read the description provided by the publisher.

Anyway, if you're looking for a new UF series to pick up I suggest you give Stacey Jay's Dead on the Delta (book #1 in the Annabelle Lee series) a try.

(4 stars because I was genuinely entertained by this book despite the fact that there were a few things that didn't quite work for me. I will be reading the next book in this series).

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5 stars) Stacey Jay’s fairies are tiny, beautiful… and bloodthirsty. Chemical disasters caused them to mutate, and now they swarm the bayous of the Delta region in search of human blood. Most humans die from the bite. Some expire immediately in intense agony, while others go insane first and live a few more years in containment facilities before dying.

A few humans, though, are immune. Annabelle Lee is one of them. Being immune qualifies Annabelle for all sorts of unpleasant jobs, like collecting fairy poop samples for Fairy Containment and Control. And, as Dead on the Delta begins, helping the cops ID the body of a child on fairy-infested land. Then she learns the child’s death may be related to the activities of a drug ring in the swamps. And then things get even stranger…

Annabelle’s life is a mess. She has a drinking problem and major relationship issues. In the hands of the wrong author, the drinking problem could make her unsympathetic and the presence of a love triangle could seem clichéd. We urban fantasy readers can be hard on our heroines. We don’t like it when they’re too perfect; we don’t like it when they’re too messed up; we get annoyed when they never make a mistake; we get annoyed when they make too many mistakes; and so on. Dead on the Delta confirmed my theory that the important thing is good writing. Almost anything can work if written well, and Jay writes Annabelle very well indeed. The pain that leads to Annabelle’s bad choices is made raw and real to us, and when she makes mistakes, she picks herself back up and tries again to do the right thing.

The secondary characters are interesting, too, with plenty of layers to explore here and in future installments. I have a feeling this will be one of those series where the characters are like old friends after a few books.

The plot is relentlessly tense. As Annabelle’s official work and unofficial snooping lead her closer to the heart of the mystery, Jay never misses an opportunity to throw another obstacle or twist into Annabelle’s path. It’s dangerous to read this book just before bed. Not because you’ll have nightmares — though that’s possible too — but because you’ll find yourself saying “just one more chapter” over and over until you suddenly realize it’s some ludicrous hour of the morning.

Also remarkable is the real-life grit Jay adds to Dead on the Delta by making Donaldsonville’s problems so frighteningly plausible, except for the fairy aspect. The fairies became dangerous because of pollution and terrorist attacks on chemical plants; Hurricane Katrina has its role to play in the novel’s tweaked history; and the rise of the drug Breeze, made from fairy dung, is analogous to the meth epidemic.

Stacey Jay has the start of something really special here, between the creative take on fairies, the flawed but sympathetic heroine, and the gritty sense of a disaster-ravaged Louisiana. Dead on the Delta is a hard-to-put-down “rural fantasy” that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

[Jennifer Estep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead on the Delta by Stacey Jay is an urban fantasy book and the first in a series.

Things were normal in the bayou -- until fairies mutated and developed a taste for human flesh. Now, these mosquito-size creatures plague the South, and their bite usually brings on instant death or insanity. But there are a few folks like Annabelle Lee who are immune to fairy bites and the venom and madness that they bring on. Annabelle works for Fairy Containment and Control and other law enforcement agencies by going into the swamps where other folks can't to collect evidence, monitor fairy activity, and generally do other nasty jobs that few people can. When a little girl's body is found, Annabelle gets involved in the case. Soon, the FBI has come to town and one of the agents is Hitch, Annabelle's old lover, who happens to be involved with someone else now. Further complicating matters is Annabelle's current lover, sexy detective Cane Cooper. But when Annabelle starts digging into who murdered the girl and why, she uncovers a lot of secrets -- ones that just might make her the killer's next target ...

Annabelle is definitely a complicated character. She drinks too much and pops sleeping pills like they're candy, but she has good reason. She's estranged from her family, her relationship with Hitch ended badly, and she doesn't feel like she deserves to be happy with Cane now. Annabelle is haunted by a lot of things, but she's trying to deal with them in her own way. One of the things that I enjoyed most about her was that she kept plugging along, no matter how bad things got (and they get plenty bad at the end).

I also liked Cane and some of the other secondary characters. You really get a feel for the residents of Donaldsonville, Louisiana where the book is set. Plus, the mystery surrounding the murdered girl is nicely done and has its own creepiness/ickiness factor (which I won't spoil here).

But the thing I liked most about this book is the world building. Fairies are a pretty popular creature in fantasy books these days, but I thought the fairies in this book were especially creepy. Ever since I read the book, I've been calling them killer mutant fairies, and it's not too hard to imagine that they could be out there, lurking deep in the swamps. I think good fantasy books have a touch of realism in them and make you think that certain things are possible if only our world was just a little bit different. This book definitely does that.

However, I have to say that I did not like Hitch at all. I thought he was smug, arrogant, and superior, especially since he blames Annabelle for something that is not her fault. I really wanted Annabelle to punch him in the face -- many times. I don't think that's a bad thing, though. Sometimes, it can be just as much fun to root against characters as it is to root for them. And I really hope that Hitch gets what's coming to him.

I also would have liked just a smidge more information on a couple of mysterious characters, what their motives are, and what they want with Annabelle, but I imagine that will happen in the next book in the series.

Overall, this is a solid urban fantasy, especially if you're looking for some different world building or enjoy books set in the South (like I do). Check it out.

Note/disclaimer: I was asked to give a cover blurb for this book, which I did. My blurb is actually used on the front cover of the book (which I think is super cool and was really honored by) and reads: "A sultry start to a promising new series. Dead on the Delta sizzles with action, danger, and romance."

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read some terrific reviews of this book, so I'm not going to try to recreate them or give you a recap of the story since that has already been very well done. I'm just going to tell you what I thought was different and fun about it, which is mostly Annabelle.

What I liked best was that Annabelle isn't a hero. She's a regular, screwed up woman. More screwed up than some, sure, but really, despite a lot of the criticism, not so terrible a person at all, just different than the lead characters in most of the adventure books we read. She's been fighting a major anxiety disorder her entire life, exacerbated by living in a situation where everyone is afraid and anxious all of the time because of the fairy threat. Her sister died under circumstances that aren't entirely clear, but she blames herself and her family fell apart because of it. She pulled her life back together only to have it fall apart again under more foggy circumstances as an adult. Her response was to drop out, drop out of med school, of the fast track, of city life, of responsibilities, just drop out. She still fights the crippling anxiety every day, using alcohol and sleeping pills, not much different from the frightened people around her except in the degree that she does it. And yet when something happened and it was important, when a kid died and she wanted to help find the killer, or when her friend was wrongly accused of murder, she did what she had to do to help despite how bad she felt. I think that a lot of people are going to judge her as weak, as though if she were just strong enough she could stop drinking and be more responsible. But it seemed clear to me that there's a lot more going in that a whiny girl who can't figure out if she wants to commit to her boyfriend or is nervous about her boss yelling at her. She has a serious anxiety disorder and she can't just overcome that with a little bit of willpower. Her condition influences everything she does in the book, and it makes her a really interesting character to follow.

So yes, she's grouchy, sarcastic, but not mean, she claims not to care but goes out of her way to help people, she is very generous with her money but anonymously, she's fallen for her man but afraid to admit it, and she'll risk her life over and over for both friends and strangers because in an emergency that's just what you do. She also makes terrible decisions, says stupid things at the wrong time, is stubborn beyond what's wise, and did I mentions the grouch? And she adopted an ugly cat because he adopted her, so what can you do really? Gotta give in or shoot him. Just saying, she's a smart, educated, somewhat broken woman, who chooses to live a small town life with people she likes. Maybe it's not so bad after all, if she can just realize that for herself. I'm very curious how the changes that happened at the end might influences all of this. If anxiety has been the center influence of her life for so long and she can learn to control it, how would that change everything for her?

So that's all about her, not much about the story. Well, I did have to read the whole story to get all of that. What else? The mystery was good, I was curious, it was creepy and held my attention. It feels like there were a few more elements in play then necessary but real life isn't always neat and clean either. I'm not too sure how the Tucker stuff will work out, it's a small element in this book that's left to play out more in the next, but I'll let myself be intrigued for now. The guys were fine, but the romance wasn't the center of the story, which was a nice change.

I enjoyed that the book was full of people of color. The premise included the idea that the environmental disaster of the fairies made most people with money flee north, leaving the area's population strongly skewed toward people with African American or Latino backgrounds. And unlike one of the reviews I read, I didn't think that the author was preachy or pushy with a social action or class equality agenda. Yes, Annabelle was outspoken about her opinions, but it rang true to the character, she didn't lecture outside of what made sense for the situation or her background, and I thought it all was tight and felt legitimate for who this woman and this town was described to be. And the person who had a problem with things only read the first few pages. When you read the whole book you see that there are as many people of color in positions of power as positions of trouble, just as there are is a horrible skanky white woman and a classy (troublesome?) white FBI agent. People are people in this world. As for fairies, they're all bad.

But as you can see, to me, Annabelle was the story. Going through the journey, figuring out what she wants and doesn't want, learning what she can do now and what secrets are being revealed, all while trying to reestablish her relationship with Cane while still dreaming of the Hitch that got away, solving the mystery, getting beat up a few times and then almost  dying in that basement, it all pulls together a complete and exciting story but it was Annabelle's store that was central, for me at least. 

Stacia Kane blurbed this book and was one of the author's critique partners. And I'm not surprised that they're friends because I thought often of Stacia's character Chess from her Downside series as I read this story; Chess is also troubled, complex, depressed/anxious, determined to do the right thing for her friends even when it's dangerous, and fascinating. If you liked this book, check out Unholy Ghosts.

One last note on a very long review - great cover! Thanks, Pocket Books, I love seeing a cover that actually reflects the story. A disheveled red-head next to a swamp with her bike and a big basket for her things is just a perfect cover. It looks spooky and mysterious and intriguing and lovely and it's always really nice to see publishers supporting their authors with covers that will make readers want to pick up the book and read!

[Alex(Books-In-A-Storm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was amazing! Very different form other fairy books I've read.
I loved it and it was kickass. Can't wait to read the next one.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So wow. I started this at about 3 yesterday and finished about 11 last night. Then, try as I might, I couldn't fall asleep for an hour just thinking about this book. Stacey has done a tremendous job with sucking me into this world and making me care deeply for Annabelle. At times my heart was breaking for her and I thought I should just put the book down 'cause it was too much. Just to take a little break. But no, I had to keep going to see how she would deal with all the new developments being thrown at her.

DotD starts with Annabelle trying to gather evidence on a dead little girl. She is one of the very few immune to fairy bites and, because of that, has to work with the police department if they need evidence gathered beyond the safe zone. See, fairies are nasty little creatures that when they bite you, can either kill you immediately or causes madness.

Annabelle is dating Cane who is the detective and enlists her help often. He's a really sweet guy and sounds sexy but doesn't make my breath catch like the thought of Hitch.

Enter Hitch who works for the FBI and is brought in with his partner Stephanie to investigate the murder and the selling of Breeze, aka fairy poop. Yes, poop. It gets you high. Hitch and Annabelle were lovers over 6 years ago who shared a sizzling chemistry until something happens and forces Annabelle to make the decision to drop out of med school and start fresh in another city without giving Hitch any explanation.

So now they have to work together. Hitch is a doctor working for the FBI and Annabelle is still in the same entry level position she started at 5 or 6 years ago.

Reasons why I love Annabelle in quote form:

I’ve never gone more than a few nights without my pills. Why bother? It’s not like I’m some hippie who wants to cleanse my body of toxins. I like toxins. I figure they’re human preservatives. I’ll probably live to see Cane and the other organic-eating, healthy-living people dead and buried. I’ll be like a cockroach, obnoxious and toxic and indestructible.



"That's right, Fern.” I lean down, letting Fernando kiss my cheek just for the joy of seeing his nose wrinkle.

“Shut the front door! You smell like ass.”

“You would know.” I grin and plunk my purse down on the floor before sliding onto the stool next to Fernando’s.

“Oh, bitchy and slutty today. So, tell me, is it true you were shacking up in the middle of the day with both your doors wide open and—”
~I enjoyed her interactions with Fernando though we don't see too much of him. He get's in a spot of trouble and Annabelle tries to help him out.



This is weird. Call me crazy, but it seems wrong for two men who’ve both had their you-know-whats in me to have their hands on each other. There should be some law against it, in fact. A serious one.



At least I feel better. After a couple Restalin and a few beers, nothing seems quite as scary. Hell, I could probably do motherhood as long as I stay buzzed for the first few years, until the kids learn not to eat electrical cords or toddle out into traffic. Too bad intoxication is frowned upon during pregnancy and the raising of small children.



I loathe the damsel in distress role as much as any intimacy-and-relationship-avoiding, self-sufficient, modern woman, but at this point, having someone save my ass is my only chance.








Reasons my heart aches for Annabelle in quote form:

He doesn't remember that he loved me. That he should still love me. Because he should. If it was ever real, it should still be real. Love doesn’t stop just because you start hating someone. I still love my mother so much it makes me hate her even more every time I think about her. Seeing, remembering—it should hurt Hitch like that. It should hurt him the way it hurts me.



“Guess you’d better get going,” Hitch says. “Unless you’ve got something you’d like to share with the class.”

I take a deep breath. “No, nothing to share. I just guess I’d rather be a drunk than a condescending asshole.”

Hitch smiles, a stiff curve of his lips I can barely make out in the near dark. “I’d rather be a condescending asshole.”

This whole book was such a roller coaster of emotions for me. Cane pissed me off. Hitch pissed me off. Hitch said some really harsh things, but I think he's more trying to convince himself more than anything.

So after all that. I want more. I have high hopes for this series and can't wait for Blood on the Bayou.

[Mara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a nightmare. Not as in "bad" or "horror movie kind". More as you enter someone's nightmare and can't do anything about it. Which is a problem when the only POV you are reading is that of a drunkard, a whiny, pill-popping,reality-running-from woman.
(Think of a roller coster and a drunkard. And you are watching from her eyes....)

The book comes higly recommended and I'm sure it's as great as other reviewers say. Simply is not for me. I could not appreciate the confusion of the "heroine"'s thoughts, the total dive in her broken mind. You get to the end of the book and still you can't understand what is going on. Clearly, you get the culprit of the murder, but apart from that (and is confused anyway) the rest of the story hangs in a sort of a cliffhanger.
What is she? What are the others and why did they help? Above all, why the hell is she punishing herself after six years???

I skipped phrase after phrase. No, not my cup of tea. Just let me know what happens in the future :D

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Rating* 3 1/2 stars
*Genre* Urban Fantasy

*Review*

Dead on the Delta, by Stacey Jay, is the first book in the Annabelle Lee series. The premise behind this story is that 12-years ago there was an attack on a chemical manufacturing plant that led to what the author is calling the Mutations and the realization that Fairies have been living with us all along. These killer fairies now feast on the blood of human beings causing insanity and death.

You could put this book into the post-apocalyptic category since parts of the country like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are a haven for mosquito sized killer fairies. There’s even a camp where the infected are put so that they don’t spread the infection while they are slowly dying, much like zombie novels in their intent and purpose. Communities such as Donaldsonville, Louisiana, where the story takes place, have even erected iron fences to protect its citizens from the fairies.

Five percent of the population is considered to be immune from the effects of being bitten by the killer fairies--- one of those is 28-year old Annabelle Lee. Lee is also an alcoholic, and sleeping pill popper who is running away from her past and things she would love to forget about, including the loss of her sister, her parents tossing her away, and naturally a relationship gone bad.

Lee works for the Fairy Containment and Control and been for the past 3 years. To be fair, she is a glorified sample collector who is called in to areas that are considered to be hostile to normal humans. Because of this, she ends up involved in a murder investigation of a little girl who is found in an effected area.

Dead on the Delta really does cross the genres with this story. You have a murder investigation, which leads to the mystery and suspense into who could have done something so awful to this little girl.

Normally, I have a problem with characters who abuse narcotics and other substances, but in this case, it’s part of who Lee is and why she does the job she is capable of doing. And, No, she is far from the perfect character but then that’s become the norm these days. I almost expect to read about a new heroine who has been devastated in the past, or gone through a life changing moment. That is Annabelle Lee in this book.

Lee starts off in a relationship with Cane Cooper, a Detective for the town’s police force who believe that he is too good for the redheaded white girl. Naturally this is a small town where everyone knows everyone elses business and who you date says a lot about your character.

Cane is one of the most interesting male characters I’ve read in a while (supporting role). He actually tells Lee that he would paint her toenails, and do whatever she asks of him if she gets her head straight on whether or not they should remain in a relationship and get married. This, of course, comes after Lee is found kissing her ex-boyfriend Hitch on camera after she saves his life.

Naturally, the fact that the ex-boyfriend is now working for the FBI’s Fairy Investigation Division and is in town on an investigation doesn’t help much. And, the fact that he is also in a relationship with his current partner who is miss perfect in every way Annabelle isn't.

There are a few things still gnawing at me after just finishing this book:


1. Who the hell is the Big-Man and why was he looking over the Grace?
2. Is the Big Man part of the people who make the Breeze?
3. What exactly was Annabelle injected with, and who the hell is Tucker?


This story had most of the key ingredients that I love in a story; mystery, suspense and an unknown faction of fairies that you haven't seen in awhile. It also has the beginnings of the one thing I dislike the most; 3-way relationships with no clear winner or loser.


Stacey Jay
Annabelle Lee Series
1. Dead on the Delta (05/31/2011)
2. Blood on the Bayou (April 2012)

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars, probably deserving of 4 but I ended up enjoying this book and the main character more than anticipated. Annabelle is pathetic, a comfortable drunk, content with her place, disillusioned and lacking any type of drive. She's majorly depressed, finds it acceptable to drink in public, stash empty beer cans in her purse (because littering would be wrong), and if very defensive of her town. Even without the wonderful setting, this would have been enough to get my attention.

Once microscopic fairies have mutated into mosquito size poisonous bugs. Lucky for Annabelle, she's immune, which means she spends her time collecting fairy poop and helping out the local police by entering fairy territory to collect evidence.

Most first books in urban fantasy series require a certain amount of patience from the reader, due to world building and what I think of as the author hitting their stride. Jay seems to have magically evaded the tediousness of world and character introductions. More than anything though, I am very excited to see where the story goes from here, as I think there is great potential. I also want to see what happens to Annabelle next, as she can really only move up. I love characters who begin at rock bottom. There is only room for growth.

[Rhianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I'm Looking For in Urban Fantasy(5 stars)

When terrorists hit a chemical plant the last thing they're expecting is to cause a massive mutation of the Louisiana delta's fairy population. Lesson learned a little too late for the people who call the delta home. Now the fairies have a taste for human blood and if their venom doesn't cause a massive, deadly allergic reaction it'll drive you mad. The tiny percentage of the population who are immune get stuck slogging through fairy infested swamps to deal with things the rest of folks can't. from researching the little monsters to investigating Breeze houses. Oh yeah, fairy poo and a little bleach make Breeze, a drug that rivals ecstasy for popularity.

Enter Annabelle Lee, a little lazy, at risk for a DUI most of the time and one of Donaldsonville, Louisiana's immune. When a local child is found murdered outside the iron fence that seperates D'ville from the fairy infested bayou she gets sucked into the investigation quicker than she can drain a rum and coke. As if that wasn't complicated enough her current beau, Cane Cooper, is one of the DPD cops on the case and the FBI sends in a team to aid him... a team that consists of a hard-assed female agent and her partner Hitch, Annabelle's ex.

Trying to be professional with her ex and sort out her feelings for her current boyfriend is complicated but the investigation gets even more crazy when Annabelle discovers a Breeze house out in the bayou and an arrest is made for the little girl's murder. Strange stuff keeps happening to Annabelle and if she's going to get to the bottom of this murder mystery to save the day she just might have to lay off the hooch and avoid getting dead herself.

As the great debate of paranormal romance versus urban fantasy races on it's easy to start drawing lines in the sand. I feel safe saying that Dead on the Delta is exactly what the readers on the Urban Fantasy side are looking for. It might not sound like it based on the blurb but there's no romance here. No HEA ending. No steamy smutty goodness. I love a good romance for certain but when I'm in the mood for a good mystery peppered with paranormal elements and plenty of rich world building DEAD ON THE DELTA is exactly the kind of book I am looking for.

DEAD ON THE DELTA is not about the fae, these are killer mutant fairies, think Tinkerbell with a retractable jaw and a taste for human blood. Throw in venom that is a death sentence for 19 out of 20 people and temper it with the fact that fairies can't live in colder climates and this is scarily real. The deep South cut off from the rest of the world by iron fences and still recovering from Hurricane Katrina? Yup, quite easy to buy into. Add in a murder mystery centered around the adopted daughter of a local family of wealth and status, drug dealing and a small town where folks know far to much of one another's business and this plot packs a punch.

As a reader a great, fast-paced plot is a plus but without a great protagonist backed up by a cast of memorable secondary characters I don't get pulled in. Annabelle wormed her way into my top three heroines of the genre with an ease that shocked me. She's richly flawed and annoyingly charming for it. I love her because aside from her immunity to fairy bites she's utterly human. Her relationships with Cane and Hitch are complicated by realistic issues people face. Annabelle's drinking has roots that somehow make it seem okay even as I—the child of an alcoholic—wanted to smack some sense into her. In contrast Cane and Hitch are interesting characters that we barely get to scratch the surface on. Fans of Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom series will recognize a similar quality in the Annabelle/Cane relationship that we love in Allie/Zayvion. Meanwhile, as we are introduced to Hitch he's a character to love and maybe dislike a lot.

D'ville is peppered with other characters of note. In a way the town as a whole is essential to this story, taking on a personality based on the mix of people within it. From the clannish Beauchamp family and Cane's troublemaking sister to Annabelle's nosy neighbor and her gossip-mongering friend Fernando it's easy to feel right at home dropped into the iron-protected community.

What really makes this book unique among its peers is not only its strength as an Urban Fantasy gem but its freshness. Candid and unafraid Jay writes her dialog the way people really hold conversations, peppering Annabelle's storytelling with humor that may not work for everyone but gives it a flavor I personally found addicting. Between tiny stabs of side-busting hilarity and jolting action, DEAD ON THE DELTA offers something for both fans of horror—one nail-knawingly spooky scene had me hunting for a nightlight—and readers who gravitate toward the lighter side of the paranormal. Quite honestly the only real complaint I had is pretty passable... the story resolution was just a little vaguer than I would have liked but ties everything up. A little more detail on some spoilerific things I won't share wouldn't have felt out of place.

If you are a fan of Stacey Jay's young adult novels and can tolerate some potty-mouthed narration/dialog you will love DEAD ON THE DELTA. If you're new to Jay's work imagine a blend of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series and Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom series with a dash of Sophie Littlefield's crime novels. Overall I think this book will appeal to both male and female readers who enjoy Urban Fantasy with little to no romantic elements and readers who enjoy non-vampire/shapeshifter paranormal themes. Definitely one of my top reads for the year.

[Shera (Book Whispers) · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the time I finally picked up this book I didn’t know what to think! Is it YA, does it have vampires and werewolves, is it a romance. Sure I should have just looked it up on Goodreads, but that wouldn’t be as fun. After randomly buying it and jumping in before I lost my courage I was pleasantly surprised. Fairies. Not just any kind of fairies blood sucking ones!

When hurricane Katrina happened something else occurred right along with it. The fairies that no one believed in suddenly mutated. (Annoyingly, what mutated them is really never explained.) Not only had they always been real, but now they were bigger and ready to suck on some human blood. With one bite the victim can go insane or die instantly. About 5 percent of humans are immune to the fairy bite and can actually kill the fairy that bites them.

Annabelle Lee is one of the lucky humans immune to the fairy bite. However, she might not be as lucky as people think. Her special gifts have made her see things that have driven her to drink and develop an addiction to her sleeping pills. Again and again, I found myself jumping from loving to hating the main character. Usually characters with addictions like that put me off and I can’t stand the weakness. Annabelle hasn’t had it easy and the more of her past that is revealed it’s harder to hate her. By the end I was left with hope that Annabelle could get over her addictions.

The main bit of story focuses on the murder of a little girl who is the daughter of one of the richest families in town. This little mystery turns out into a full blown holy-cow moment that Jay deserves a standing ovation for. Taking a simple mystery of “who done it” into a drug deal and invisible people plot line is just amazing!

The murder brings to town Annabelle’s ex-boyfriend, Hitch, and even though things ended terribly they still have a spark. The two are just too stubborn at times to deal with—and Hitch was just unlikeable all around. Annabelle is still obsessing about the sod in a manner that really made me hate her. She has a wonderful new man—Cane—that she’s trying to convince herself she doesn’t love. Even though he understands her and wants her to be herself—plus, is man enough to say what he wants from her—she can’t get over her old flame. All in all, this is a pretty awesome love triangle. You love, hate, and feel everything right up there with Annabelle.

Dead in the Delta delivers something fresh in the world building, heroine, and love story that drives readers’ into throws of happiness. The genre is over populated and it’s truly a pleasure to read something that goes out there and makes the genre instead of just borrowing bits and pieces. Some readers may not like Annabelle for her drug and alcohol addictions, but sometimes loving to hate your main character is part of the fun. This debut is only the beginning into something that is sure to be amazing.

Sexual Content: Our southern bell Annabelle is quite the dirty little bird. While there’s never a sex scene happening there’s dirty thoughts and fond memories of past sexual exploits. A bit of incest to through on top.

4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.

Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a bit torn over Dead on the Delta. In some ways, I really enjoyed it, but in others, I really didn't. It certainly did have a unique set up. Fairies have made themselves known after some mutation made them larger and highly aggressive. They're like mosquitoes in many ways and prefer hanging out in the Louisiana bayou. Our narrator, Annabelle, is one of very few people who are immune to their venom, so she's the one who gets called out when a body of a young girl is found in the swamp.

What I did really like about Dead on the Delta was the way fairies were portrayed. They're not just magical humans who like to get up to no good. They're these little buzzing pests whose bites will kill you or make you lose your mind. It was also interesting how humans have a new drug known as Breeze; it's fairy poop (sometimes mixed with bleach, because why not?!). This was great! I also loved that ending! The plot is mainly a murder mystery and Annabelle is working on solving it, and once she finds the killer, holy crap! I love that kind of sick, twisted twist! It was awesome! If only the rest of the book had been that engaging!

Dead on the Delta is very diverse, except that it's not really. In the first chapter we learn that the town is 98% Black and Hispanic, and Annabelle is the pastiest redhead around. I know Urban Fantasy is all about the most special person, but why make virtually every character except for the main character a person of color? Sure, she stands out in her town, but she certainly doesn't stand out in the genre. It's obvious that the author isn't afraid of diversity, because most of the characters introduced are Black, Hispanic, or Korean. There's even a gay Latino! So why point out that there's only 2% white people and then make the main character white? Statistically speaking, she should be Black or Hispanic, just like it's statistics that she's dating a black man, but good fortune that he's gorgeous (page 6). Apparently good looking Black men are rare, even in a town that is mostly Black? Yeah, okay.

Some other things that bothered me about Dead on the Delta--although certainly not as much as the race issue--were that Annabelle is "only" 5 foot 8. That is tall for a woman! There is no "only" about it! And yet, she had to stand on her tiptoes to look into a window that was four feet off the ground. Really? Annabelle is also a "skinny fat person" which roughly translates into her loving beer and unhealthy food, but not gaining any weight. Because obviously eating greasy food and regular beer is solely the territory of fat people. I don't think so. There are other ways to get the point across that she doesn't gain weight but has a penchant for high calorie foods and drinks.

Dead on the Delta had the potential to be really great for me, but obviously there were several things that bothered me about it. I also just never warmed up to Annabelle. She's drunk all the time, or in need of a drink. She's super irresponsible and I'm surprised she hasn't been fired or arrested before. But I guess being super rare in her immunity to fairy venom gives her some immunity from the law, too. The ending was also super rushed, and I felt like I missed some things, especially with that three week time jump.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Christen (GoldiloxReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really great book and an excellent start to a series! Annabelle Lee is an extremely likable character despite, or maybe because of, her flaws. She's a med school drop out and possible alcoholic who scoops fairy poop for a living and is constantly down on herself. She seems to try and try again to screw herself over. In fact, when we meet her she is definitely having a really bad day.

Annabelle is one of few people in the world who are immune to the bites of mutated fairies that went undiscovered until drinking toxic water made them grow to a big enough size to not only be seen by humans, but to also be able to bite humans and larger animals. Fairy bites are bad for those not immune. Which is why Annabelle is called upon to examine the dead body of a little girl found outside the iron gates of the city, which is fairy infested. That is how the story, and our introduction to Annabelle and her world, begins.

Although this is an urban fantasy, the fantasy elements are not what drive the story. It is very similar to the Downside Ghosts series (although a little less gritty and magic heavy) in that there are weird things in the world but its still the people you have to watch out for. Annabelle is also very similar to Downside's Chess in that she has been dealt a crappy hand in life and just can't seem to turn things around no matter what.

Of course there is a bit of a love triangle happening in this book as well. Annabelle is caught between her gorgeous cop kind-of boyfriend who takes care of her and wants a bigger commitment and her sexy ex boyfriend who has wondered back into the picture as one of the FBI agents in charge of the murder case. With that said, don't get yourself hung up on the possible romantic aspects of this book. There are some little teases here and there, but this book is definitely leaning more towards UF/murder mystery than romance novel.

One of my favorite elements of this story was the surprise kink thrown in involving Annabelle. I won't spoil that though, however I'm sure we will find out much more in the stories to come.

So, all in all, I loved Annabelle and her crassness. I also love her growth as a character. The author shows us that Annabelle wants to change her life, but we can also see that its going to be a slow process. Hopefully, the process will take place across, oh, six or seven books? :)

"I have to keep fighting. I have to 'reach deep down and shit myself', or whatever it is the crazy man told me to do."

***Just as a side note, I would like to mention that this is the author's first attempt at an adult novel! She had previously written many young adult novels prior to Dead on the Delta. This book has been getting great reviews, but apparently its not quite for sure yet that she will get to write us more Annabelle stories so read it, love it, and review it! :)

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posted on Under the Covers

After the events of Katrina, the world Annabelle Lee lives in has changed. Killer faeries are now the biggest threat and in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, there are only a few who are immune to these killer faerie bites. This taskforce is called the FCC and they make it their mission to contain these fairies from harming others.

Annabelle is an FCC worker but she isn’t your typical heroine. She’s sort of an underachiever, she makes several mistakes and she is an alcoholic. After reading Stacia Kane’s Downside series, I got used to imperfect heroines with personal issues. However, I can’t say I felt the same sympathy I showed Chess towards Annabelle. I liked her enough, but just didn’t feel like I could relate to her on a deeper level.

This book starts out very well. We first meet Annabelle as she is standing over a dead body. Immediately, this caught my attention and I loved the whole killer faeries idea, even though reading about fae isn’t really my thing. There were times when I thought the pacing was a little off. Some moments held my attention, others didn’t. But overall, this was a good read.

Annabelle has some relationship issues that arise. Her boyfriend Cane is an solid guy. However, their relationship feels a little stagnant. It is when Hitch, Annabelle’s former paramour returns as an FBI agent that things start to get interesting.

Fans of Stacia Kane should check this series since Stacey Jay and SK are critique partners. Similar ideas, but different styles. It’s worth a shot, right?

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I suspect that this series might become one of my urban fantasy favorites.

I really thought the author did a fabulous job with the setting. I really love it when descriptions are so vivid that you can almost feel miserable right along with the characters. In this case you have the hot, humid Louisiana summer combined with the stench of fairy eggs baking in the sunshine and a half-buzzed heroine who spent a good chunk of the book covered in swamp sludge.

I have to root for a main character whose job involves the non-glamorous task of trudging through swamps collecting samples of fairy eggs and fairy feces without feeling sorry for herself. I also admired the way she made no excuses for her behavior yet enough of her past is revealed that one could hardly blame her for having the occasional empty beer can in her purse.

The murder mystery was interesting enough to keep me reading, but it was the characters and the setting which will undoubtedly keep me grabbing up each installment as it comes out. (It looks like there is a second book in the series but none beyond that) I think the tiny blood-thirsty fairies are a great idea. I'm not sure how I feel about the other supernatural character type. I will have to see how they progress within the story-line. I suspect I will either hate them or love them.

Definitely recommend this to anyone who likes urban fantasy with a gritty edge and a less than perfect heroine.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. I usually am go-go-ga-ga over a faery book with cops and robber action...but for some reason I wasn't feeling it. For me Annabelle should have been more disturbed by the murder and mutilation of a small child in the beginning. Then she hops on her bicycle and rides around town on her way to the police station? After being attacked by a drug addict. Was there any signifigance to the woman? Is she supposed to be with Cain, or Hitch? I don't know...I don't much care for either man. They didn't seem to be that into her... What did Marcy have to do with the murder? Who is the big guy, or Tucker for that matter? Did it come out...I must have missed it. I don't think it flowed very well. What about the cat finding the ring - anything important there? Hitch and Steph added to the plot, but I would have like to have more scenes with them in it so that way I would have more emotional investment in the couple drama. The caught on tape scene was the best in the book. I didn't even highlight any quotes...it wasn't bad - just a weird one.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been trying to find some unusual urban fantasy books to stave off the withdrawal pains after finishing the amazing Downside Ghosts series, and this book sounded promising because an alternate present-day world beset by killer fairies is such a fun idea. Like cute little glittery Tinkerbells, only they have fangs and suck blood like mosquitoes and their bites cause death or dementia in the majority of victims. Not that these grisly details stop people from mixing fairy poo with other noxious chemicals and shooting it up to get high because, well, people will do all kinds of stupid things.

With this setting in mind, the author introduces Annabelle Lee, a hard-drinking, tormented heroine with a snarky attitude. Annabelle is one of the very few people immune to fairy venom, allowing her to do her job of collecting samples from the bayous and assist local law enforcement when they need to venture out of the protected iron gates of the city for any reason, such as to retrieve the body of a murdered child, as the story begins. Annabelle has no ambition whatsoever, drinks on the job, and can't bring herself to commit to her boyfriend, a local policeman named Cane, because...well, reasons. I guess. Annabelle was my first problem with this novel. I just didn't like her. I don't mind reading about a hot mess of an MC, but the character development has to be handled just right, and Annabelle is no Chess Putnam.

But I kept reading, because the story was interesting. And before I start picking apart all the things I didn't like, I want to focus on the positive--first and foremost, I really appreciated the author's originality with the world-building. I love urban fantasy, but rarely read it because 90% of the books all sound like variations of the novels I've already read. Dead on the Delta is different. It's fresh and inventive. I also liked the author's writing style, for the most part. She has a vivid turn of phrase and a knack for description.

Unfortunately, in this case, there is a lot more that I didn't like, beginning with Annabelle. She's neither sympathetic nor interesting. She's sloppy at her job, has a chip on her shoulder, and doesn't have much personality beyond making crude and snarky observations. So, perhaps in an effort to make Annabelle more interesting, the author ladled on lots of unnecessary drama, including a tiresome love triangle. Her boyfriend, Cane, seemed like a nice enough guy--he's good in bed and makes her jambalaya--but she begins the story by thinking how she can't commit to him because...reasons. Then her former boyfriend, Hitch, shows up with his new partner Stephanie, both working for the fairy crimes division of the FBI-- and cue the start of the unnecessary drama.

As to the main plot itself--the investigation of the murdered child--it actually had some potential, but instead of letting the clues build up gradually, the whole thing got crammed into the last few chapters, with clues showing up at the last minute out of left field when Annabelle gets a call from her vet that her cat just had emergency surgery to remove a turquoise ring it had eaten, and Annabelle literally looks at the hand of the woman she's speaking to at that exact minute, and realizes it is her ring! and the villains thoughtfully explaining everything at the end.

Final impression: two stars for the original ideas. The rest of the book was a disappointment.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Dark, Dank, Dangerous Delight
A bayou in the Mississippi River Delta isn't the place for a casual explorer. You don't just hike there. Not even with hip waders and industrial-strength bug repellent. There are things there that can hurt you. That can make you bleed. That see you as nothing more than prey on two legs. In fact, there are things there that will tear through a human body like tissue paper and leave it just as broken and tattered as a result.

Poisonous snakes.

Alligators.

Fairies.

Oh yeah, fairies are real. They're just not the sort you want to believe in. Surely not the sort Disney could make money on marketing. They're the piranhas of the Deep South. The Great Whites of the Delta. They are the top predators in the land, people.

And they're very, very hungry.

Living in the south has been complicated since the mutations turned the Fey into human blood-craving buzz saws, the people there sputtering and struggling to hold on in their iron-enclosed cities and towns. Almost everyone with money...who isn't dead yet...has fled to safer territory up north. Annabelle Lee isn't one of them. She makes good money doing as little as possible, working for Fairy Containment and Control in the small, stubborn, proud little town of Donaldsonville, Louisiana. It's not much of a career, certainly doesn't take much energy to do it. And that's exactly how Annabelle prefers it. Plus, she's uniquely qualified for every dirty task her job entails.

Annabelle Lee is one of only five percent of humanity who is immune to the bite of a Fairy. If one were stupid enough or desperate enough to try to bite her, she wouldn't be the one driven insane or killed instantly. Not like almost everyone else.

On the bright side, if you can call it that, the feral fairy population has taken a serious bite, pun intended, out of "normal" crime in D'ville. It's a relatively safe place, even for the brave tourists who can make it inside its protected walls. If someone can't, or doesn't, Annabelle helps out the police when needed, heading into the Bayou to keep the cops who aren't immune from risking their lives unnecessarily.

That's why she's out there that morning sweating in the August heat and humidity. There was a report that someone saw a body in the bayou. That report wasn't enough to prepare Annabelle for what she finds, though. It's just too damn...wrong...tragic...horrifying. Even in this dangerous, scary world, it's just too much.

A little girl. Dead. Her face already a feast for bugs and animals.

It doesn't make sense. Nothing about finding the tiny, broken body makes any sense. The six-year-old shouldn't be dead. And certainly not this kind of dead. See, fairies didn't kill the child. In fact, she doesn't have a fairy bite on her. That means a human did this...this...heinous thing.

And Annabelle Lee, slacker extraordinaire, over-the-borderline alcoholic, emotional wasteland, fairy feces collector...is going to have to help find out who did it.

~*~

In Dead on the Delta, Stacey Jay kicks off a new series with a debut about a coarse, unrefined heroine who could be the poster child for self destruction and her struggles to survive in an edgy, imaginative world with an almost post-apocalyptic feel. I'm a huge fan of dark, fantasy fiction (the fact it's set in the south is an added bonus) and flawed characters, and I'm glad I finally snatched this one off my TBR pile and dove in. It garnered the most excitement I've felt towards a new urban fantasy series in quite some time.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing. As much as I like flawed heroines in particular, Annabelle's character falls a bit more towards the damaged end of the spectrum. And she seems to wallow in it, as if wrapping herself in low expectations, lack of ambition, and remembered misery will shield her from any and all of the truly scary stuff in the world. Like emotional maturity, pride, commitment, and caring. It was difficult - more than difficult - to feel very sympathetic towards her.

It wasn't so much the flagrant boozing, of which there is a lot, but the emotional retardation and the blatant self destruction that wore on me, especially in the first half of the book. Annabelle chooses being irresponsible, irreverent, and shiftless. So long as she can get a drink, take some drugs to sleep, and get a fair amount of sex, she's all good. This is a woman of no ambition and little self interest. Flawed doesn't begin to cover it. And frankly, until readers are given bits and pieces of her past, and we find out more about why she is the way she is, I found her fairly intolerable.

Even after the pieces start to fall into place, it was difficult to like her. If I'm completely honest, I probably would have put the book down if the surrounding story and the world building had not been so strong and gritty, so fascinatingly macabre.

There's a lot going on in the story. The investigation into the little girl's death, an FBI investigation of a huge drug ring (Breeze...made from dried fairy excrement - ICK!), the resultant relationship angst when Annabelle's first love comes to town sporting a shiny-clean FBI badge, and some mysterious and freaky - more freaky than killer fairies, imagine that - encounters with some bad people...who have the disturbing tendency to be invisible. Yup. A lot going on in the story.

And once those elements start to take more of a front-and-center in the narrative, I was able to forget how much I disliked the woman in the middle of it all. Eventually, I stopped disliking her entirely. I still wouldn't say we're bosom buddies at this point, but when the plot-driven story elements started to...well...drive the plot, there were far fewer I'm-a-loser-and-I-like-it vibes from Annabelle. Readers were finally given several solid glimpses of the things she does actually care about. Her friends, the town, they matter to the woman. And that makes her human.

And not for nothing, but Jay can write a hell of a tale. For all my issues with Annabelle, she was pretty damn believable, and the story surrounding her, as well as the many secondary characters, were extremely well-developed and utilized with aplomb. There's much angst, a boatload of regret and pain, more than a little guilt, and a hell of a good time all rolled up with some mind-bending story. It made for a mentally and emotionally raucous read.

By the end of the book, I was so caught up in everything that was going on, the last page actually came as a shock. It couldn't be over! I need answers to all those pesky questions left unanswered! But they're the good kind of unanswered questions. The ones that make for a gut-deep burn to read what happens next, a slow yearning for the next book release. They're the best kinds of questions to have at the end of a book, especially a series debut. It means Jay did it exactly right. I'm hooked on this series, and on Annabelle Lee. I want more.

~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

[Anna (Bobs Her Hair) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A promising beginning, a flawed protagonist, and menacing world – I’m in!

“If you see the glow, it’s time to go.”

This present-day urban fantasy is set near the Mississippi River Delta in Donaldsville, Louisiana. In this alternate world, a chemical spill in a certain portion of the river made the presence of fairies known in a terrifying and bloody manner. The Louisiana Fey, specific to the Delta area, are mutated fairies who aggressively hunt and feed on human blood. They will break through glass and rip through just about anything, except iron, to eat. Their venomous bite causes either insanity or deformity and eventually death. Annabelle Lee, the protagonist in this series, in part of the 5% of the population who is immune to their venom. She is also the black sheep, underachieving, pill-popping, alcohol-drinking, flunkee that drives this mystery and story.


Annabelle works for the Fairy Containment and Control (FCC) agency wading through the bayou collecting study samples of fairy poo and their remains, and sometimes, due to her immunity, she is called to assist in other ways. Dead in the Delta opens up with her helping the police collect evidence and help identify a body dumped outside the protective iron grid of D’ville. It’s the body of a local six-year old girl. Annabelle feels compelled to help the police solve the murder of a child, even though it digs up painful memories for her.

This story has a murder mystery and the puzzle that is Annabelle. I had put off reading this book for a week because Annabelle seemed like such a loser and lush, and I’m not use to that in a heroine. Typically, these qualities are reserved for the brooding "hero" who is in need of the love of a good woman. Well, I got over my gender bias, picked up the book, and came to care for this anguished character. Annabelle’s a survivor who suffers from anxiety and depression on a regular basis. She self-medicates with alcohol and sleeping pills. (In this world, the government freely passes out drugs to it's anxiety-ridden citizens who live in an iron cage.) This under-achiever needs to change and is about to change, but it will be a slow process as her life gains purpose and value. Stacey Jay fleshes out this protagonist and what an interesting heroine she makes.

For me, Annabelle was the best part of this book. I can tell she is going to evolve into something great and I can't wait to see rise from the ashes. As for the murder mystery, it started with a strong beginning but the pace would slow to a trickle as characters were introduced and world-building took place. (What creepy world too!) I was annoyed with Annabelle at one point when she made a “to stupid to live” decision in the case. (She even mocks her decision-making.) Maybe this was a device to speed us its twisty outcome.

As for romance, there really isn’t any, but two love interests, past and present, are introduced. One seems like a stand-up guy yet there is something shady potentially hiding in his background. The past love interest is complicated. At one point, I wanted to yell “Tell him!” at Annabelle yet that would be too easy and their story needs another book to wade through that explosive baggage. (Can they even have an HEA? Unless...hmmm.) Overall, I really enjoyed this book and believe it deserves a B.

I borrowed this from the library and will soon purchase it in support of this series. Blood on the Bayou (book 2) will be an auto-buy when it releases April/Spring 2012. What will be discovered in book 2? What lies and secrets will be revealed? Will she tell Hitch what happened? How will he react? What's going to happen with Cane? Where does Deedee go? Does Marcy come back? Who and what is Tucker and the Big Man? The shots? Will Annabelle wear a helmet? Until then I can only speculate and anticipate.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

Dead on the Delta features a vivid world, one where people try to ignore how dark things have become. It’s a place where fairies are real — they’ve mutated and want to feed on humans. When bitten by a fairy most people go insane, a handful die immediately and an even smaller percentage are immune. That’s Annabelle Lee. She’s immune. That means when something happens outside the iron grid that holds her little Louisiana town in from the tiny vicious creatures with the sharp teeth, Annabelle is the one heading out into the swamp.

It also means when little local girl’s body is found outside the wall, Annabelle has to be one on the scene. She’s not police, but she has to collect the samples and bring the girl in. And it’s horrific. Annabelle already has baggage with the death of little girls and a hard backstory that includes dropping out of medical school (eventually you’ll find out why, and it makes the tale sadder). She’s a tough woman, who no one would guess was ever raised as a debutante. She lives in a shotgun house, despite having more money than most in her town, and decides to use alcohol to cope with a particularly bad day.

One that only gets worse when the FBI show up after a small mixup on her end. Because one can never underestimate the ingenuity of people wanting to get high, there are those in Dead on the Delta who mix fairy poop with bleach to make Breeze …which they then snort or inject. It’s the fairy version of meth. And someone is definitely making it in her town.

So, now Annabelle is assisting on a murder, drug bust and trying her damnest to keep her ass out of a sling. But battling the big problems isn’t enough. No, she’s in a relationship with one of the top cops. Cane is fantastic. He’s loyal and he loves her. He’s also over her trying to pretend a year and a half relationship is “casual.” She’s thinking about running, because she’s still nursing the pain of a bad breakup six years ago. And, Mr. Bad Breakup Ex? Oh, he’s one of the FBI agents investigating her and her friends. Things are volitile for Annabelle. Mistakes are made. Lives are changed. And the struggle to figure out what’s best for her is utterly entrancing. Seriously, I read this nearly 400-page book in a single day. I kept setting it down — especially after Annabelle, Cane or Hitch did something frustrating — and then picking it back up wanting more.

The story is intense, the emotions, visceral, and Dead on the Delta is just damn good. Those who love flawed heroines not quite ready to own up to having problems, who love small towns with dark secrets and those who want to see fairies in a very different light must read Dead on the Delta.

Also, while Stacey Jay describes her fairies as tiny and humanoid, each time they attacked I kept imagining the tooth fairies from Hellboy II. Cute before they try to rip off your flesh.

Sexual content: References to sex, awesome makeout scene

[Melindeeloo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dead on the Delta is a UF series starter, with a murder mystery in the background set in a world at the edge of the bayou in which faeries are bad news...

I am still trying to figure out how I feel about Dead on the Delta - and having a pretty hard time articulating my thoughts as well... Annabelle, the leading lady is not a smart 'heroine'. She's a mess, who tries to cope with the horrors she's witnessed by selfmedicating with alcoholic and pills, so it was difficult for me get past her self destructiveness and form an attachment to her as a character. I kept hoping that Annabelle would do a turn about somewhere along the way and begin to pull herself together because in between bouts of slacker/loserness she does try, and she seems to have a good heart, but it didn't look like there is any redemption in her future.

The end result is that at times Annabelle is pretty hard to like. Hence my dilemma, the setup to Jay's world and how the evolution of virulent faeries has impacted life is an interesting one, however, a likeable narrator is generally an indicator of whether I end up liking a 'first person' book and pretty much every time I started to build up some sympathy for Annabelle, she'd go on a drinking binge or such.

The bottom line is that my feelings are so mixed Dead on the Delta that I don't know that I can personally recommend it to anyone - the world was interesting and the story kept my attention but in a watching a train wreck kind of way - but take that for what its worth, because it's clear that many urban fantasy fans have enjoyed reading this first book in Jay's very original new series.

[Susana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was predisposed to like this book. It seemed really interesting, with a very different leading character. Annabelle Lee is....a borderline alcoholic, who has a sleeping pills addiction. She has trust and relationship issues, and she has a crappy job_ literaly speaking, in a way.
The action takes place in a "special" Lousiana, where fairies have undergone a mutation and have becomed the stuff of nightmares. They are real monsters whose bite can kill you ou drive you to insanity. Most of the population aren't imune to their bite. But Annabelle is. Big mouth, mind on the gutter, leave them, before they leave you, Annabelle Lee.
So it took me a while to start liking such a flawed and at times depressed character. But then i couldn't stop reading it. She really got under my skin. She became real.
Contrary to my personal tastes, i have to say that in this case, in this book, i dont even mind the love triangle approach. In a way it will serve, for Annabel, to get her act straight. She doesn't know who she is anymore. She is such a lost person, that one cannot help but sympathize with her. I really liked the way the mistery was played. Didn't see that one coming, "calm waters really run deep". Cant wait to read more about Cane and Hitch. I really liked Cane and the way he's there for Annabelle. But at the same time Hitch just leaves one...i dont know...wondering, is probably the right word.
So, i found this book to be a great reading. Cant wait to read the second in the seriesBlood on the Bayou.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blo...

Annabelle being one of the rare humans that are immune to Fairy venom has the dirty job of collecting evidence from crime scenes where the police can not go. Annabelle is what I would consider an alcoholic, she takes a lot of sleeping pills while trying to escape a troubled past. While working a case an ex boyfriend who was the love of her life shows up and is now working for the FBI. She has to figure out what she feels for him but she also has her new boyfriend Cane to think about all while trying to help figure out what happened to a six year old that was found murdered.

I really enjoyed the world building, everything was extremely well explained and inventive. Although Annabelle seems pretty self destructive and the addictions get in the way of her life she was a pretty interesting heroine. Her story is well told and I ended up really liking her. The secondary characters are also well told and interesting. The plot was very creative and unique, I had no issues with getting into the story and picturing everything that was happening. I enjoyed the different take on fairies that Stacey brought to the book. I think any Urban Fantasy lover will find DEAD ON THE DELTA plenty interesting and I look forward to seeing what comes next for Annabelle.

[Lupine Smile · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will keep this short. This is a book that has a really nice set-up, but seems to be missing a lot of the meat. It is much like going to a restaurant and only being allowed to eat one item of the four on your plate. This book left me hungry when the basis for the book, and the world created, should have been a feast. I really like the idea, I like the possibilities, but I did not like the limited character and plot development. It is worth reading, but I actually cringed at some of the forced plot cliches. It is like watching a Scooby Doo episode where the gang is told not to go into the haunted amusement park. Guess where they go. If there is one lesson to learn in life, if the house says get out, get the heck out. I will read the next book, and I like what the author has started. Keep swinging, the ingredients are there, they just have to be put together to bring out the rich flavor.

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got to Chapter Eight and then stopped.

With an unlikeable heroine that I couldn't bring myself to care about, to a mystery that isn't quite a mystery ... yet...an annoying boyfriend and a jerk ex....needless to say I didn't get hooked.

I had to stop reading this so maybe it got better?

Don't know. Not caring.

[delane · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ THIS!
It's dark and twisted......makes you HATE fairies.....and has an ending that you will NEVER see coming!
This is the second author that I've gotten turned onto by Stacia Kane's blogs and Miz Stacia is brilliant!
Loved the book and can't wait to get another one!

[Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great start to a new series. Had a few small bumps (very small) but overall, I loved it. Very unique. Such a fun, refreshing change!

Review coming soon. 4.5 out of 5 stars.