“I don’t know why you continue to mock me when you’re fully aware
I could crack your head open like a coconut.”
– Tooth and Nail by Jennifer Safrey
I have to give credit where credit is due: Jennifer Safrey took an initially laughable premise and created a storyline that is decidedly not laughable. In fact, by the end of Tooth and Nail, I thought, “Hey, this could be the beginning of a really interesting paranormal fantasy series…”
But I have to admit, the first few chapters of this novel had me scratching my head – I was having major difficulty putting the seemingly incongruent pieces together:
Gemma Fae Cross is a 30-year old boxing enthusiast who works out at Smiley’s Gym in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown. Her nickname is “Brickhouse” and she is described as “sort of Amazonian – hard and muscular, but not lacking in curves, thank you very much. Five-foot-ten and often indignant…”
Gemma is dating – and living with – district attorney Avery McCormack, who is in the middle of a campaign to get elected into the House of Representatives.
She has also just found out that she is half-fae – and not just any kind of faerie, she is a halfbreed tooth faerie. You heard me right: a halfbreed tooth faerie.
And – wait for it – because she is the first warrior to ever come out of the tooth faerie lineage, she is the only one who can save the tooth faeries’ rich heritage and their dream of bringing back the Olde Way from the looming threat of... a dentist.
It all sounds so ridiculous – and I haven’t even mentioned the production of toothpaste yet – but Safrey eventually does put the pieces together and creates a (surprisingly) entertaining story that should appeal to readers of paranormal fantasy, especially those interested in the fae.
Of particular interest was her idyllic description of the Olde Way throughout, the culture and philosophy and way of life for the fae before the rise of the humans:
• “We all came from here, this place of purity. This is where we exist in each other, and the light moves in and out of us. We create our own surprises. Every moment is free of the one preceding it, or the one following it, and every moment is full of genius and wonder, lasting an eternity. It’s the Olde Way. It’s not gone. It’s not gone…”
• “Instantly wrapped in a thin, lacy blanket of peace, I fell into the rainbow void. Emotion surged through me and I swayed on my feet as a single voice, made up of millions, sang a tuneless melody meant just for me, made up of my own shimmering soul. I smiled through the light that surrounded me, the white purity that I never wanted to leave. We all come from here…”
While I never became fully immersed in this novel – and I still consider the premise to be a bit ridiculous – Safrey has to be congratulated for having the courage to explore a storyline that is so daring and unconventional. Not many fictionists have attempted to seriously reimagine the tooth fairy mythos – I can only think of Graham Joyce’s dark fantasy The Tooth Fairy back in 1996 – so I applaud Safrey for the effort.
Tooth and Nail didn’t knock me out – it certainly wasn’t a flawless read – but what it did do was lay the groundwork for a potentially exceptional paranormal fantasy saga. The tone of the narrative was a nice blend of whimsical surrealism à la Seanan McGuire’s October “Toby” Daye saga and witty humor comparable to Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan novels, the development of the main characters was excellent, and with Washington, D.C. as a backdrop, the potential for politically-powered future storylines is intriguing to say the least. But readers have to buy into the premise and whether they do or not remains to be seen…
Bottom line: I would recommend this novel to paranormal fantasy fans for its potential alone; if Safrey can get this storyline off the ground – and that is a big if – we could be hearing a lot from Gemma Cross in the future.
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for the last two decades and has written thousands of reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, and BarnesandNoble.com. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.
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