Review: Ghost Talkers

**Review copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.**

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal

Genre: Alternate History
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Ghost Talkers

Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Harford, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force.

Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the Corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence.

Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels. While Ben is away at the front, Ginger discovers the presence of a traitor. Without the presence of her fiance to validate her findings, the top brass thinks she's just imagining things. Even worse, it is clear that the Spirit Corps is now being directly targeted by the German war effort. Left to her own devices, Ginger has to find out how the Germans are targeting the Spirit Corps and stop them. This is a difficult and dangerous task for a woman of that era, but this time both the spirit and the flesh are willing…

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Review:

Ghost Talkers captured my attention quite a while back and I was so happy when I was approved to read it! Instantly it was love. The writing was solid and I believed the setup that the author was creating. Ghost Talker is an alternate history on The Great War, AKA WWII. One of my biggest gripes with alternate histories is that they forget what the time may have been like. Or that it glorifies war instead of its realities.

Mary Robinette Kowal's writing immediately stole my heart. It's haunting and fits the story and time period well. It was just as haunting as the ghost story. Ghost Talker didn't just ride out the unique idea of using the ghosts of dead soldiers to report back in to help further the war efforts. (A totally awesome idea and I love the taste of the rules and logic behind the magic that is shown.) Kowal addresses the realities of war. From the waste of life, the horror, fear, and many realities. Not to mention that even such times and circumstances racism and sexism still held sway. Oh, don't forget the class system of the time. All of these subjects are not handled heavy handed. No it's practical and the situations support the ideas that the author is trying to get across fitting seamlessly into the story.

The structure of the Spirit Corps and how it functioned within the British military was brilliant! As someone who loves details and world building I was in heaven.

My biggest issue was that the plot was so OBVIOUS. It went and did exactly as I thought it would go. Normally this is a bad thing. Kowal's writing is so wonderful, the world and characters so rich that it was reduced to a minor annoyance. Though I have a feeling that some readers may not like the every day grind and work load to the book. Ginger does her job and while certain events do lead her on a journey it is not some wild ride.

Ginger is a fantastic lead and I like that she isn't some unrealistic idealistic lead. She admits when she's wrong and her own flaws. The cast of characters do feel quite obvious. Like queue male chauvinist boss/general, stereotypical friends and supporting characters. The traitor was so obvious from the get go—that minor annoyance part I was referring to. The dry British humor helped spice up some of the less original characters. Even if they really didn't have much life, at least they had witty humor. The characters that were fleshed out are amazing and I look forward to seeing them again.

Ghost Talkers reads like a standalone, but I have a feeling if things go well it will transition nicely into a series. Which I truly want. Ghost stories are the classics of the paranormal tale. When an author can take such a tired old concept and make it new and refreshing how can I not ask for more? Ghost Talkers captured my attention and kept me riveted to the story. While it was very predictable I think readers can easily enjoy it. Here's to a book 2 and a fantastic new adventure! Because while it all wrapped up nicely there's enough ideas left at the end to really go places.

Sexual Content: Pretty clean, it keeps to a very polite take on the sexual humor and such. Which suited the book well.

 
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it. 

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
N/A	N/A	N/A

Review: First Grave on the Right

First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, book 1) by Darynda Jones

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Hardcover
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: First Grave on the Right (1)

This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual.
Or a diagram of some kind.
A flow chart would have been nice.

Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can't she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?

With scorching-hot tension and high-octane humor, First Grave on the Right is your signpost to paranormal suspense of the highest order.

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Review:

“I gotta tell you, Davidson, I'm impressed,” he said, his eyes glued to the screen. “That took balls.”

“Please,” I said with a snort, “That took ovaries. Of which I have two.”

Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance books that are “supposed to be funny” never sit well with me. We don't mesh and I rarely end up laughing. There's very few authors who can pull it off and hit the mark. Molly Harper's Jane Jameson hit the mark, and remained one of my favorite series to make me laugh. Notice the “remained”. Because Second Grave on the Right just blew that out of the water! In fact, I'd put Jones first entry to this series on pare with Nicole Peeler's Jane True books. Yeah, it was that good for me. (Whoa, seems to be a theme with Janes.)

Charley Davidson is my new BBFF (Best Book Friend Forever!). She's genuinely clever, and when she's snarky isn't rude—unless you've ticked her off. She's a well rounded lead and she's been a Grim Reaper for while. So when readers come in she knows what she's doing and we don't have to go through denial and tons of other stupid things. Even though we're coming in late to the game Jones does a wonderful job on blending the current story with what Charley has gone through in the past. That way readers don't miss a beat and can feel completely connected to Charley. It's also charming that despite how strong she is, her flaws are real. Meaning she is very relatable . The life she's led makes me believe what she's thinking and feeling. Even if I don't agree with her on being a failure—mommy issues!

Then there's Reyes. He's the magnetic, enigma haunting Charley's sexed up dreams. (And now currently haunting mine.) I just adore that Charley has a bit of past with him that gives their relationship a foundation. Even better is that the mysterious part is given answers. It bothers me how many series simply let the mysterious man candy go on being that way. Reyes past is given a story. Charley learns about him! Actual answers! Even more answers then I had hoped for. You know what that did? It made Reyes super sexy and an actual person. Thank you Jones. Thank you.

What I enjoy most is that the story starts out simple. Charley is a Grim Reaper. Ghosts are attracted to her and they come to her to move onto the next life. Or tie up lose ends. She's a PI who consults with the police and I love seeing her use that gift. Then as readers get more information about Charley and how her Grim Reaper skills work it naturally ties in to some of the bigger leaps. The simple world that Charley lives in gets even more paranormal. At the end the revelations don't just come out of no where. There's a foundation for them and I was really happy by the end. (I'm being vague so that other readers can enjoy it.)

By page 33 I knew this book was going to be a favorite. Not just a favorite book, but series. It shames me that I took so long to read it. (Though part of it being it was the last book I ever purchased at Borders. Thus making it the last book I have bought in an actual bookstore. The heartbreak.) Part of it was due to heartache, and the other to fear of another “humorous” paranormal read being less than humorous. Jones balances out mystery, the paranormal, sexy fun times, and humor splendidly. If you haven't read this series for shame! I feel that shame and I plan to remedy it fast! This is an excellent addiction—err, addition—to any Urban Fantasy readers' collection.

Sexual Content: Nothing explicit or overly detailed, but there are sex scenes. Some minor dark sexual themes—nothing scary. Plenty of sexual humor!!

 
5/5- Fabulous, a beautiful obsession!

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Previous book(s) in series:
Reviewed on BW:	Amazon:	Goodreads:
First Grave on the Right (1) For I Have Sinned (1.5) Second Grave on the Left (2) Third Grave Dead Ahead (3) Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet (4) Fifth Grave Past the Light (5) Shimmer (5.5) Glow (5.6) Sixth Grave on the Edge (6) Seventh Grave and No Body (7) Eighth Grave After Dark (8) Brighter Than the Sun (8.5) The Dirt on Ninth Grave (9) The Curse of Tenth Grave (10) Untitled (11)	First Grave on the Right (1) For I Have Sinned (1.5) Second Grave on the Left (2) Third Grave Dead Ahead (3) Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet (4) Fifth Grave Past the Light (5) Shimmer (5.5) Glow (5.6) Sixth Grave on the Edge (6) Seventh Grave and No Body (7) Eighth Grave After Dark (8) Brighter Than the Sun (8.5) The Dirt on Ninth Grave (9) The Curse of Tenth Grave (10) Untitled (11)	First Grave on the Right (1) For I Have Sinned (1.5) Second Grave on the Left (2) Third Grave Dead Ahead (3) Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet (4) Fifth Grave Past the Light (5) Shimmer (5.5) Glow (5.6) Sixth Grave on the Edge (6) Seventh Grave and No Body (7) Eighth Grave After Dark (8) Brighter Than the Sun (8.5) The Dirt on Ninth Grave (9) The Curse of Tenth Grave (10) Untitled (11)