Helpful Score: 15
First in the Greywalker paranormal mystery series featuring P.I. Harper Blaine, a young woman in Seattle who died briefly during a scuffle with an unruly client and woke up a new person. Or rather, one who can go into the Grey, that murky area between life and death where ghosts, vampires, and all manner of strange beings exist. Harper thinks at first that she's having some lingering effects from her head injury or hallucinating, but when an open-minded doctor gives her the business card of a couple who deal in the paranormal, she seeks them out and begins to learn about her new ability--or is it a curse? Very intriguing storyline coupled with a comfortable, easy-to-read writing style made this book hard to put down. I like Harper, but I don't feel like I really know her very well yet and am looking forward to seeing her character grow as the series progresses. The only detrimental thing I can say is that the frequently repeated descriptions of the foggy, swirling mists and Harper's dizziness, nausea, pain, racing heart, etc. as she went into the Grey got to be...well, repetitive, after awhile. Will definitely be reading more in this series, though--well done!
Helpful Score: 10
Harper Blaine is a private investigator, and gets attacked by someone she was interviewing for a client. She dies for 2 minutes before she is revived but after the attack she has been changed irrevocably. Now she sees mist and grey things and because the core of her is practical - she hates it and has huge problems accepting that she has become a greywalker. She begins to meet people connected to the Grey (described as the mist separating life from death) - a witch, ghosts, vampires. Much of the book has Harper continuing her investigations - a lot of phone calls and pounding pavement, which made the book feel very slow though I'm sure it is a more realistic portrayal of her job than if it went faster. Also much of it is Harper trying to figure out her new ability but no one knows exactly what she can do - much of the help she gets is obscre academic theory - which was somewhat boring to read and not too helpful. The continued stress and the "Grey" wears Harper down and she often talks about how tired she is - which was beginning to bug me toward the end although I understood why. In all - the book felt slow but the last 3rd is where it picked up. The last 50 pages were the most interesting - when the set up at the beginning finally paid off. I felt some satisfaction finishing it and I think that the rest of the series should be very good now that Harper's abilities have become more fully established (though she is still mostly clueless). There are a couple of small lose threads which I expect to be resolved in the next book - although - I really wanted to know what happened to the man who attacked her in the first place - I don't think that was ever mentioned!
Helpful Score: 9
Picked this up when I read a PBS member's mention or it during a review. I loved the whole concept and the first few pages made me think "SWEET" this is going to be great!
Then it just kinda fizzled and died. I found myself thinking ok any minute now it'll pick up. Then I realized I was halfway through the book and still waiting!! Worse still, the author's writing was choppy and uncomfortable - often making me cringe.
I just read a member's review saying the last 50 pages are good. OMG! The book is 341 pages long!
Then it just kinda fizzled and died. I found myself thinking ok any minute now it'll pick up. Then I realized I was halfway through the book and still waiting!! Worse still, the author's writing was choppy and uncomfortable - often making me cringe.
I just read a member's review saying the last 50 pages are good. OMG! The book is 341 pages long!
Helpful Score: 8
I've had this book for a while and needed to decide whether or not to look for the sequels -- so I grabbed it after finishing my last book to give it a chance. I'm glad i did!! I was interested in the story and the heroine after only 27 pages. Read it through in just a few days.
The bland, gray covers on these books don't do much to attract, but you will soon see they are illustrative of the novel plot. The story, set in Seattle, moves quickly and the characters are interesting. I WILL be looking for the sequels.
The bland, gray covers on these books don't do much to attract, but you will soon see they are illustrative of the novel plot. The story, set in Seattle, moves quickly and the characters are interesting. I WILL be looking for the sequels.
Helpful Score: 6
This is the first book in the Greywalker series by Kat Richardson, so far there are 6 books sold in this series. Book #5, Labyrinth, is due out August of 2010. I listened to this book on audio book and it was very well done and very easy to listen to. I originally read a short story by Richardson that Harper Blaine was in; I liked her writing style and the idea behind the Grey so I decided to give this series a try. I am actually surprised it isn't rated higher on Amazon; I thought it was a very solid entry into the paranormal market.
Harper Blaine, a private investigator, gets whacked around by a pissed off client and ends up dead for a couple minutes. When she comes back and tries to resume her normal life things have...changed. She keeps seeing ghosts and getting sucked into a grey world. Her doctor refers her to an interesting couple of people who make a living studying magic; ends up Harper is a Greywalker and can walk the planes between the natural and supernatural world. This is all well and good but for some reason Harper's cases start getting more and more bizarre as things from the Grey are drawn to her for help.
There were a lot of things I liked about this story. The idea of the Grey is very cool and, while Harper's full potential wasn't realized in this book, there are a lot of cool things that Richardson does with the Grey. I think this whole idea of the Grey has great potential for even more creative use as the series continues. I also really liked Harper's character. She is practical and organized; she is not overly tough-girl but is willing to deal with whatever life throws at her. I also liked that she still has to do normal things like eat and sleep and that isn't ignored in this book. I also liked the side characters; all the side characters are intriguing and engaging.
I liked the writing style too. It moved pretty fast, had good action scenes, Richardson makes some very funny analogies and gives her characters some great sarcastic wit that I enjoyed. Richardson did an excellent job have having multiple plotlines going (with all of Harper's different clients) and the plotlines never got confused and they ended up coming together very neatly in the end. I liked Harper's relationship with Will; it was just a normal, nice beginning relationship. It was good to see Harper live her life as normal as she could with all the weird stuff going on around her. That being said this was not a romance or even a paranormal romance; this was definitely more of an urban fantasy...which of course, is what I prefer.
The treatment of vampires was pretty traditional, nothing too surprising there. So, I suppose that might disappoint some people. The conclusion to the book wasn't all that surprising, but it was well done. There are a number of other supernatural forces dealt with in this book...primarily necromancers, witches, and ghosts. There was also brief mention of werewolves and the inclusion of the Guardian of the Grey. I am hoping that in future books we learn more about the Grey and that the world is further expanded.
Overall this was a solid paranormal read that tended more towards urban fantasy and mystery. I loved the creativity of the Grey and thought the characterization was very strong. I also enjoyed the tight plot. I am hoping we get to learn more about the Grey in future books and that Richardson expands upon the world she's created in this book. I really enjoyed Harper's character. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Harper Blaine, a private investigator, gets whacked around by a pissed off client and ends up dead for a couple minutes. When she comes back and tries to resume her normal life things have...changed. She keeps seeing ghosts and getting sucked into a grey world. Her doctor refers her to an interesting couple of people who make a living studying magic; ends up Harper is a Greywalker and can walk the planes between the natural and supernatural world. This is all well and good but for some reason Harper's cases start getting more and more bizarre as things from the Grey are drawn to her for help.
There were a lot of things I liked about this story. The idea of the Grey is very cool and, while Harper's full potential wasn't realized in this book, there are a lot of cool things that Richardson does with the Grey. I think this whole idea of the Grey has great potential for even more creative use as the series continues. I also really liked Harper's character. She is practical and organized; she is not overly tough-girl but is willing to deal with whatever life throws at her. I also liked that she still has to do normal things like eat and sleep and that isn't ignored in this book. I also liked the side characters; all the side characters are intriguing and engaging.
I liked the writing style too. It moved pretty fast, had good action scenes, Richardson makes some very funny analogies and gives her characters some great sarcastic wit that I enjoyed. Richardson did an excellent job have having multiple plotlines going (with all of Harper's different clients) and the plotlines never got confused and they ended up coming together very neatly in the end. I liked Harper's relationship with Will; it was just a normal, nice beginning relationship. It was good to see Harper live her life as normal as she could with all the weird stuff going on around her. That being said this was not a romance or even a paranormal romance; this was definitely more of an urban fantasy...which of course, is what I prefer.
The treatment of vampires was pretty traditional, nothing too surprising there. So, I suppose that might disappoint some people. The conclusion to the book wasn't all that surprising, but it was well done. There are a number of other supernatural forces dealt with in this book...primarily necromancers, witches, and ghosts. There was also brief mention of werewolves and the inclusion of the Guardian of the Grey. I am hoping that in future books we learn more about the Grey and that the world is further expanded.
Overall this was a solid paranormal read that tended more towards urban fantasy and mystery. I loved the creativity of the Grey and thought the characterization was very strong. I also enjoyed the tight plot. I am hoping we get to learn more about the Grey in future books and that Richardson expands upon the world she's created in this book. I really enjoyed Harper's character. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
