When I read the synopsis of Shutter, I'm positive that I didn't read the whole thing. I remember seeing "forensic photographer", "Navajo Reservation", and "New Mexico", and I jumped at the chance to read it. Using my incredibly focused hindsight, I'm not entirely certain I would have read this book if I'd paid closer attention to the complete synopsis.

Shutter is part crime thriller, part supernatural horror, and part coming-of-age story. Which part would have kept me from reading this book? The supernatural horror part. Normally, I don't care to spend time with that particular genre. What kept me reading? The other two parts, that's what. The crime thriller was taut as a bowstring and often shocking. If gruesome depictions of crime scenes bother you, I would suggest you give this book a pass; however, I did not find the descriptions gratuitous-- they served to open wide the window into Rita's nightmarish world. The mystery wasn't easy to solve either.

The absolute best part of Shutter-- and the part that kept me glued to Rita's side-- was the coming of age aspect. Readers watch Rita as she grows up on the Navajo Reservation with her grandmother, who is deeply worried about Rita's "gift". The Navajo perspective of death and dealing with the dead is very different from most cultures, and I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to learn more about this.

Fortunately, the mystery and the coming of age aspects of Shutter helped keep me from mentally dropkicking Erma the supposed highway overpass suicide into the next world where she belonged-- talk about an annoying character! But... as much as I did enjoy the mystery and learning more about the Navajo culture, I'm not sure I would want to read another book featuring Rita. That indecision has everything to do with my own personal tastes in reading and very little to do with Shutter itself.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)

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You'll need a strong stomach to get through the first few pages of this one. After that it mostly reminded me of the movie Sixth Sense: "I see dead people". I did like the dichotomy between Rita's Navajo heritage and her affinity for ghosts. The continual shifts between past and present were easy enough to follow. But Rita's past seemed to be the focus of the book, not Erma's murder or any of the other ghosts that torment her. I saw this novel was nominated for a lot of awards; it's certainly got atmosphere, but it won't make my year's top ten.

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I enjoyed reading this book but at the same time I was disappointed. On one hand there was a good story here. The author does a nice job at keeping you engaged. The downfall was that the synopsis of the book didn't really match up with what was in the book. It sounds like this is going to be a crazy ride with ghosts and killer cartel groups. It is, but most of that doesn't happen until the end of the book. You have the nagging ghost but for most of the story, you learn about Rita and her family, flashing back to the past then coming into the present. Like I said, this was nicely done but not what I was wanting. Hopefully if Rita's story continues, we'll get more action and less backstory since we know all about her now.

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Part ghost story, part coming of age, part murder mystery, part cop drama, interesting read.

Rita is native Navajo who grew up on Navajo Nation with her grandmother. Story shifts between Rita's childhood and current day, showing us the difficulties of growing up with Navajo beliefs and fitting into American society. Rita has the gift of seeing dead people, which helps with her work as forensic photographer but is against beliefs of Navajo culture. She's in constant conflict with these two societies.

Story takes us thru several crime scenes that Rita photographs. If you're squeamish, this might not be the book for you. Author describes details of body parts, ghosts with injuries, etc.

Author Ramona Emerson's debut novel shows us she is indeed a worthy writer. I'll follow to catch her next one.

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This was another one where I felt kinda bad that I didn't like it as much as I was hoping I would. I think most of the other reviewers have hit the nail on the head, in that it's excessively gory, repetitive, and has a rather simplistic plot. Not that the latter is always a bad thing, but it was pretty one-dimensional, as were the characters more than I was hoping, because this really did have potential.

The premise is at least creative: Rita works for the Albuquerque Police Department as a crime scene forensic photographer, building a career on a hobby she has indulged in since childhood, as had her mother, before the latter's premature death. It seems that Rita also has another ability, which she has harbored since childhood: she can see and talk to dead people, some of whom are far more malevolent than others. This is an ability she has previously been able to turn on and off, but one case, the one we encounter at the outset of the novel, has changed that.

An insistent murder victim, Erma, has been making Rita's life miserable, as she threatens and incessantly badgers Rita into looking into her murder which has been ruled a suicide by the police department. Erma has also somehow been able to open a portal to the World Beyond, allowing even more ghosts to assail Rita seeking for help. This unfortunate victim was dropped from a highway overpass into oncoming traffic... but there's a lot more to this story than it seems, and uncovering the truth may likewise put Rita in mortal danger.

The one constant in Rita's life has been her grandmother, a traditional Navajo who lives on the reservation and who helped raise her when her mother was unable to care for her as a young child. Grandma has long sought the help of a Navajo traditional healer to keep the ghosts at bay, but it seems that his ability to repel them has become ineffective.

It also appears that there is more going on at Rita's job than meets the eye, which puts her at odds with both the living and the dead, especially after her supervisors become aware that something isn't right, even if they don't believe that she can actually see and communicate with spirits.

I won't include the spoilers at the end, but this was a decent first novel, if somewhat mediocre. I love mystery and even horror, but the descriptions of the gore were excessively graphic for my taste. I get that the author is attempting to describe in words the photos Rita takes as part of her job, providing mental images and allowing the reader to see what she sees, which is horrific, but I think it was generally overwrought and sensationalistic.

I did enjoy the vignettes from Rita's early life and her experiences as a native woman, as her grandmother, caught between two worlds, in a way, the same as the spirits who are desperately trying to communicate with her. It's a decent read, but be prepared for some scenes of graphic violence throughout.

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