Barbara F. (mama2timmy-daphne) reviewed on 2/2/2011 + 35 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Walking Dead (The Walker Papers, Book 4) brings us back to Joanne Walker, police woman, shaman & heroine extraordinaire. When the book opens, Joanne is starting to have some semblance of a life. She's hosting a party, has a boyfriend and is enjoying her new position as a detective partnered with Billy Holiday. Naturally, this is where things start to fall apart. The party is going well when dead souls start to arrive, sending everything into a tizzy. Joanne is forced to use her abilities in front of a lot of people she'd rather not, including Phoebe her fencing instructor and fledgling friend. But, these souls are just the tip of the iceberg & something bigger and badder is coming to town. The Cauldron of Matholwch is stolen and a black mist is settling over everything threatening to empty out the cemeteries on Halloween and there's been another prediction of her death. Oh, and her partner's pregnant wife is due to deliver any time now....

Such is the life of Joanne Walker. Her life was pretty uneventful until about a year ago when her dying mother invited her to Ireland for a visit. Since then, she's learned how her father's Cherokee heritage and her mother's Celtic heritage combined to create a unique soul--hers--destined for greatness. She's a very powerful shaman on a warrior's path and she's bringing along her friends and the Seattle PD along for the ride.

The latest installment in the Walker Papers series, Walking Dead (The Walker Papers, Book 4) brings us a Joanne Walker who is growing, both in her powers and in her maturity. In Coyote Dreams (The Walker Papers, Book 3), she chose to take a promotion to use her powers to help solve crimes while sacrificing a potential personal relationship with Captain Morrison. She's looking at herself as more of a successful shaman than as the wreck of a person she saw herself as in the past. Overall, things are looking up until the supernatural aspect of her life throws a monkey wrench into her personal life. Of course, she tries to take everything on by herself and gets thrown for a loop when her friends ride to the rescue. Once again, CE Murphy does not fail to entertain. I especially appreciated the references to The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman, although having read the book and seen the movie so many times that I can't remember if her references were truly from the movie or the book :) No matter, the humor is unbelievably appropriate to Joanne, who is fast becoming one of my favorite characters. My only hope for this series is that Joanne travel back to North Carolina to truly embrace her shamanism--maybe one of the upcoming books will tackle that?

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