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Greywalker by Kat Richardson

Once again, the cover struck me first. She looked interesting to me. Like she knew things. And I liked the slanted city she leaned up against, looking like a character in its own right. I love it when a particularly city or a particular building is a main character in a story. The whole thing is that much richer for it. The good news is I wasn't wrong. Harper Blaine does, in fact, know things. Things she'd rather not know, as it turns out, but know things she does. And the Seattle of Greywalker is a dark, wet, teeming character, and you can tell Kat Richardson knows her way around the place and loves it for all its dark, wet, teemingness.

Harper Blaine is a P.I. who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and winds up dead. For two minutes. After she comes to in the hospital things are....different. Suddenly she sees shadows and outlines of figures who aren't there. At least not on this plane. And just like that, she's forced to accept a whole new worldview. One in which the creatures of nightmare and fairy tale drift along beside the living. They exist in an alternate plane known as the Grey and Harper is a greywalker, a mortal who can cross planes. What that ultimately means is up to Harper to find out. Fortunately, she has a few good friends to help her figure things out, including a witch, a ghost, a couple of vampires, and one extremely tall auctioneer with silver hair.

In case this description sounds like the last urban fantasy you read, let me dispel that thought. Greywalker reads like Raymond Chandler meets Charlaine Harris' Harper Connelly mysteries. The emphasis is on the noir, hardboiled private investigator about town. At first, the paranormal events are almost an afterthought. They come to play a much larger role as they begin to alter Harper's life, but the mystical never overshadows the gritty, real feel of the book. It was a nice surprise, different from what I was expecting, and I enjoyed getting to know Harper and how refreshingly adult she was about things--her job, her relationships. Not always trying to prove her worth to anyone and everyone who crosses her path. I look forward to following this series as it develops.

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Comments

  1. Kimberly Swan4:19 PM

    Something you said really struck me, it was about her not always trying to prove her worth to everyone. That's true through each of the books, and she's a very down to earth character who treats people equally. Great review Angie. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Angiegirl5:02 PM

    Thanks! She definitely stood out to me as being down-to-earth and someone I'd like to have as a friend, as opposed to some of the more glittery, super powerful heroines of UF.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thea1:39 PM

    Dang. Another book to add to the pile! Great review Angie--I agree with Kimberly above. The usual out to prove to the world UF heroines are great, but can get tiresome, and I would love to read an 'adult', more secure heroine.

    Thanks for the rec!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angiegirl3:45 PM

    You bet, Thea. Harper would fit the bill, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ciara5:15 PM

    Fun. I've been meaning to read this series, since the author lives near me and it's set in Sea-town. But I didn't know anyone who'd read it yet, and I hate to be the ginny pig. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Angiegirl5:31 PM

    I know what you mean, Ciara. I held off for awhile and then received a copy as a gift. I'm very glad because I like the characters and tone of the series a lot.

    ReplyDelete

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