One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Negotiator, Book 3
Rating: 5 Stars
Length: 448 Pages
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


They may have graced her with the title of Negotiator, they may have acknowledged her as a representative of her race, but they are and forever will be other.

New York City hasn't seemed the same to Legal Aid lawyer Margrit Knight in the months since she was pulled into the world of Old Races. She hasn't seemed the same, even to herself, especially in the two weeks since the actions she took against the djinn Malik to protect dragon crime lord Janx directly led to Malik's demise. Nightmares of fire and death stalk her sleep, and out of a desperate need for time to come to terms with the recent past she keeps Alban at arm's length and stops herself from looking up as she jogs through Central Park at night.

Turns out that act of self preservation wasn't enough to keep Alban's old rival Biali from snatching her up and flying away with her. Before she can cry foul, Biali's move to draw Alban into a fight over the death of the halfling gargoyle...and batshit crazy murderer Ausra has yanked Grit right back into Old Race politics.

As Margrit prepares to defend Alban in a battle he refuses to fight for himself, she further thrusts herself from the familiar human world and into that of the gargoyle she's come to love. Inherently dangerous, industriously devious, unapologetic in their machinations, the Old Races are both tempting lure and cautionary tale. Embracing them and their world means forever walking a dangerous tightrope between gargoyle, vampire, selkie, dragon, and djinn, currying favor and carrying secrets and doing deals. The slightest misstep, the briefest bobble, and it won't simply be an issue of losing a case, it'll be a matter of forfeiting her very life.

The Negotiator trilogy draws to a close in this complex and thorough third book, and in so doing, evidences just what I like most about trilogies. When done particularly well, as in this case, the first and second books set up the characters, the world, and the many layers of plot, and by the third, readers can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of the author's labor as impending conflicts are realized, questions are answered, and resolutions are reached.

Hands of Flame doesn't suffer from the slow start of Heart of Stone or the slightly ponderous plot details of House of Cards. It hits hard and fast, picks up the action and the continued dramatics of the Old Races, and builds off what came before as it spirals towards a tenser and tenser conclusion. So many delicious lingering plot threads are tidied up, so many interesting mysteries are revealed. Margrit is still the quintessential Don Quixote, tilting at her Old Race windmills, but the stakes are ever so much higher with beloved characters on the line in new and scary ways.

I love this trilogy, and most of the reasons why are in this book. The depth given to the characters is so appealing, and as I prefer shades of gray as opposed to a strict black-and-white philosophy, the delightful moral ambiguity of best friends and fiercest rivals Janx and Daisani, dragon and vampire, offered me some of the best, if not the best, interpersonal conflicts between secondary characters I've ever read. Of course Margrit is the central character of the trilogy, with Alban a close second as the rock-solid male lead (no pun intended...really), and I liked them both. Yet while I enjoyed the journey of their relationship as it evolved over the three books, I have to admit, without the two bad boys, the trilogy wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining for me, and there are definitely some positively delicious developments with them in this book.

There's a lot of yum in the story as a whole in this book, actually. Even after reading the first two, I wasn't fully prepared for the full scope, imagination, and originality of the many-headed monster that is Hands of Flame, and I was struck anew by Murphy's ability to weave such a richly developed and intricate trilogy with such attention to detail and continuity. I sort of loved everything about it, and the end - the epilogue - well, a special kernel of more-than-love is awarded to that bit of it. I positively adored how everything was tied up. I even appreciated those strands of complication or development that weren't quite tied, but at least given a nod, because it struck me as realistic and believable.

Though I know The Negotiator is a completed trilogy, and C.E. Murphy has been firm about Margrit and Alban's story being done, I can't help but thirst for more novels set in their world featuring the characters that I've come to love. Maybe we'll see more of the Old Races some day. I, for one, hope for more than the occasional short story that Murphy offers through her website, stories that delve into the past of such beloved characters as Janx and Daisani. I hunger to see what happens next, far more than what came before, and while I'm sure that makes me greedy, for the sort of layered, complex, and brilliant writing that I found in this trilogy, I'm more than okay with that label.

The Negotiator Trilogy:

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Negotiator, Book 2
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 448 Pages, 5743 Locations
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


It's been a few months since gargoyle Alban Korund pulled back from New York City lawyer Margrit Knight after exposing her to his world and the Old Races. His intentions were sound; he wanted her safe from the machinations of monsters and he wanted her to have a normal human life with normal human trials and tribulations. The only thing Alban didn't take into account was Margrit's complete disregard for what he wanted for her. The spunky, feisty woman had tasted the magic of the Old Races, and as dangerous as she knew they were, she wanted more.

Margrit ran every night in Central Park, frustrated by the situation but comforted by the knowledge that, though he wouldn't talk to her, her gargoyle was protecting her. In fact, it wasn't through Alban that she was drawn back, inevitable really, to the Old Races. A dragon crimelord and a vampire business mogul, locked in an ages-old battle of one-upmanship, yank her back into their world with meticulous forethought...and maybe even malice, of a sort.

For those two powerful and ancient beings, Margrit is a pawn to be used. For Alban, she's a woman to be loved from afar. When a surprising and abrupt shift in power among the Old Races shakes them to their foundations, however, it is Margrit's very humanity that they will have to rely on to save them all.

This second book in The Negotiator trilogy is so much fun, once it gets going. The first half of the book is a little slow, and I still haven't got much use for Margrit's human life or her human friends and family, but this series totally shines when she's maneuvering her way through the mine fields surrounding the Old Races and negotiating them into submission. There's a delightful plethora of that in the latter part of this book.

I'm totally in love with the world that Murphy has created in this trilogy, and I'm more than a little in love with Janx. Daisani has his own charm, too, but the flamboyant ebullience of the dragon is the most appealing to me. Oh, don't get me wrong, this series belongs to Margrit and Alban, and I love that we got to see Alban working more independently in this book than in the last. As much as I adore him, though, and want nothing but him and Margrit to have a shot at some sort of Happily Ever After, sometimes I want to shake Stoneheart for his slow thinking and stubbornness, and occasionally Margrit's tempestuous personality rubs me the wrong way.

Still, there is a steadfast solidity to Alban's character that is ultimately appealing, and more than a little brilliant from a character standpoint, and I admire Margrit's tenacity and grit, not to mention her intelligence. She is often out of her depth with the Old Races, but she holds her own in ways that consistently manage to surprise all the Old Race characters she deals with on a daily - and nightly basis.

I can't help but really dislike Margrit's roommates - they don't add anything to the series, and I find Cole's judgmental bigotry, and the wretched way he speaks to Margrit (again, actually, as he did it in the first book, too) pretty distasteful. Nor have I ever liked Tony, who has never struck me as anything but close-minded and selfish, and for all his platitudes and the sleepless nights next to Margrit's hospital bed in the previous book, he is forever blind to the core of Margrit's heart and personality.

This is a solid second book in a trilogy, and it straddles the line between Margrit's old life and her new one. I wasn't quite as happy with this installment as I was with the first, it's actually my least favorite of all three of them, but only slightly so. There is a lot of juicy development with the Old Races in this book, and much change for creatures not known for being quick-change artists. I'm thrilled with the trilogy as a whole, love the world and the characters, and am anxious to continue on to the conclusion. I can't wait to see how all the change here impacts the characters in The Negotiator trilogy conclusion, Hands of Flame.

The Negotiator Trilogy:

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Negotiator, Book 1
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Length: 432 Pages, 5810 Locations
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


His life is lived in shadows, exiled from his own kind and alone in the world but for her, the woman he protects every night. He doesn't know her name. He doesn't know what she does for a living. He's never broken through the racial boundaries and dared speak to her, his human ward.

Though he wants to. Aches to with a need that grows by the year, by the night.

He is Alban Korund. He is gargoyle.

Most of Margrit Knight's friends joke about her having a death wish, and while those jokes are always half couched in genuine fear for her safety, Margrit knows she's an adrenaline junkie who prefers to run in Central Park every night. As a lawyer for Legal Aid in Manhattan, she doesn't get a lot of free time in the day, but the truth is, no matter how irrational, how dangerous, Margrit is confident to bone-deep levels. Until the night a pale man dressed in a suit far too light for the frigid winter temperatures steps out of the shadows on the path near her and says hello.

Weird, but easily dismissible until Margrit turns on the news at home and sees a witness to a vicious murder in Central Park describe the tall, pale man in a suit as the perpetrator.

As Alban tries again and again to reach out to Margrit to prove his innocence and Margrit gets dragged deeper and deeper into a world she never new existed - a world full of Old Races and predators beyond human comprehension - the two are drawn into the madness of a murderer with a hideous agenda and a horrific connection to an exiled gargoyle.

Long before I started reading C.E. Murphy's The Walker Papers series, I came across this nifty little trilogy and fell in love. In fact, as much as I enjoy The Walker Papers, The Negotiator trilogy remains closer to my heart. I love the world that Murphy created here, love the characters, the story. The Old Races add fresh breath and unique life to the genre, as I sure haven't seen a proliferation of gargoyles in fiction, and even though vampires are one of the Old Races, their history is original and shrouded in the sort of mystery that tantalizes instead of tires.

The characters are three dimensional and real, likable but quirky enough to have their own little foibles that add layers to their personalities. Margrit is a bright, confident woman with a strong moral center, liberal of mind and free speaking. She doesn't give much thought to her safety, true, but she throws herself at injustice with a weight far exceeding her body mass. Her ability to see members of the Old Races as people instead of monsters is laudable, even when her mouth starts to write checks that her body's going to have to cash.

Alban is a rock. Literally and figuratively. And in his character is some truly brilliant writing, because Murphy managed to imbue his personality with both a steadfastness that makes sense, a loneliness that devastates, and a stubbornness that is both humorous and intensely frustrating at turns. Where Margrit is fire, burning intensely bright and racing around willy nilly, he is the calm force of protection at her back. The pairing was odd, unique, and filled with a slow burning romantic tension that was very appealing.

But this isn't a romance. It's an urban fantasy. And if the brutal murder of women in Central Park isn't enough of a mystery to solve, Margrit also finds herself caught between a dragon crime lord and a vampire business mogul as the two play a dangerous game of power and influence as coldly calculating as an extended game of chess with the population of New York City as their pawns.

It's a thrilling book, though it's light on world-ending catastrophe like so many in the genre. Instead it offers up a steadily building conflict and rising tension about the murders and takes the time to really open Margrit's eyes to the reality of the world around her. The vampire wants to own her, the dragon wants to play with her, the gargoyle...well...Alban wants to protect her...mostly from himself. Stubborn male.

The beginning was a little slow. After the initial meeting with Alban, the narrative bogged down a bit with the search for him. And I never found Margrit's human friends as interesting as the supernatural elements of the book. Fortunately, after Alban and Margrit start working together, there is very little human interference.

There were also a few times when Margrit's actions and mouth went a little further than just being strong and confident warranted given the powerful entities surrounding her. A few times where I wanted to shake her for her insouciance. Just a few, though, and nothing to make her unlikable. Just a little foolhardy at times. There were also a handful of times when I wondered why any of the Old Races would bother sparing any thought to Margrit, or bothered dealing with her at all, for all her pesky humanity. Novelty only goes so far, after all. But then I stopped worrying about that and just sat back and enjoyed this remarkably well-written book.

I loved the end, though. I love how everything came together. I love the book. Knowing it's a complete trilogy is also another nice thing, because there's a sense of completion (I have a gift for the obvious)...a sense that whatever happens as you're reading, it's already all been written and you know you won't be left hanging for a new release sometime in the distant future to find out what happens next. Given the number of long-running series I read, that's a surprisingly comforting and satisfying treat. And so is Heart of Stone and The Negotiator trilogy.

The Negotiator Trilogy:

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Walker Papers, Book 6
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 368 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


It's been fifteen months since cop mechanic and cynic Joanne Walker became warrior shaman and Seattle detective. In those fifteen months, she's been stabbed, hung, strung out, strung up, wiped out and beat down. She's done battle with creatures that aren't supposed to exist outside of grim horror stories or fantasy books. She's had crises of faith, been riddled with self doubt and guilt, and gotten several close friends almost killed just by associating with her. But she ain't dead yet.

And for Joanne, born Siobhán Walkingstick, that's practically a victory in and of itself.

There is one thing that Joanne's never done; she's never shot anyone. Until the night her and her partner Billy Holliday were sent to respond to a domestic disturbance call and walked into a murder scene. While clearing the house, the suspect surprises them and takes a swing at Billy's head with a nail-studded baseball bat. Joanne takes her down, and suffers a psychic backlash that lets her know in no uncertain terms that there is a bit of a conflict brewing between the cop she wants to be and the shaman she is.

Even six months ago that sort of emotional fallout and short blitz of her shamanic powers would have freaked Joanne out or seriously disrupted her confidence, but Joanne's lived a lot in a short amount of time and she's both growing into her powers and growing up. Still, police regulations puts her on a mandatory three day suspension following the shooting, and she's okay with that, really. It's not like trouble won't find her anyway. It always has. It probably always will.

Of course it did.

A psychic murder, a touring troupe of spirit dancers, disappearing homeless, an abrupt incidence of shapeshifting...yeah, those are bad problems, but none of them are what has Joanne most discombobulated. No, that top prize is awarded to perhaps the most bizarre thing Joanne's ever dealt with, including the craziness of her life the last few months: a date with her boss, Captain Morrison.

Say what you will about Joanne Walker, her life is definitely never boring.

This sixth installment of The Walker Papers is a streamlined, pared down actionfest with a more poised and confident Joanne at the helm. It's hard to believe that the character who once annoyed me with all the whining about the general suckiness of the shamanic side of her life has blossomed into this slightly jaded, world-weary yet valiant warrior who is starting to finally grasp the big picture of her destiny. She's evolved into a character that I thoroughly enjoy and one I find comfortably easy to relate to for all her very normal and believable quirks and foibles.

The plot of Spirit Dances is far more cohesive than its predecessor, and either I'm getting used to the world or there just wasn't so much of the woo-woo stuff that normally makes my brain hurt, because I found this book far easier to follow and never felt overwhelmed by the magical aspects. I've always loved the first person point of view narration, because Joanne is the sort of sarcastic, self-effacing, honest-with-herself type that I find caustically humorous, but I've never been all that clear on some of the more esoteric scenes in the books in this series. There were blessedly few of them here, and the Big Bad was much easier to wrap my head around than some of the others have been.

The flip side of that coin (because obviously, I'm never satisfied) is that in this instance it felt a little too much of the depth and complexity had been stripped away, with a plot that was relatively - and surprisingly - one-note. The shaman crime solving was pretty cut and dry, the perpetrator revealed without too much fuss, and the ancillary plot threads were fewer and more widely spaced through the book.

There was far more Morrison than in any previous book, though, so I certainly can't complain overly much, as their scenes have always been my favorite part of this series, but beyond him, Billy, and Billy's wife Melinda, there was hardly any of the secondary and ancillary characters that we've previously met. I felt Gary's absence most keenly, as he was away from town when all the shenanigans started kicking up, but there wasn't much of anyone else we know, nor much in the way of new characters that look like they might stick around for awhile.

On the character development front, we got a few pretty massive upgrades for Joanne. She seems to be on the precipice of something significant and life altering and I'm looking forward to seeing where her journey takes her. There were also some great moments between Joanne and Morrison that I've been waiting for, hoping for, and praying for since the first book, but like everything else in this Murphy-created world, satisfaction goes hand-in-hand with frustration. I just don't trust that there won't be the one-step-forward-three-steps-back tango in even more detail the next go 'round.

The smooth, conversational writing style and the ever-growing confidence, increased competence, and complete likability of Joanne are strong attractors for this series, and significant changes and happenings in this book make it a must-read for fans. I sincerely hope book seven will be out later this year, but wouldn't be surprised if it's not available until early next. I'm torn between anticipation and nerves over the next one, because the Spirit Dances conclusion seemed a bit open-ended and took me by surprise. I'd say that this almost felt like a transitional book in the series, but honestly, some of the weighty importance in several scenes make me think it could be even more than that. A true turning point has been reached. I look forward to the new direction.

Disclosure: This book was provided to me free of charge through the Amazon.com Vine program for the purpose of an honest review. All thoughts, comments, and ratings are my own.

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Walker Papers, Book 5
Formats: Paperback, Kindle

3 Stars
The Journey Impressed Me, The Crisis Didn't

Demon Hunts is the fifth book in The Walker Papers series, and by now, Joanne Walker (aka Siobhán Walkingstick) and her friends are familiar staples in my reading library. I've enjoyed to varying degrees watching Joanne mostly bumble along with this whole shaman gig she's always been pretty reluctant about, and while there have been times when her character's reluctance to just accept this new world she's been forced into has frustrated me, I have to admit, overall I've enjoyed the slow and sometimes fitful journey her character has taken to become more and more comfortable and aware of her skills and gifts as well as her calling.

Demon Hunts is no different in that regard, and it managed to capture in very poignant detail that growing up and accepting responsibility is very rarely a painless process. In fact, it's often burdened by farewells we have to say and amends we have to make. It's littered with regrets for past mistakes and tinged with the iridescent sheen of broken childish dreams. It's about doing what needs to be done in the face of criticism and rebuke, no matter the struggle, if the doing is the right thing. Above all that, it demands an acceptance of self that is often uncomfortable and a paradigm shift that is as necessary as it so often is terrifying. And at the very core, that is what Demon Hunts is about. Joanne finally...finally...growing up. That aspect of Demon Hunts was well written, exceptionally well paced, and a little heartbreaking, but there was also humor, self deprecating as only Joanne can do, and hope, and friendship, so it wasn't a totally bleak endeavor.

Unfortunately, the other aspect of Demon Hunts, the threat, crime, and rush to a solution, was bleak enough on its own. A series of odd murders that leave no clues of any sort are plaguing the Seattle Police Department - no blood, no DNA, no fibers, no footprints...nothing is left at the scene. So Captain Morrison calls in his paranormal dynamic duo, Joanne and Billy Holiday, because they're who you call when normal doesn't quite cover it. Except, there's nothing either one of them can pick up either - even with their magical connections. And people are still dying. Outdoorsy people. Leaving empty, bloodless husks behind.

As Joanne races to find out what is responsible and more importantly, stop it, long lost friends return to the fold and old friends stand as stalwart support. Old enemies pop back up and persistent thorns remain thorny. And while all that sounds like fantastic building blocks for another kick ass 'Joanne's Magical Mystery Tour,' in this case the Big Bad of Demon Hunts and the narrative surrounding it was ultimately a confusing, unrewarding mess that ended up feeling more repetitive than threatening.

I'll admit, throughout the series, I've had trouble understanding some of the magic related world building and mythos of each of the books. I don't blame the author for that, really. I have trouble wrapping my mind around magical concepts and other dimensions and stuff to start with (linear thinker, unfortunately), and Murphy just doesn't describe them conceptually enough for me to always catch on to the full scope of Joanne's shamanic world. I've gotten used to that. But this book went a bit further, and I struggled to understand a lot of the too-subtly woven interpersonal stuff between Joanne and other characters - in particular a few scenes with Morrison and Coyote. There seemed to be an overabundance of dialogue with inexplicable double meanings and on top of that, I have trouble grasping the full impact of a scene if everyone's just looking at each other and the narrative doesn't really explain what's going on. In that regard, this book's narrative felt far more internal (from Joanne's POV) than others in the series, and that was exceedingly frustrating.

Another problem that's starting to niggle me is the evolving relationship between Morrison and Walker, which, in this book in particular, was far less 'evolve' and far more 'evade.' That whole 'one step forward two steps back' adage could definitely be used here...if the steps back were Jolly Green Giant-sized. I hope that Demon Hunts is a turning point, a stepping stone, or the last of the metaphorical shaman baby steps that Joanne needed to take to really become the warrior shaman Seattle needs and that by the sixth book in the series we'll start to get an idea of where that relationship is headed, as well as some overall arc progression or definition, because there wasn't any of that in Demon Hunts.

For the maturing and the personal growth, both well written and touching, I'd rate Demon Hunts 4 stars, but because of the weakness in the storyline of the killer and the repetitiveness of the battles with it, the conflict of Demon Hunts gets only 2 stars from me today. I averaged it out to 3 overall. I hope the next one has got a little more to offer.

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Walker Papers, Book 3
Format: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle

4 Stars
Coyote Dreams is a Strong Installment

Coyote Dreams, the third book of the Walker Papers, is a solid story with a tighter and better-paced plot than the previous book in the series, Thunderbird Falls. It's far more cohesive and I think it's the best of the first three books.

Without a doubt, C.E. Murphy's greatest strength in this series in particular is fantastic character development. I may not always like Joanne Walker (Siobhan Walkingstick) or the choices she makes, but I still love her as a character. She's so delightfully human, flawed and sometimes petty, petulant, and frustrating. She's also got one of the most amusing internal monologues I've ever read and her sarcastic and biting wit drives the action of the plot. The first person narrative is a perfect vehicle for her character.

Supported by the familiar and spectacular secondary characters - her boss Captain Michael Morrison and her pseudo-paternal influence and robust septuagenarian cab diver Gary in particular - Murphy's Coyote Dreams shines brightest during the continuing development of those interpersonal relationships. And some of my favorite reading ever are any scenes between Joanne and Morrison. Murphy has been absolutely brilliant during every single step of their tense and reluctant relationship.

I believe that the three books, Urban Shaman, Thunderbird Falls, and Coyote Dreams would've been complete as a trilogy - there was satisfying arc of character development and a plot theme that came full circle. That being said, I'm thrilled that the Walker Papers has been continued, and look forward to book four, Walking Dead (The Walker Papers, Book 4).

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: The Walker Papers, Book 2
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle

3 Stars
Anticlimactic After Urban Shaman

Joanne Walker, aka Siobhan Walkingstick, is back in the second installment of The Walker Papers. Unfortunately, the force of her personality and the awesome cast of secondary characters introduced in Urban Shaman (The Walker Papers, Book 1) and back in this installment isn't quite enough to put Thunderbird Falls on my "must not be missed" list.

There's good stuff here, most significantly the growing emotional tension between Joanne and Captain Michael Morrison. I swear, I just love every second they're in each others' company. There's real magic sparking between the two of them and it's very patiently and subtly drawn. I adore Gary - and there's a comforting sense of continuity in the faux-familial bond between them. It's nice to see two characters who genuinely adore one another like they do and not have it be in any way romantic. Billy Holliday is back, too, and while not quite as out there as he was in the first book, he's definitely one of the most joyously unique characters I've read in a book in a long time. And I love Joanne's internal monologue. She's sarcastic and self-deprecating and her observations often make me chuckle.

What I don't love, though, is that despite the impressive goings on in Urban Shaman and all the challenges Joanne Walker triumphs over there, she seems to have not only stagnated in her shamanic development, she's actually regressed and is back to that annoying "oh no, I don't want to be Shaman" whining. It doesn't stop her from using her abilities, it just makes every time she does turn into a paragraph about why she doesn't want to. That got old in the first book. To have it carry over into this one after everything she accomplished previously is tedious. I think there may have been some progress in that regard by the end of Thunderbird Falls, but I'm not sure how much.

Then there's the central plot. Joanne stumbles across a dead body and ends up mixed up in coven with dubious motives and questionable sanity. She loses Coyote in there somewhere, and I have no idea why or how. She sure doesn't seem at all bothered by it, despite the fact that there are things going on around her that point to the fact that her fight against Cerrunos in Urban Shaman threw things severely out of whack in the astral realm and it's bleeding over into this one (or visa versa...not totally clear on that) and she's not got the first clue how to fix it. Seattle is sweltering and drought stricken, nature is out of balance, and it looks like it might be all Joanne's fault. And nothing in any of that is anywhere near as compelling or dangerous as anything in Urban Shaman. Until the last quarter of the book, in fact, there's nothing even alluding to daunting, then the last quarter was a mishmash of big reveals and final showdowns that weren't very clearly written. Not to mention that by that point I can't say I cared that much about it, however it concluded.

I'm going to give Coyote Dreams (The Walker Papers, Book 3) a try because the parts I did like in this book I liked very, very much. I still think C.E. Murphy has a unique gift for writing secondary and ancillary characters, and I truly like Joanne when she's not going the "poor me" route. Plus, I've just got to see what develops between her and Morrison. I just hope for a cleaner, less meandering, tauter plot.