WW28: GRAVE WITCH

WW28
A chance to showcase your favourite!

• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
• Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering : Grave Witch by Kalayna Price
Page 28, 1st Sentence:

Now, are you coming to dinner?

Date? Romance? Or something totally different and unexpeced?

About Grave Witch:
Book 1 of the Alex Craft series

Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, but that doesn’t mean she likes what they have to say . . .

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she’s on good terms with Death himself—who happens to look fantastic in a pair of jeans—nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high profile murder when she’s attacked by the ‘shade’ she’s raising, which should be impossible. To top off her day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around . . .

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something—though it’s certainly not his dislike of Alex—but Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life . . . and her soul.

Source: Info in the About Grave Witch was taken from the author's website at http://www.kalayna.com/alexcraft.html on 26/12/2010.

I SO WANT TO READ THIS: GRAVE DANCE

WISHLIST:

Grave Dance by Kalayna Price
Book 2 of the Alex Craft series.

Publication Date: 5 July 2011

There is no synopsis for Grave Dance yet.

Review: GRAVE WITCH

Grave Witch by Kalayna Price
Book 1 of the Alex Craft series.

Genre: urban fantasy

About Grave Witch:

Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, but that doesn’t mean she likes what they have to say . . .

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she’s on good terms with Death himself—who happens to look fantastic in a pair of jeans—nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high profile murder when she’s attacked by the ‘shade’ she’s raising, which should be impossible. To top off her day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around . . .

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something—though it’s certainly not his dislike of Alex—but Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life . . . and her soul.

Source: Info in the About Grave Witch was taken from the author's website at http://www.kalayna.com/alexcraft.html on 26/12/2010.

Review:
I've just read Sparks and gained me a new favouritest character. I still like Sparky, but I love Death... now Kalayna Price makes Death look damn good in jeans! Is Death following me around here? First in Sparks and now in Grave Witch... with different authors too! Or is Death the new vampire??

My review of Sparks is HERE.

The author's voice is good but seems just a shade short of a masterpiece. I find that I have to have small breaks while reading this book. I don't know what it is... that drags the story telling quality just a shade down a bit... but don't get me wrong, the story telling quality is very good, but it's just not a masterpiece-kind-of-compelling to me. I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5.

The plot is twisty enough to keep me guessing. I liked it when an unexpected event unfolds. Having said that, there were a few things there which was just slightly predictable. I knew who the next victim was going to be and I was right. And I knew who the Shadow Girl was and I was right. However, to me those predictability factor is a tiny flaw which I can easily forgive and forget when another twisty plot unfolds before me. And love the ending!

Overall, I would say that this is a very good read indeed!! If this trend continues, I think this is going to be one heck of a series. But that's the "if"... what I worry about is, could the succeeding books top the goodness of this book? Or would expectations becomes high and so the next book would become a disappointment??

World Building = 4
Ending = 4.5
Story = 4
Story Telling Quality = 4.5
Character Development = 5
Pace = 4
Plot = 4.5

Cherry's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Buy Link:


Other Book(s) In The Series:
Grave Dance (Book 2 of the Alex Craft series)

IN THE MAIL: EMBERS, GRAVE WITCH, THE DRAGON WITH THE GIRL TATTOO, DEAD LIKE YOU

My loot:
I would like to thank Simon & Schuster for the review copy of Embers by Laura Bickle.

Embers by Laura Bickle

About Embers:
Anya Kalinczyk book 1

Unemployment, despair, anger--visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit's unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.

Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya--who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern--suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil's Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya--with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team --can stop it.

Anya's accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she's risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she's ever faced.

Source: Info in the About Embers was taken from the author's website at http://www.laurabickle.com/index_files/novels.htm on 10/11/2010.

Also received this week is a copy of Grave Witch by Kalayna Price from Book Depository. For the life of me I cannot remember where I won this book from, so if that is you, thank you!!

Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

About Grave Witch:
Alex Craft series Book 1

Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, but that doesn’t mean she likes what they have to say . . .

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she’s on good terms with Death himself—who happens to look fantastic in a pair of jeans—nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high profile murder when she’s attacked by the ‘shade’ she’s raising, which should be impossible. To top off her day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around . . .

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something—though it’s certainly not his dislike of Alex—but Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life . . . and her soul.

Source: Info in the About Grave Witch was taken from the author's website at http://www.kalayna.com/alexcraft.html on 08/12/10.

I would also like to thank Gollancz for the free copy of The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo by Adam Roberts.

The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo by Adam Roberts

About The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo :

Lizbreath Salamander is young and beautiful. Her scales have an iridescent sheen, her wings arch proudly, her breath has a tang of sulfur. And on her back a tattoo of a mythical creature: a girl. But when Lizbreath is drawn into a dark conspiracy she will have to rely on more than her beauty and her vicious claws the size of sabres . . . A dragon has disappeared, one of a secretive clan. As Lizbreath delves deeper into their history she realises that these dragons will do anything to defend their secrets. Welcome to the world of The Dragon With The Girl Tattoo. A world of gloomy Nordic dragons leading lives uncannily like our own (despite their size, despite the need for extensive fireproofing of home furnishings), a world of money hoarded, a world of darkness and corruption. A world where people are the fantasy.

Source: Info in the About The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo was taken from the author's blog at http://dragonwiththegirltattoo.blogspot.com/2010/10/dragon-with-girl-tattoo-by-adam-roberts.html on 08/12/2010.

I would also like to thank Minotaur Books for the ARC of Dead Like You by Peter James received.

Dead Like You by Peter James

About Dead Like You:

The sixth novel in the award winning Detective Superintendent Roy Grace crime series.

Don’t imagine for one moment that I’m not watching you. . .

The Metropole Hotel, Brighton. After a heady New Year’s Eve ball, a woman is brutally raped as she returns to her room. A week later, another woman is attacked. Both victims’ shoes are taken by the offender . . .

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace soon realises that these new cases bear remarkable similarities to an unsolved series of crimes in the city back in 1997. The perpetrator had been dubbed ‘Shoe Man’ and was believed to have raped five women before murdering his sixth victim and vanishing. Could this be a copycat, or has Shoe Man resurfaced?

When more women are assaulted, Grace becomes increasingly certain that they are dealing with the same man. And that by delving back into the past - a time in which we see Grace and his missing wife Sandy still apparently happy together - he may find the key to unlocking the current mystery. Soon Grace and his team will find themselves in a desperate race against the clock to identify and save the life of the new sixth victim . . .

Source: Info in the About Dead Like You was taken from the author's website at http://www.peterjames.com/books-dead-like-you.htm on 08/12/2010.