Book Review: The Unspoken by Heather Graham

Title: The Unspoken (Krewe of Hunters)
Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Release Date: July 31, 2012
ISBN: 0778313611





If you've read my previous reviews for some of the books in this series, you'll know that I've been rather disappointed overall by the KoH series. Most of them seemed to more fizzle than anything else, but I'm glad to say that this book is a marked improvement over the last few books in this series. It's not an overwhelmingly great "Graham's back" type of book, but it's enough to where I can definitely recommend it to Graham fans.

1898: Bound for Chicago, the freighter Jerry McGuen goes down in Lake Michigan, taking with it every man aboard. But what other fate could befall a vessel carrying the ill-gotten sarcophagus of an Egyptian sorcerer?

Now: A veteran diver and "ghost ship" expert is exploring the legendary wreck for a documentary. He dies inexplicably inside the freighter's main saloon. Then another diver is killed and panicked rumors rise like bubbles from the lake: ancient demons have awakened below!

The expedition's beleaguered financier calls paranormal investigator Katya Sokolov to Chicago to save the film—and perhaps some innocent lives. Along with media forensics guru Will Chan, Kat plumbs the depths of an evil that may date back to the time of the Pharaohs. But some secrets are best drowned in the seas of the past.…

I really believe that part of what makes the book work is that our pairing in this book are two members from the separate Krewe teams. They've had their characters slowly built up in the previous books and because of that, they're more developed than some of the other love interests and you can get more invested in their characters and their romance. The mystery isn't bad either. It's not going to stump Sherlock Holmes anytime soon, but it's enough to keep me reading and the whole "investigating a shipwreck" part was entertaining.

My biggest gripe would've been that Kat and Will's romance goes a little fast at times. One moment they're ready to tear each other's heads off and the next they're totally into each other and friendly enough to where they can leave the door open between their rooms. The interaction between them was so nice that I didn't overly mind, but I'd have liked to see a bit more of the thawing of the ice between them. Their animosity/irritation for one another was so strong at first (without being outright hate) that it just seemed a little to sudden. The whodunit could've been a little better done, but it made sense for the most part and was entertaining, so I can't really get too angry about that.

Overall though, this was a very fun read and one of the better entries in the KoH series so far. There's a very good dollop of adventure here, which will make this a fantastic beach read. I didn't have to struggle as much through this as I did with some of the earlier books in the series and towards the end I couldn't help but want to keep reading. It's still not Graham's best work, but it's one that fans will want to read.

3.5 out of 5 stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)