Book Review: The Evil Inside by Heather Graham

Title: The Evil Inside (Krewe of Hunters #4)

Author: Heather Graham

Publisher: Harlequin

Release Date: 08/30/2011

ISBN: 0778312534

I was initially apprehensive about reading this book. After all, some of the previous books in this series weren't really as good as some of Graham's previous works. I decided to give this a read & ultimately I'm rather glad I did.

For as long as it has stood overlooking New England’s jagged coastline, Lexington House has been the witness to madness…and murder. But in recent years the inexplicable malice that once tormented so many has lain as silent as its victims. Until now…

A member of the nation’s foremost paranormal forensic team, Jenna Duffy has made a career out of investigating the inexplicable. Yet nothing could prepare her for the string of slayings once again plaguing Lexington House – or for the chief suspect, a boy barely old enough to drive, much less kill.

With the young man’s life on the line, Jenna must team up with attorney Samuel Hill to pinpoint who – or what – is taking the lives of those who get too close to the past. But everything they learn brings them closer to the forces of evil stalking this tortured ground.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I really enjoyed reading this book. From the very first page I was hooked. The suspense in this was well done for the most part & unlike some of the previous books, I couldn't instantly discover who the true killer was. The romance in this was also pleasant, albeit a little too overly similarly plotted to the romances in the previous books. I'd like to see a romance in this series (there's still one more character to match up) where the love interest didn't instantly go the skeptical route or have that be a big focus of the match up. It just gets a little overly tread after a while. Even with this handicap our main characters are still well matched. Their romance isn't "set the pages on fire" hot, but it is sweet.

One of the strongest points in the book was the book's atmosphere, which was helped along by Graham setting the story in Salem, Massachusetts. The name alone gives the reader a certain mental image, which helps out greatly in this book. It also doesn't hurt that Graham decided to bring in the idea of witch hunting, comparing the hunts of the past to those of the present. It was a bold but smart move by Graham.

It's not a completely flawless book, however. At times I really couldn't help but wish that Graham had fleshed out some of the characters more, especially our whodunit. The whodunit wasn't an outrageous surprise but a little more development would have made the finish really stand out. I sort of blame this on the fact that this book was part of a series. It was only when the KoH had to be involved that the book started somewhat unraveling & I feel like if our two heroes had to do more of the footwork themselves (rather than relying on people who could quickly do it offscreen) the book would have been a little more tightly woven. This would have been an excellent standalone novel.

I'd still highly recommend this as a last minute vacation or "yay, the kids are back in school" read. Despite a few stumbles, this was a lot of fun to read & I would recommend it even if you haven't read or been all that entranced by the previous books. I'd go as far as to say that this is easily the best book of the series so far.

3.4/5

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Desperate Choices by Kathy Ivan

Title: Desperate Choices
Author: Kathy Ivan
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 09/27/2010
Format: E-book only





Once in a while you get that book that you find hard to review. It isn't because it is bad or overly strange, just hard to put your finger on what exactly you want to say about it. Desperate Choices was one of those books for me & I found myself really having to think hard about what I wanted to put in the review.

A boy is missing, presumed a runaway by everyone except those who knew him. When his godfather Max needs help, he knows that there's one person he absolutely must go to- psychic Theresa Crawford. However it isn't as simple as asking for her help- there's a lot of tension between the two of them that is begging to be resolved ever since they last parted months ago. With time not being a luxury, the two of them must overcome their past issues in order to focus on rescuing Max's godson as well as a future that involves the two of them together.

Like I said above, this was a hard book to review because I had to really think about what it was about the book that bugged me. This isn't a bad book & there are some strong features to it that readers will really enjoy, such as the wonderful passion that unfolds between Theresa & Max. Their love scenes were one of the best parts of the book. Theresa's psychic abilities were also very intriguing to read about, as was her past.

But where the book fell short was ultimately due to its length. This is a short book, only being about 190 pages long. There's just too much story here for a novella & I felt like the story was a bit too condensed for this length & as a result, things happened just a little too fast. I wanted more detail about the characters, their past, as well as the villain's past & I couldn't help but feel that another 40-60 pages would have helped flesh everything out just that little bit more. I kept getting the feeling that I was missing out on some back story & wanting to see that little something more.

Overall though, this was a decent book & I really do think that this will entice many readers of paranormal romance.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham

Title: Ghost Shadow
Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: 06/29/2010
ISBN: 0778327914







If you've taken a vacation away from Heather Graham, now is the perfect time to dive back into one of her books! I'll admit that while some of her recent books haven't been up to her usual standards, this one is firmly in the "good" category.

Key West is full of ghost & murder stories. David Beckett's ex-fiancee became one of them the moment her body was discovered in one of the exhibits at his father's wax museum. Ten years later wax museum has been closed for a while & the enticing Katie O'Hara wants to purchase it & return it to it's former glory. Her plans are stalled when David returns back home. Despite their rocky start, Katie finds herself falling for him- despite him possibly being the one behind the murder! But Katie has an edge. She can see & talk to ghosts & she's determined to use that talent to discover who the murderer is. Too bad the murderer has other plans in mind...

Intriguing characters & a twisted murder mystery spark off Graham's newest trilogy. While Katie & David might not have the flash-bang chemistry of some of Graham's other character matchups, the pair does have a sweet sense of familiarity to them. They take to each other as if they've been together all along. Also fun is the character of Bartholomew, a deceased privateer (he takes issue if you call him a pirate). The scenes with him in it are some of the best of the book.

Graham does a good job of utilizing the mysteries of Florida- having Robert the Doll & the ultra-morbid story of Carl Tanzler really does help to enhance the creepiness of her book. (And if you haven't heard of either of them before- no worries. Graham gives a bit of back story to each of them.)

The only things some readers might take issue with is the lack of said flash-bang chemistry between the two leads as well as how underused Katie's talent is in this book. Hopefully we'll get to see more of both things in the next two books in the series.

In the end, this is classic Graham. It might not be my absolute favorite book she's written, but it is still very much worth reading. With the final book in the series coming out in just a few weeks, this is the perfect time to start reading so you can be ready when the last book releases!

(ARC provided by Netgalley)