Reviews

Mountain Echoes – Walker Papers #8 – by C.E. Murhpy

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Mountain Echoes, Book 8 of the Walker Papers by C.E. Murphy

Title: Mountain Echoes

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Papers

Sexual Content: suggested

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads): You can never go home again.

Joanne Walker has survived an encounter with the Master at great personal cost, but now her father is missing – stolen from the timeline. She must finally return to North Carolina to find him – and to meet Aidan, the son she left behind long ago. 

That would be enough for any shaman to face, but Joanne’s beloved Appalachians are being torn apart by an evil reaching forward from the distant past. Anything that gets in its way becomes tainted – or worse. 

And Aidan has gotten in the way. 

Only by calling on every aspect of her shamanic powers can Joanne pull the past apart and weave a better future. It will take everything she has – and more. 

Unless she can turn back time… 

My Review

After her adventures in Ireland, all Joanne Walker really wants is to sleep for about a week and maybe eat everything in sight. A phone call from an old friend sends her back to North Carolina. Her father is missing and whatever is going on is Joanne’s kind of problem.

Mountain Echoes, like Raven Calls before it, is basically non stop action. Joanne barely has any time to recover from her previous ordeal in Ireland when she’s thrust into another harrowing situation. And then another.

In previous books, we learn some of Joanne’s past, of how she grew up with her father, how she has twins when she was 15 and how the little girl didn’t survive and the boy was put up for adoption. Being back in Qualla Boundary, other things about Joanne’s past come to light. I really enjoyed learning all these things about her and seeing her look at her past from a new, more mature, perspective.

There was honestly nothing about this book I didn’t like. From beginning to end, I was riveted. I felt like I was on the edge of my seat and didn’t want to put the book down for a moment. C.E. Murphy has a knack for ending books on a cliffhanger. I can’t wait to start the final book in the series, Shaman Rises.

My rating for Mountain Echoes is 5 out of 5 stars. I would highly recommend reading the previous books if you haven’t already. I think anyone who enjoy Urban Fantasy would love this series.

Thanks for reading!

Raven Calls – Walker Papers #7 – by C.E. Murphy

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Raven Calls by C.E. Murphy

Title: Raven Calls

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Papers

Sexual Content: suggested

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Something wicked this way comes…

Suddenly, being bitten by a werewolf is the least of Joanne Walker’s problems.

Her personal life in turmoil, her job as a cop over, she’s been called to Ireland by the magic within her. And though Joanne’s skills have grown by leaps and bounds, Ireland’s magic is old and very powerful…

In fact, this is a case of unfinished business. Because the woman Joanne has come to Ireland to rescue is the
woman who sacrificed everything for Joanne—the woman who died a year ago. Now, through a slip in time, she’s in thrall to a dark power and Joanne must battle darkness, time and the gods themselves to save her.

My Review

After the cliffhanger that Spirit Dancers left on, I couldn’t wait to start Raven Calls. I was devouring it, I couldn’t put it down! And then…I just stopped. And I don’t know why. This book is so good! It’s basically non stop action from start to finish. At some point I had to put it down and then I just didn’t pick it back up again for quite some time.

When I did pick it back up, I finished it in one session and honestly I’m kicking myself for not picking it up again sooner.

Joanne is in Ireland for this book, trying to find a cure for the werewolf bite she got at the end of Spirit Dances. Along the way, she ends up time travelling, meeting her own ancestor and joining up with a cousin in Ireland. Shennanigans ensue. It feels odd to say that, but it’s probably the best way to describe it. It’s all one thing after another and the entire book takes place in the span of about a day.

It’s hard to say much more about Raven Calls, as it’s the seventh book in the series. The characters are mostly established and the few new ones that come in aren’t necessarily going to be around for the next book.

I’m really excited to read the next book, and I really hope I don’t put it down for months at a time.

My rating for Raven Calls is 5 out of 5 stars and I’d recommend it to anyone who loves Urban Fantasy. Just don’t forget to read the previous books in the series.

Spirit Dances – Walker Papers #6 – By C.E. Murphy

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Title: Spirit Dances

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Papers

Sexual Content: suggested

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

For Seattle detective Joanne Walker, spring is about new beginnings. She’s mastered her shamanic abilities (mostly), survived a cannibalistic serial killer (barely) and now she’s facing the biggest challenge of her career–attending a dance concert with her sexy boss, Captain Michael Morrison. But when the performance–billed as transformative–actually changes her into a coyote, she and Morrison have bigger things to deal with.

And there’s more. Homeless people are disappearing, a mystical murder puts Joanne way out of her jurisdiction and with the full moon coming on, it’s looking like the killer is a creature that can’t possibly exist.

But Jo could probably handle all of that, if one ordinary homicide hadn’t pushed her to the very edge….

My Review

I literally just finished this book and I am basically chomping at the bit to start the next one because OMG! this series just keeps getting better and better.

Joanne Walker may have accepted her life and powers as a Shaman, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t above epically screwing up still. Her intentions are always good but sometimes, unexpected things just happen.

I would really love to see a real performance of the Ghost Dance that happens in this book. I’m sure that the written description couldn’t begin to do justice to an actual dance like that.

I was not expecting the ending of this book at all! It absolutely floored me. The moment I am done writing this, I’ll be picking up the next book.

I can’t recommend this series enough! 5 out of 5 stars! If you haven’t read it yet, go pick up Urban Shaman and get started!

Demon Hunts – Walker Papers #5 by C.E. Murphy

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Title: Demon Hunts

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Papers

Sexual Content: suggested

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Seattle police detective Joanne Walker started the year mostly dead, and she’s ending it trying not to be consumed by evil. Literally.

She’s proven she can handle the gods and the walking dead. But a cannibalistic serial killer? That’s more than even she bargained for. What’s worse, the brutal demon can only be tracked one way. If Joanne is to stop its campaign of terror, she’ll have to hunt it where it the Lower World, a shamanistic plane of magic and spirits.

Trouble is, Joanne’s skills are no match for the dangers she’s about to face—and her on-the-job training could prove fatal to the people she’s sworn to protect….

My Review

I don’t really have a lot to say about Demon Hunts. Honestly, I loved the hell out of this book! There was nothing I didn’t like about it. The Walker Papers just keeps getting better and better. I really enjoy reading it and I’m always looking forward to the next book. I think I will be sad when I finish the last one. Thankfully, I still have a few to go!

My rating for Demon Hunts is 5 out of 5 stars! If you’ve read the previous books, definitely read this one and if you haven’t read the previous books, what are you waiting for?

Walking Dead – Walker Papers #4 By C.E. Murphy

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Title: Walking Dead

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Papers

Sexual Content: none

Objectional Content: Violence, descriptions of rotting corpses

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

For once, Joanne Walker’s not out to save the world. She’s come to terms with the host of shamanic powers she’s been given, her job as a police detective has been relatively calm, and she’s got a love life for the first time in memory. Not bad for a woman who started out the year mostly dead.

But it’s Halloween, and the undead have just crashed Joanne’s party.

Now, with her mentor Coyote still missing, she has to figure out how to break the spell that has let the ghosts, zombies and even the Wild Hunt come back. Unfortunately, there’s no shamanic handbook explaining how to deal with the walking dead. And if they have anything to say about it — which they do — no one’s getting out of there alive.

My Review

I have to say, I loved this book! Joanne has finally accepted her Shamanic powers and what they mean for her every day life. She can now talk about her powers and the things she does without cringing at herself. She is a great character and it has been a joy watching her grow.

I don’t normally like to gush about books, even when I think they are amazing, because I don’t want to hype them up and then have other people be disappointed based on my opinion. Honestly though, I couldn’t find a single flaw with Walking Dead, there was nothing I disliked about it.

I am enjoying the hell out of this series and can’t wait to get started on the next book!

My rating for Walking Dead is 5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend reading it if you’ve read the previous books. And if you haven’t read the previous books, I highly recommend you do so!

Have you read any of the Walker Papers? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Coyote Dreams – Walker Papers #3 by C.E. Murphy

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Coyote Dreams book #3 of the Walker Papers by C.E. Murphy

Title: Banshee Cries

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Paper

Sexual Content: Suggested

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Much of the city can’t wake up. And more are dozing off each day.

Instead of powerful forces storming Seattle,
a more insidious invasion is happening.
Most of Joanne Walker’s fellow cops are down
with the blue flu–or rather the blue sleep. Yet
there’s no physical cause anyone can point to–and it keeps spreading.

It has to be magical, Joanne figures. But what’s up with the crazy dreams that hit her
every time she closes her eyes? Are they being sent
by Coyote, her still-missing spirit guide? The messages just aren’t clear.

Somehow Joanne has to wake up her sleeping
friends while protecting those still awake,
figure out her inner-spirit dream life and, yeah,
come to terms with these other dreams she’s
having about her boss….

Coyote Dreams starts with Joanne Walker waking up with one hell of a hangover and one very good looking man in her bed. Naturally, this is the start of a chaotic morning for Joanne. Her friend, Billy Holliday, is in a coma, and not long after, his wife. Soon, half the police force is asleep and nothing Joanne does seems to help them.

I’m a little ashamed to say that Coyote Dreams is only the second book I’ve finished this year (and February is over tomorrow!). These last two months have not been great for me for reading. I’d gotten about half way through this book when I suddenly just stopped. Then, two nights ago, I picked it back up and wondered why I stopped reading to begin with!

Joanne has been reluctant from the start to accept her Shamanic powers and her role those powers give her in the world. She’s very good at denying her gifts and deflecting from talking about it by hiding behind sarcasm.

It’s here, in Coyote Dreams, that I think she really starts to accept what she is and what she should be doing. Until now she’s been running mostly on instinct, epically screwing things up while trying to fix something else.

Faced with the consequences of past actions and lacking her spirit guide, Joanne truly has to own up to her power, to accept it and take proper control of it. With no one to rely on but herself, Joanne doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

I think that Coyote Dreams is a really big turning point in Joanne’s character. She is really coming into her own and facing those parts of her that she refused to see for so long. The ending made me a bit sad, but it definitely will drive forward the rest of the series.

Coyote Dreams is a solid 4 out of 5 stars and I’d recommend to anyone who likes Urban Fantasy and magic systems based in Native American beliefs.

Thanks for reading!

Banshee Cries – Walker Papers 1.5 by C.E. Murphy

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Banshee Cries. The Walker Papers 1.5 by C.E. Murphy

Title: Banshee Cries

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Paper

Sexual Content: None

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis: (from Goodreads):

The last thing reluctant shaman Joanne Walker wants is to be assigned to a case of ritual murders. It’d be creepy enough all on its own, but her boss, already trusting her magic more than Jo does herself, suspects there’s more to it than just a serial killer. As Joanne is pulled more deeply into the bloody mire, she begins to realize this is a murderer with a deadline—the changing winter moon seems to be key to the power they’re building.

But Joanne’s not the only one entangled in the increasingly dangerous magic raised by the killer: she has a protector, someone who has already given up their life to keep Joanne safe…and who may be the only person able to stand between Joanne and a dark power far greater than she’s ready to handle….

My Review

Banshee Cries by C.E. Murphy is a short story that takes place between Urban Shaman and Thunderbird Falls in the Walker Papers series.

Since the events in Urban Shaman that lead to Joanne becoming a Shaman and stopping a crazed killer, she has become resistant to using her powers or even learning more about them. As a person who was always rational and logical for her entire life, it makes sense for her to revert back to that when there is no immediate danger.

There isn’t a lot for me to say about this story, as it is rather short (around 100 pages or so). However, Banshee Cries is an important addition to this series as it gives the reader more insight into Joanne’s mother and the reasons she abandoned Joanne as a baby. If not else, this is an important part in Joanne’s character development. Her life has had a fair amount of trauma and this serves a step in the healing process.

My rating for Banshee Cries is 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend anyone who is reading the Walker Papers to read this story as it definitely fills in some holes in Joanne’s life.

Thanks for reading!

Urban Shaman – Walker Papers #1 by C.E. Murphy

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Title: Urban Shaman

Author: C.E. Murphy

Series: The Walker Papers

Sexual Content: None

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt.

No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams.

And if all that’s not bad enough, in the three years Joanne’s been a cop, she’s never seen a dead body — but she’s just come across her second in three days.

It’s been a bitch of a week. And it isn’t over yet.

My Review

Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy is a reread for me from several years ago. When I first picked up this book, the series wasn’t complete. Recently, I got the last books in the series that I was missing so now it’s time to binge it!

Joanne Walker isn’t having the best day. On her way home to Seattle from Ireland, she sees a woman being chased and a man waiting for her with a knife. Having seen this from an airplane, no one believes her. Making a new friend in the cab driver her helps her find the woman, Joanne suddenly finds herself thrust into a world she never believed existed.

Joanne is of Irish and Cherokee descent, and both cultures make an appearance here in Urban Shaman. She’s being chased by the Wild Hunt, led by an ancient Celtic god. But, she’s also a Shaman with healing powers and a spirit guide in the form of a coyote.

I love that Urban Shaman mixes Celtic and Native American lore. I’ve noticed that Celtic lore is often used in fantasy, but not a lot of Native American lore. I think that is a shame as it’s very interesting! This book doesn’t dive too deeply into it but I’m looking forward to what is to come in the following books.

Joanne is a great character. All her life she has always been rational, thinking that any kind of supernatural stuff was all made up and ridiculous. But after nearly dying by being stabbed by a Celtic god, her beliefs change completely. I actually love that her practicality makes her accept things quickly instead of trying to resist it.

This book starts out hot and doesn’t cool down! There’s little to no down time as Joanne and her friends try to figure out what is going on, why the Wild Hunt is here and why Shamans are being murdered. I think this is an excellent start to a series.

My rating for Urban Shaman is 5 out of 5 stars and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy books with Celtic and Native American folklore.

Thanks for reading!

The Trillias Gambit – Warminster #3 by J.V. Hilliard

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The Trillias Gambit book 3 of the Warminster series by J.V. Hilliard

Title: The Trillias Gambit

Author: J.V. Hilliard

Series: Warminster

Sexual Content: Minimal

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Daemus Alaric and his band of dauntless companions venture to the Devil’s Horn, the mystical home of Trillias, the mercurial Ancient of Sport and Tests. Their quest—to recover the lost Tome of Enlightenment, cast into the bowels of the mysterious Laurentian Labyrinth by the fallen Keeper, Graytorris the Mad. Will they survive the god’s gambit? Far away in Castle Thronehelm, Princess Addilyn Elspeth and Sir Ritter of Valkeneer arrive, warning the kingdom of the fall of the Cathedral of the Watchful Eye. As they travel north to prepare for war, they must not only defeat the relentless Bone elf assassin Incanus Dru’Waith but choose between their forbidden love—or their obligations to the realm. If you enjoy magical tales told with gripping action and harrowing adventure, you’ll love this epic and dark fantasy series.

My Review

The Trillias Gambit is – I’m just going to say it – fantastic! The characters are likeable and relatable. I especially loved learning more about Incanus Dru’Waith. His back story and motivations are compelling and interesting to read.

The progression Daemus has made as a character since The Last Keeper is also impressive. He is no longer the sheltered and naive kid terrified of his nightmares. Now grown into a man, he has lost friends and family along the way but also gained new allies and love.

Even during down time in the story, this book still held my interest. Hilliard’s writing is rich and descriptive, bringing the world to life in the mind of the reader.

The Trillias Gambit picks up seamlessly from Vorodin’s Lair and keeps the plot going. During the action scenes, I wanted to know what was going to happen so bad I tried to read faster than I actually can. The tension had me on the edge of my seat.

I absolutely love the diversity and gender equality in this series. There are women everywhere as part of the army, acting as a bodyguard and in charge of guilds or estates. Arranged political marriages still exist, but for the most part, it seems that both participants have to at least be willing.

There is some discrimination against what are known as “trollborn” or half breeds. These people are looked down upon basically for having parents of two different species. A not uncommon bias in fantasy books.

My only tiny complaint with this book is that the words “maze” and “labyrinth” are used interchangeable despite not actually being the same thing. A maze is designed with dead ends and it meant to confuse any one who walks into it. A labyrinth on the other hand has one single path that leads to the centre and back out.

All in all, my rating for The Trillias Gamit is 5 out 5 stars and I can’t wait for the next book!

You can check out my reviews of The Last Keeper here and Vorodin’s Lair here.

Thanks for reading!

The Rose of the World – Fool’s Gold #3 by Jude Fisher

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The Rose of the World. Fool's Gold #3 by Jude Fisher

Title: The Rose of the World

Series: Fool’s Gold

Author: Jude Fisher

Sexual Content: Moderate

Objectional Content: torture, violence, rape

Synopsis: The brilliant conclusion to the “fascinating” (Anne McCaffrey) Fool’s Gold trilogy, The Rose of the World features one of the most dynamic and charismatic heroines to ever grace the pages of a fantasy novel. The godlike entity, Rosa Eldi, has escaped the clutches of the evil sorcerer Rahe. But will she regain her memory and restore her world before man’s baser nature triumphs and brings ruin to Elda forever?

My Review

I’m staring at this blank screen trying to figure out how to start this review, to figure out what I want to say so let’s start with the characters.

The majority of the characters in The Rose of the World, and indeed the trilogy, are despicable, horrible excuses for human beings. Katla, Saro and the Rosa Eldi are probably the only likeable characters, but they each have their flaws. Katla lets her anger rule her actions, Saro is too sensitive and the Rosa Eldi just doesn’t know who she really is. Overall, I’d say the Rosa Eldi is the most interesting because she doesn’t know who she is. She’s a mystery to herself and the reader. Unfortunately, the focus isn’t on her as much as I would like.

Honestly, these books felt more like a long extended series rather than just a trilogy. I got very “Wheel of Time” vibes with the number of characters and switching POV all over the place.

I didn’t really love the ending. The major plot was concluded but there were so many little side things that weren’t properly resolved. It felt open ended, like the author might continue the series, might not. There doesn’t appear to be anything else written in this book world.

So, overall, am I glad I read this trilogy? I don’t know if I would say “glad” per se, but I don’t feel like I wasted time on reading it. I did genuinely want to know how everything was going to turn out. The writing was good and I did enjoy the progression as things that were introduced earlier in the first book began to come together.

My rating for The Rose of the World is 3 out of 5 stars. I’d recommend the Fool’s Gold trilogy to those who enjoy fantasy with multiple POV with some mystery thrown in.

Have you read this book/trilogy? Let me know what thought of it in the comments.

Thanks for reading!