Reviews and Comments

Charley Davidson is a private investigator that doubles as the grim reaper. Consequently, she can see dead people which helps a lot when it comes to solve crimes. But things get out of hand when more than twenty dead women flood her apartment and Charley has no idea on how to calm them down or why they choose to appear there at the same time. Moreover, she has a cheating husband case and an arson to solve. It's a lot of cases needing attention at once and even with the help of her uncle, the police force, Cookie, Gemma and Reyes, things get out of hand - as they should since this is Charley we're taking about.

I read this book in one seating and I'm really surprised at how good it is. It's not like I didn't have high expectations - of course I had them, it's by Darynda Jones! - but the developments took me by surprise and I love to I think I have everything figured out and then realise I actually didn't. It makes it very hard to put this book down. The characters evolve the way they should and there is no time lost with characters having the same arguments over again like it tends to happen with every other long series. This is beyond awesome in my opinion. And I learnt an author doesn't need to write a cliffhanger to get her readers wishing hard for the next book, she just has to write the best ending EVER. I loved this book so much, it has the right dose of mystery, plot twists, funny remarks, romance, friendship and suspense. Great story, the pace is as fast as it can be and the myriad of situations Charley gets herself into will glue your eyes to every word.

Even though Zach Johnson lives in the future, Christmas or "the holiday" still is a big thing on Earth. However, the holiday is in jeopardy as two elves were killed in the North Pole - which is not only the happiest but the safest place on Earth. Santana (the bombshell version of Santa Claus) requests Zach's services to come to the North Pole and find the killer.

This book was written solely by [a:John Zakour|92991|John Zakour|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66-e07624dc012f2cce49c7d9aa6500c6c0.jpg] and although some of the madness from the previous books is toned down, this story is hilarious and the whole Christmas theme is both refreshing and scary - and I actually love Christmas! I loved the twists, the elves, the holiday logistics and the amazing mix of characters. But my favourite bits were when characters from previous books made an appearance. It's amazing how Zakour could fit so many in just one case. This story made me very happy and I snorted way too many times, I definitely recommend this one!

Teen pop star Sexy Sprockets and Zach meet during a killer performance at the Oakland Kabuki Palace Theatre. As he is trying to save himself from Kabuki actors with real weapons, Zach also saves Sexy because, as he explains to HARV, she is a woman. Sexy is impressed by Zach and hires him as her personal bodyguard as she is receiving some serious death treats while preparing her first farewell tour. HARV is also impressed by the way Zach acted and upgrades itself with hilarious consequences. The interaction between Zach and his personal computer are always funny and I'm often taken by surprise at some of the retorts. Another funny story that is more mysterious than I initially thought. Zach has to find who wants to kill Sexy, and at the same time stay alive from both killer robots and his girlfriend Electra who is not happy about his new employer. Very funny read, this series is very funny and entertaining.

Ona, Twoa, Threa and Foraa Thompson were enhanced at birth by their brilliant scientist father to become super-humans. Known as the "Quads", the famous four sisters don't get along since the death of their father, and are therefore adored by the media. The mystery starts when Ona Thompson invites her sisters for dinner and things don't go exactly as planned as Foraa ends up dead - but not before leaving an encrypted message behind. Ona hires Zach to find the killer or to at least prove her innocence, but it's the computer HARV that gets excited at the possibility of solving the puzzle and play the detective. But even though it seems to be just a murder, it may well be that Zach has to save the world. Again.

It is always great when you enjoy the first book of a series ([b:The Plutonium Blonde|647505|The Plutonium Blonde|John Zakour|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309287841s/647505.jpg|633649]) and the second one is as good as the first! I loved this "locked room mystery", and to me it felt like an homage to the likes of [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg]. But there's where the comparisons end because if the familiar twists and turns are all there, the silliness of several characters and the brilliant interaction between Zach and HARV will make you laugh out loud and prevent anyone of taking the story too seriously. These mysteries are hilarious and Zach is an amazing character - I wouldn't want him any other way, despite of what his girlfriend probably has to say about it.

Zach is the last licensed private investigator on Earth in the year 2057, and he is also sort of famous. He is hired by the beautiful and very powerful BB Starr to find and deactivate a powerful droid that her late husband secretly built. Unfortunately for Zach, said droid not only is a killing machine but may also be the most intelligent droid out there. Moreover, Zach's girlfriend is worried he may be having an affair with BB and a couple of different electronic devices keep trying to kill him. Zach has the help of the very efficient and slightly annoying HARV (his personal computer) to try and find the dangerous droid before it turns into a doomsday device.

The book had me before it even started as it is dedicated to [a:Douglas Adams|4|Douglas Adams|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1189120061p2/4.jpg] - which says a lot about the authors. The interaction between Zach and HARV is brilliant and I was pleasantly surprised by the mystery development. Even though it is a funny story, the mystery is there and carries the plot through twists and killer droids. If you like mystery and humour, ignore the science fiction part because you'll enjoy this book no matter what.

(I didn't understand the summary of the book when I picked it up from the shelves, I don't think it is doing a good job of selling the book...)

Shadow is about to be released from prison when he learns his wife died in a car crash together with his best friend. When flying home, he meets an old man who goes by the name of Wednesday that offers him a job as his bodyguard. Since Shadow has no life to return to, he accepts the job. Wednesday is an old god (Odin) and even though America is filled with gods, they don't prosper because people no longer believe in them. Nowadays people believe in TV, Internet or fast food and those are the new gods. Wednesday wants to gather the old gods so they can fight the new ones in an epic battle. In order to do that, he takes Shadow in an extraordinary journey through America visiting old and new gods from all over the world that came to America inside people's hearts a very long time ago.

I couldn't help but find a parallel between Shadow's story and Hercules' labours as they both undertake long journeys meeting mythical creatures and overcoming perils, whilst learning about themselves and the world surrounding them. It's amazing how many different gods and cultures Gaiman squeezed into this book, all the while maintaining a bit of suspense and mystery about what really is going on. There are also some witty moments that brought a smile to my face when I least expected it, which made me enjoy this book immensely. Advice: even though this book is long, don't make big pauses while reading it so you don't lose track of the many names and respective stories.

As always, Stephanie Plum has more in her plate than she can handle. She witnesses a crime and is the only one who can identify the thief, which would be OK if said thief wasn't part of a very dangerous gang. And when she stupidly decides to drive through the gang's area, her head gets assigned a dangerous hitman who goes by the name of Junkman. Stephanie finally gets scared for real, and decides to move out of Morelli's place and stay away from her family in order to keep them safe. She moves into one of Ranger's hiding places and tries to survive the gang, Morelli's anger, her family and Ranger's shower gel the way only Stephanie knows how to.

It was extremely fun to read that Ranger considers Stephanie a line in his taxes under "entertainment" as she provides comic relief for his team. I couldn't agree more because that's the reason why I love these books so much: they make me laugh out loud and are not supposed to be taken seriously. Stephanie's cars could blow up 10x per book and I'd always laugh. Every extremely odd situation she walks herself into always make me want to read more. I feel sorry for Morelli because he really tries, but the book is all about Ranger even though he is not even there, which was a clever thing to do. The book ends quite suddenly and I wanted to know more of what Stephanie decides to do, but I hope Valerie's wedding gets a big and unforgettable chapter in the next book as an epic family catastrophe as only Stephanie's family is capable of. I'm really looking forward to laugh out loud at that!

Frannie Pleasance has a pet shop and since her pets do not feed on blood they are a rare wonder in Sang. Her love for pets makes her willing to take care of every lost soul and that's why she takes in the famous pianist Casper Sterling (character introduced in [b:Wicked as They Come|12381722|Wicked as They Come (Blud, #1)|Delilah S. Dawson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1324921586s/12381722.jpg|17362398]). With Casper comes fireman Thom and a series of unfortunate events that target Frannie and her shop.

I enjoyed this short story and the mystery is well constructed. Frannie is very likeable, as well as Thom and Casper. It's slightly disturbing to picture blud kittens, though. This book is an appetiser for [b:Wicked as She Wants|13635645|Wicked as She Wants (Blud, #2)|Delilah S. Dawson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344810265s/13635645.jpg|19246875] and it does its work wonderfully, I'm very curious to know what happens to Casper - a man with a golden heart attached to a very troubled soul.

Even though the title is self-explanatory, this book explains what happens to cadavers focusing on the ones donated to science. As the author so clearly puts it: It's just that there are other ways to spend your time as a cadaver. Get involved with science. Be an art exhibit. Become part of a tree. Some options for you to think about. Roach was spot on to recognise this as an odd but very interesting topic and decided to research not only what is happening to cadavers nowadays, but also what happened to cadavers in the past.

I'm giving this book 5 stars not only because I feel much more enlightened about my future cadaver whereabouts but also because the writing is extremely easy to read and the scientific facts and weird questions are all there. Moreover, the author has a brilliant sense of humour and some passages are laugh out funny, which solely deserved the 5 stars given the "morbid" topic. Just read the book, you'll learn a lot of things - most of them you probably didn't want to know - and you'll definitely learn that Death. It doesn't have to be boring.

Leila's powers have gone missing since the end of the last book and the confidence in herself and in her relationship falters. Leila finally decides she is better off away from Vlad and while trying to get her solo life back, she almost dies. It is clear that the target is not Vlad but herself, and so the mystery begins.

I really enjoyed this book, much more than the first. I still think Vlad is missing a comic vein present in Cat's books and it makes me not love him as much. Come on, he raps "Run this Town" in [b:This Side of the Grave|6871617|This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, #5)|Jeaniene Frost|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1282659107s/6871617.jpg|7087993], where is that Vlad?.. Nevertheless, the book is filled with action and at some point you're not 100% sure of who Leila should trust. The suspense works and I couldn't put the book down. Since this is a trilogy, I was expecting the cliffhanger at the end in order to finish the story in the last book. The cliffhanger is there, so if you don't like those wait for the next book until you read this one. I had a great time reading this story and I hope the last book is also filled with good action, a bit of romance and hopefully the witty Vlad finally makes a come back.

After reading [b:Wicked as They Come|12381722|Wicked as They Come (Blud, #1)|Delilah S. Dawson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1324921586s/12381722.jpg|17362398], I was eager to read a little more about the world of Sang and this short story was the natural follow-up. The main character is a runaway who goes by the name of Imogen Morpho and has a special magical act involving butterflies. Imogen manages to get the attention of the mysterious Mr. Murdoch as they both have something in common: a past they want to forget.

What I liked more about the other book is lost in this one: there are no new scenarios to visit in Sang, nor new adventures or creepy situations to run away from. It's just a romance and I actually found it dull. The description of the butterflies' number was quite nice, and unfortunately that was also the only moment of action/suspense going on. The last twenty pages probably deserve 3 stars, but the whole story doesn't.

This is the first time I read steampunk and it was worth it. Tish is a nurse who finds a locket at the house of an old patient of hers. She goes to sleep wearing it, and is transported into a parallel world called Sang. There she meets Criminy Stain, who is a bludman/vampire and a world that resembles hers with some major deviations - think vampire bunnies. When the locket is stolen, Tish and Criminy embark on their own adventure to retrieve it, and maybe stop a genocide.

I think the title is misleading because it makes it sound like a cheesy romance instead of a somewhat adventurous journey into a magical world filled with weird creatures and clockwork thingies. I wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't recommended. I also think the end is rather obvious once Tish meets Goodwill, which is right at the beginning, hence the 4 stars. On the bright side, I enjoyed the descriptions of Sang very much, the multitude of characters and animals, as well as the parallels to England were quite entertaining. Reading about bludbunnies during Easter was hilarious. I also liked how Tish evolved into Letitia and her good humour throughout their long journey. She is quite a lovable heroine with some magic of her own. Some bits of the story seemed pointless, but they help understanding what is going on and I appreciated that. I thoroughly enjoyed this world and I'll definitely read the following book.

As R puts it: I am dead, but it's not so bad. I've learned to live with it. R is a zombie that doesn't remember much of his past but has an appreciation for life that his fellow zombies don't fully grasp. When he meets Julie and sees how life emanates from her, R desperately tries to protect her and a frail relationship between them springs to life - with a little help from Frank Sinatra. It is a doomed world, but R doesn't accept it as such - and now he has a reason to start living.

This book is an amazing read and a fresh approach to zombie stories. The story goes back and forth between the present and R's memories of other people but it is not confusing, it is well intertwined in fact. I've read some zombie books before but I was taken by surprise at the delicacy we can find in R. His character is absolutely delicious - no pun intended. R has dreams and doesn't quite fit into his world, nor he fits into the world of the living. When he meets Julie, his human soul awakens and he wants to fight his new nature, he wants to start living. But in a world where the dead act as badly assembled robots and the living are utterly depressed, change is not welcome. He doesn't fit into any of the worlds but he will try hard to show he deserves a place, a living place - Scary, isn't it? But what wonderful thing didn't start out scary?