61) Grave Visions by Kalayna Price

The Blurb :

If you want to hear voices from the dead in Nekros City, you call Alex Craft. She's a Grave Witch with reasonable rates and extraordinary powers, who specializes in revealing the secrets of the dead. But now she's the one fighting to keep her own secret. She's not human—and her newly discovered heritage is causing havoc for her both in the human realm and in Faerie. But her status as an unaffiliated fae also makes her an ideal candidate to investigate a new street drug that has surfaced in several of the spaces between the human and fae worlds.

This glamour-infused drug causes hallucinations that turn real—at least for a while and often with deadly consequences. Searching for the source of this drug—and its purpose—lands Alex front and center in the conflict brewing in Faerie and she must find answers before she's dragged so deep she loses her freedom.

My Thoughts :

It has been a long wait for the fourth Alex Craft installment.  Actually it has been so long I missed the release.  After all this time I hoped I wouldn't be lost and that I would remember at least something of what had happened in the previous books.  Luckily this series is so unusual and unique that it wasn't difficult to remember all about Alex and her visions and situation.  Anything I may of forgotten and needed to know was quickly brought up in the story.  The author did a great job of getting the story back on track and the reader into the story again.

Was it worth the extra wait?  Yes.  I am not a lover of the fae or any series with fae but this one is good.  Very good.  The whole Grave Witch angle is just too interesting to ignore and the brutal but interesting plots are well written and compelling.  Grave Visions reminded me why I loved this series so much and gave me a Paranormal Urban Fantasy boost that I needed.

If you haven't tried this series yet then I really recommend giving it a try.  Fans of the series who may of, like me, forgot about it during the long absence of anything new, should get a copy of this fourth installment asap and enjoy!  Oh and there is a fifth book coming out next year!  Rejoice!!  Hopefully this series is here to stay and will be more of a regular occurrence.

112) Grave Memory by Kalayna Price

The Blurb :

When the dead need to talk, Alex Craft is always ready to listen…

As a Grave Witch, Alex solves murders by raising the dead—an ability that comes at a cost, and after her last few cases, that cost is compounding. But her magic isn’t the only thing causing havoc in her life. While she’s always been on friendly terms with Death himself, things have recently become a whole lot more close and personal. Then there’s her sometime partner, agent Falin Andrews, who is under the glamour of the Winter Queen. To top everything off, her best friend has been forever changed by her time spent captive in Faerie.

But the personal takes a backseat to the professional when a mysterious suicide occurs in Nekros City and Alex is hired to investigate. The shade she raises has no memory of the days leading up to his brutal ending, so despite the very public apparent suicide, this is murder. But what kind of magic can overcome the human will to survive? And why does the shade lack the memory of his death? Searching for the answer might mean Alex won’t have a life to remember at all…

My Thoughts :

I am a late started to this series but I have caught up very quickly.  I had to!  The first book in the series about Alex Craft really wowed me and the second book was even better.  Now this thrid installment, Grave Memory, has me totally hooked.  I want to hang out with Alex Craft, work with her and be her friend.  Damn the consequences and how dangerous it is to be around her, she rocks and I can't get enough of this original story.

The world is not really unlike ours but there are quite a few supernatural elements that you just can't turn a blind eye to.  Faerie is only the right door away and Alex can talk to the dead.  That is just the start of the amazing setting that this series takes place in.  The author has really done an brilliant job of creating a world that is not only unique but extremely interesting.  I am addicted to the depth of the story and unusual aspects while I enjoy what has become a very thrilling plot.

I don't want to give things away so I won't go into depth about Alex's abilities or what has happened so far.  However I will say that it is a very crazy rollercoaster ride that will keep you screaming for more.  I don't particularly enjoy Faerie based stories but this one is really agreeing with me.  The addition of ghosts and Death is just a bonus when it comes down to it and I can't believe I didn't read this series sooner.

Now I eagerly await book #4.  Which is actually a bit of a mystery.  My local Amazon (de) actually had it listed as releasing this month.  Now it is 'not available'.  Kalayna's website hasn't been updated and now Goodreads lists it as a 2014 release.  Please get this book to me sooner.  I need to find out what happens next after that subtle and calm cliffhanger!

     

    

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79) Grave Dance by Kalayna Price

The Blurb :

Whoever said dead men tell no tales obviously never met Alex Craft.

After a month spent recovering from a vicious fight with a sorcerer, grave witch Alex Craft is ready to get back to solving murders by raising the dead. With her love life in turmoil thanks to the disappearance of Fae Investigation Bureau agent Falin Andrews and a shocking “L” word confession from Death himself, Alex is eager for the distractions of work. But her new case turns out to be a deadly challenge.

The police hire Alex to consult on a particularly strange investigation in the nature preserve south of Nekros City. The strange part: There are no corpses, only fragments of them. A serial killer is potentially on the loose, and Alex has no way to raise a shade without a body, so she’ll have to rely on the magic of others to find leads. But as she begins investigating, a creature born of the darkest magic comes after her. Someone very powerful wants to make sure the only thing she finds is a dead end—her own.

My Thoughts :

Grave Dance is the second book in the Alex Craft series and a set of books I am kicking myself for not reading sooner.  I really enjoyed the first book, Grave Witch, and was really excited about getting around to reading this sequel.  So I couldn't resist this one long when it was given to me as a present.  I had to know what Alex got up to next and how the series would develop.

Things had changed a bit in this book and the author quickly gets the reader up to date with mentioning some of the work Alex has done since the last book.  She is a little more financially secure and her work load is heavier.  However her private life is just as messed up as it was with death hanging around and some other interesting characters paying her visits.

The world that the author has developed for this series is very cool with witches of all kinds as well as fae, ghosts and some other fantastical creatures.  Even though some of the elements are quite complicated I don't really have a problem keeping up with everything.  The author has a way of writing about things in such a way that you feel like you already know how things work.  It comes across as a reminder and as nothing new.

Very good Urban Fantasy and definitely one to try if you haven't already.  I am really looking forward to reading the third book and may even have to treat myself to it.  Although I am a little worried about there being no fourth book announced.  Was this only a trilogy?  I like Alex Craft a lot already and hope that the third book isn't the last.

     

    

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27) Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

The Blurb :

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.

My Review :

I may just be the only person who hasn't read this series. It is something that has been on my wishlist for way too long and a book I have nearly bought on many occasions. Finally a copy was on my Kindle and I couldn't wait too long to start it. I was hooked within chapters and I finished the book in record time. This is one of those books I really should have read when it was released. It was a spectacular read!

It wasn't easy to get into at first but the world that the author has created slowly opened up and showed its wide spectrum. There were new and unusual aspects to the 'supernatural' elements that came along in this debut for the series and as with any new setting, character and concept it took some time to figure out who was who and what was what. As the story progressed I got a feel for things but I still had the feeling that I was missing some small details. Maybe they will emerge in the rest of the series.

As a debut in a series this was very good. It felt as special and witchy as Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series and as interesting and deep as Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld. There were some really cool aspects to the concept and even though at times the writing felt a little 'thrown together', the plot and content was too good to take notice of the small things that seemed off.

I really enjoyed Grave Witch and wish I hadn't taken so long to get my hands on a copy. I will definitely be reading the sequel sometime soon and can't wait to see what else this series has to offer. The start was already more than I expected so the next one should be even better!