Polterheist

Esther Diamond #5

by Laura Resnick

Some things should just stay in hell…

Esther Diamond’s latest Manhattan misadventure leads her into the twisted realm of greedy heirs battling over a retail empire, a series of heists pulled off by invisible thieves, and inanimate objects that grow fangs and fly through the air to attack a struggling actress who’s just trying to earn enough money to pay her rent.

Realizing that magical mayhem is afoot, Esther joins forces with Dr. Maximillian Zadok to investigate the terrifying manifestations at Fenster & Co., where Esther is working overtime as an underdressed elf. Meanwhile, her tumultuous almost-romance with NYPD’s Detective Connor Lopez runs hot and cold and increasingly strange as he investigates the perplexing heists at Fenster’s. Semi-retired hit man Lucky Battistuzzi is also nosing around, since the mob resents being implicated in these thefts.

As an ancient Evil prepares to unleash hell on a night when darkness prevails and dimensional barriers crumble, Esther battles to save her friends from deadly peril, protect her city from demonic disaster, and collect her paycheck in time to make rent.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Fiction, Magic, Romance

375 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2012

About the author

Laura Resnick is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author, the daughter of prolific science fiction author Mike Resnick. She was the winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction for 1993. She also writes romance novels under the pseudonym Laura Leone

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Polterheist
(Esther Diamond #5)
by Laura Resnick
This is a Christmas story and she plays a Jewish elf in the story with Santa! Lol! Strange things are happening in the store and people missing. Fun and witty!

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.65 stars rounded up

Okay, let's see, quick recap ... Esther was temporarily working as Jewish elf (yes, Jewish) at Fenster & Co, an upscale family-owned department store for the holidays when toys were coming alive, with fangs and red eyes, and ready to kill Fenster customers. At first, Esther (and her friend, the 350-year old mage) thought it was a work of poltergeist but then they discovered it was something more sinister...

---------

I was moving back and forth to rate this (since I needed a good reason to either click the 3-stars or 4-stars) -- and finally I thought I could settle with rounding it up to the 4-stars category.

I thought the story was quite fast-paced, and I enjoyed the setting. This story mainly taken place at Fenster & Co, and I though the various characters there were entertaining (my favorite was Twinkle, an accordion-playing college kid whom everyone else thought was in the closet, because what straight man would like to be called Twinke?! *grin*). I didn't even mind the lack of Max and his familiar, Nelli (they didn't appear until around half-mark).

The story was less funny-ha-ha (I didn't laugh even once) but I still found some scenes to be hilarious; most notably when Esther finally met the parents of her ex-boyfriend, Detective Lopez. If you could imagine a disaster that would make a horrific first impression, that was what happened.

Talking about Lopez, I finally able to enjoy the on-again-off-again relationship between him and Esther. Probably because this time, I gave it a low expectation and I stopped wanting it to get a final resolution. I thought maybe this was not something that would happen quick; especially since the story itself didn't move fast in terms of timeline (five books and I thought it wasn't even a year has passed).

I also stopped wanting to know the true nature of Lopez's power. I figured I would let that plot march in its own drum...

I did felt annoyed with how it ended though. I didn't like how the story stopped with Esther questioning (again) why Lopez didn't call when he said he would... it's just a weird and unsatisfying way to end a book. Especially since the next book seems to be taking a timeline around Chinese New Year, which will be what, two months after Christmas?

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like this series, I'm sure you'll like this book. I'm a fan, so I had fun. But I agree with Ami's review that it was definitely a case of rounding up from the upper 3 star range, for all of the reasons she listed. Please read the review, it says it better than I could. Overall, the book was fun, fast and silly without being too silly. Lopez wasn't annoying in this one for the first time for me. I loved having Lucky, the Gambello hit man, in it so much and I thought the way that he got involved was believable enough for this series, which strains credibility every time Lopez shows up again in Esther's life with apparently all of NYC as his beat. Nothing wrong with a dose of willing suspense of disbelief as long as we're all in on it together. And "meeting" Lopez's parents was a treat.

But the end was quite a letdown, in a couple of ways. There was some good stuff, don't get me wrong. But there were some problems. Maybe every book doesn't have to have a major showdown, but to have the big magical phenomenon wrap up in three pages was just abrupt. I kept waiting for that, "but then the real demon jumps out of the closet," moment but it didn't happen. And that doesn't even include what didn't happen on the last two pages. I know the tradition is to make couples be tortured throughout every series, the Sam and Diane phenomenon lives on and on, but I truly believe that letting them be happy for more than a night doesn't have to be a death knell to a creative author. But torturing your readers with the same boring devices might be. Were my issues with the end anything that majorly took away from my enjoyment of the book? No, that's why I had to round up and not down. One issue was more odd and a bit disappointing more than serious, I enjoyed the rest of the book enough to shrug and get over it. The other was annoying but expected. So overall I still say that if you're looking for a light, humorous and fast-paced urban fantasy series you really should give this one a try.

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulling nostalgia into the book made it charming.

World: This book is pretty self contained and the world building is small, it mostly takes place in one location but it’s so well thought out that I want to go to this store and walk around Solstice Land. The world building is also character based because Resnick really pulls from the past books and lets us revisit some wonderful characters that are big and zany and interesting. Good stuff.

Story: The story is well done and paced, it’s falls into the genre norms that there has to be a Christmas themed book and this is it. The book is self aware and being self aware still falls into tropes and cliches of the genre, but that’s okay. It’s what this book is and it doesn’t expect to be anything else different. The mystery is basic and the villain is clearly seen very early but it was a fun romp because of the characters involved. Resnick was smart to incorperate a lot of past characters in this book and therefore a lot of the emotional ties readers have had with these past characters really makes this story pop. Oh the entire Music Bear section of the book was so cliche but done so well.

Characters: Esther is a good point of view, her banter and sense of humor makes the book work and this continuation with her story is nice. Her interaction with Lopez this time is great and their slow boil I really enjoy. Then there are the rest of the cast of characters that show up for this Christmas romp and it brings out all the nostalgia from the other books and readers of the series who have interacted with these characters will smile. It’s good character work. The villain was cliched and expected but that’s to be expected in this series.

A fun addition to the series that relies a lot of character and nostalgia.

Onward to the next booK!

[Robin (Bridge Four) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laura Resnick has dragged me along and fooled me again.

Polterheist brings back some of the previous characters from the past books. In a department store known for its holiday displays and Christmas villages Esther has picked up some work to get her through the Holiday season. She is a Hanukkah elf and a few of her friends as ethnic Santa's.

This year is different as the staff seems to be disappearing into no where and the mob is being blames for some of the delivery trucks going missing. Esther, Max and Lucky are on the case though trying to figure out what is a miss at the story as it seems to be haunted.

This is a mostly fun story. Detective Lopez is also on the scene due to the mob angle and of course when he and Esther are together they just can't keep their hands off each other. Still it would be nice if there was some less wishy washy movement on that romance aspect or on Lopez cluing into the paranormal world. I mean eventually even Skully figured it out.

The story is what I expected and the situational comedy was fun. Esther's meeting with Lopez's parents was all the chaos I would expect it to be.

I'm almost done with the kick back and enjoy the show ride I'm on. Only a few more books are out and I'm not committed to reading the 7th as there isn't an 8th yet, and doesn't really seem like there will be at this point. Also at this point Esther and Lopez either need to get together or really call it quits.

[Joshua Palmatier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Polterheist is the fifth book in Laura Resnick's Esther Diamond light and humorous urban fantasy series. Lots of fun and an easy read, not the usual dark and heavy urban fantasy that seems to be the norm.

The basic premise is that Esther Diamond is forced to work at the department store Fenster's during the holiday season as a Jewish elf, since her usual "between jobs" work as a waitress is unavailable. So she endures the insanity of the holiday crowds with gritted teeth. But then inanimate objects start coming to life and trying to kill her, while her fellow employees keep disappearing. Not to mention that someone keeps hijacking Fenster delivery trucks, bringing her erstwhile boyfriend Connor into the picture. And all of it seems to be escalating as the holiday season reaches its peak. Is it all caused by a poltergeist, perhaps the recently deceased matriarch of Fenster's come back to haunt them, or is it something more defarious? Esther will need the help of Max, resident wizard, and the mobster hitman Lucky to figure it all out . . . hopefully before her boyfriend arrests her or the city of New York is destroyed in the process.

As usual, the humor never stops with Laura Resnick playing up the insanity of working in retail during the holiday season to its maximum effect. I've worked retail myself, and quite a bit of this would have been even funnier if I hadn't. So there's a sharp edge to the humor here for most. But it's still rollicking fun. Esther is in true, typical form, causing mayhem and destruction, all with the best of intentions.

The plot for this book wasn't as strong as the previous book, Vamparazzi, especially the play on the title. The allusion to the strange activity actually coming from a poltergeist is more of a passing theory, quickly brought forth and discarded, and I don't think any reader will be convinced that's what's going on from the beginning. But that's fine, because it makes a great title, and what's really going on is so much more deadly and interesting in the long run. As usual, there's a great cast of characters, with Esther dealing with the other employees trapped in elf and Santa outfits and the owners of the department store and management. Max and Lucky don't appear much in this story, which is fine.

Connor is back, of course, and actually the interaction between him and Esther is the best part of the entire book. Their plot arch takes a significant leap forward in a very good way, in my opinion, after having stalled out in the last book. I really enjoyed how this developed here and it was by far my favorite section in the book. It was handled well and believably and not in any heavy-handed, overly romantic way. In fact, it was just right.

So, not the strongest plot in the series so far, but certainly a ton of fun and with some great development between Esther and Connor. Certainly looking forward to the next book in this series.

[Ginger K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent the three days between acquisition and completion of this book reading the opening line aloud to various coworkers in an attempt to entice them into reading the series. Also, my new manager had her first true glimpse of "Ginger immersed in bookworld" when she tried to interrupt to ask me something during a lunch break. Yeah, if the book's entertaining, you're going to have to actually say my name to get my attention. Probably more than once.

I love Esther Diamond. She remains a terrific character - charming and clever, acting career-focused and self-aware. I especially love her playing the role of Fenster & Co's (a major department store's fictional stand-in) only Jewish elf for their Solsticeland multi-holiday display (well, multi-holiday in name, mostly Christmas in execution, much like its real-world inspirations). The job is terrible and ridiculous by turns, and her reactions to holiday madness made me laugh at the retail season to come. (Terrible and ridiculous, but also challenging and sometimes even fun when one is not dressed like a scantily clad elf.)

Esther on-again, off-again flirtation with Detective Lopez continues to be a strong subplot of the story. Despite my yearning for a final resolution, the unsettled nature of their relationship added necessary complications to the main plot and has yet to wear completely thin.

Despite allusions to previous adventures and the inclusion of many characters from the prior books, this particular novel seems as though it could be read as a stand-alone without losing too much. So if you, too, are about to experience the retail holiday season, it might be a good time to pick up this book.

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esther has a seasonal job at Fenster & Co as an elf. The hours are getting longer as more of the seasonal workers quit. Now there seems to be something evil lurking. That morning the freight elevator stops between floors, fangs appear, and menace Satsy. His Santa costume is ruined. While waiting for a Santa, little Jonathan wanders away then starts screaming that Santa wanted to eat him. A couple hours later Esther was attacked by a mechanical tree where she is almost choked by a limb. Detective Lopez happens to show up, is instrumental in saving her. He’s working a case involving a couple of Fenster trucks that have been hijacked.

I didn’t read the quote on the front cover until I had finished the book. I guess Lopez having a Santa phobia, Satsy being a drag queen, etc. were supposed to be funny. I just took those literally as part of the setting, and it was more cringe than laugh when Esther protected an old man from a singing bear by knocking him over (rather that going after the bear). What should have been great (when we find out the identity of the man) was lessened because I was still cringing.

There were a bunch of allusions to previous books in the series. Fun to be had if you read the series in order with the previous books still fresh. Fast read, I like Esther, 3.8 stars.

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 bk 164. Resnick rocks the world of commercial Christmas/Solstice in this fifth Esther Diamond novel. When Esther has to take a job as a Department Store Elf during the Christmas season to pay bills, she little suspects it will throw her into a battle against evil, one of the vamperzatti, and Conner's mother. The department store is in the throws of changing managment as the patriarch has died, her children are contentious, the treaty with the mob finished, and one of the next generation in cahoots with the family's enemy. There is much to activate the mind's eye in karoake bear, the talking tree, and the freight elevator go on rampages. Favorite characters from previous novels also make appearances as the Jeff and Esther have to help recruit replacement elves, santas, etc. to replace those who have gone missing. Altogether a fund paranormal/mystery from Laura Resnick's hand.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series cracks me up. Oh i know that esther is alternately ditzy and astute, and that Lopez needs a hit upside the head to get with the program, but the dialogue in these pages is really good stuff. the plot lines can be thin, but I really enjoy the snarkiness and craziness of these books!

[Shane Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now these are getting very predictable and repetitive.

[Kate McMurry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous paranormal mystery with a terrific GraphicAudio, multicast performance

This story picks up shortly after the events at the end of the fourth book in this series. Esther Diamond is a 27-year-old, struggling actress in New York City. She hasn’t had a new acting job since the closing of The Vampyre, an Off-Broadway play she was in for several months. And she hasn’t been able to work where she usually does between engagements, as a singing waitress at an Italian restaurant in Little Italy that is a favorite hangout of members of the mob, because the restaurant currently has all the staff it needs. The only job she can find is playing the part of Dreidel the Jewish Elf, at the multicultural holiday display on the fourth floor of Fenster & Co, a huge department store in Manhattan. It’s an awful job in and of itself, with long hours, low pay, irritable crowds, burned-out coworkers, and a control-freak supervisor. But all that is as nothing compared to the petrifying realization that the entire fourth floor is possessed by evil forces that cause inanimate objects, such as toys, a singing bear, and fake trees, to grow fangs and fly though the air, while spewing death threats. They are terrorizing not only Esther, but little children, and her fellow Christmas performers, fellow elves and some of the Santas. In order to find a solution to a perilous situation that is obviously paranormal in origin, Esther calls on her friend, Dr. Max Zadok, a 350-year-old wizard, and his dog-like, inter-dimensional familiar, Nelly.

Simultaneously to these scary events, someone is pulling off heists of huge truckloads of Fenster merchandise. The latter event pulls Detective Connor Lopez onto the scene, frequently showing up at the store. In the process, he introduces Esther to his parents, when they meet Lopez at the store. Esther and Lopez also reconsider whether they could actually give dating a try, and they finally have sex—which is behind closed doors.

This novel is one of the more entertaining entries in this series. It has both adventure and humor. I did not guess who the villain was before the big reveal. In addition, at long last, Esther and Lopez make true progress in their romance.

As in the previous four novels, we see in this story an on-stage demonstration of Lopez’s instinctive use of his innate magical powers, light and fire. And, as always, he explains this away as a natural phenomenon, having nothing to do with himself.

This novel was originally published in 2012, but it was not until 2017 that it became available in audio format. The latter is a multicast production performed by the extremely talented actors of GraphicAudio, which is how I experienced this story. Typically, given that GA creates a script that the actors work from, similar to what happens when a novel is made into a movie (their motto is, “a movie in your mind”), a GA production is only about 60-70% as long as an audiobook version of a novel would be if a narrator had read the entire book straight through. Thus, this audio production is only 5 hours long, rather than the approximately 8 hours long that a regular audiobook reading of this novel would have been. Since I tend to get bored with all the clue-sleuthing involved in the mystery genre, this script abridgment is all to the good, as far as I’m concerned. The tedious parts have been reduced, and the entertainment value expanded enormously by the realistic, background sound effects and the terrific performances of the extremely talented cast of actors.

Below is a list of the complete ED series with the dates they were initially published. GraphicAudio released a dramatized version of each of them in 2017.

1 Disappearing Nightly 2005
2 Doppelgangster 2007
3 Unsympathetic Magic 2010
4 Vamparazzi 2011
5 Polterheist 2012
6 Misfortune Cookie 2013
7 Abracadaver 2014

I rate this audio-drama as follows:

Heroine: 4 stars
Romantic Interest: 4 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Mystery Plot: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 5 stars
Paranormal Elements: 4 stars
Humor: 4 stars
Setting: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
GraphicAudio Performances: 5 stars
Overall: 4 stars

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

As luck would have it, I picked this up the week before Christmas without knowing it was a Christmas book, so it it got some bonus points right off the bat. In this one Esther is working as a department store elf... Dreidel, Santa's Jewish elf. There are, of course, multiple elves and Santas on the payroll, such as Diversity Santa, Naughty and Nice, and so on, and Esther has to call in some of her associates from previous volumes to help in the investigation of the apparently haunted store. It's a bit too long and ends on an annoying cliffhanger, but is most cleverly written and all-in-all it is a lot of holiday fun. It would have been a great old black-and-white holiday movie starring Myrna Loy as Esther.

[Imjussayin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Polterheist: Esther Diamond 5
Read in chronological order
3 🌟

In A Nutshell:Esther's out of acting work again, it's all in book 4 . So, she is working in Fenster & Co departmental store over the Christmas period. She plays a Jewish Elf in the toy department. The toys and props like trees come alive with evil intent. Santa even said the lift threatened him or is he smoking too much whacky Bacci? Anyway, Esther's job is assured because there is a rapid turnover of staff or is it something more sinister?

The Plot:When a Bear attacks Esther she begins to take Diversity Santa's story of the lift threatening him and children's concerns about evil Santa seriously. Now Esther has to get to the bottom of it.

The Protagonist:Esther Diamond is our protagonist, and she is the antithesis of the urban fantasy hero. Esther saves the world on the down low and without magic. It's her competence that makes Esther a winner. She does not possess killer looks although she has gorgeous cheekbones! With her wonderful sense of humour and winning personality you just have to love this crazy lady.

I am so invested in this crazy cast: Dr Maximillian Zadok, 350-year-old mage, Nelli, his pony size dog familiar and Lucky a semi-retired mobster. Detective Lopez, the spark in Esther's heart, makes his appearance because he is investigating the Fenster's truck heist; just as well because he has to come to Esther's aid. Again.

We finally meet Mr and Mrs Lopez in the most spectacular fashion and make the acquaintance of some real quirky characters working at Fenster & Co.

It's a good read, and I would have given the story four stars it is funny and enjoyable and just good fun. But I found the climax (the final battle of good and ill) underwhelming and rushed. However, there are so many good things in the book that it's an enjoyable read and 🌟 🌟 🌟 from me is not faint praise.

I am loving this series and recommend it to you.

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Check out my blog on imjussayin


Book Rating
Sexual Content: 15
Language: 18
Violent: 12
Would I read the next one or reread ?: Can't wait.

My rating system (* = star)
0* Could not finish this book (waste of time)
1* Finished the book but didn't like it.
2* Finished the book it was okay.
3* A good read worth your time.
4* An excellent read often with a novel concept or unusual plot.
5* A magnificent read. A prominent example of the genre.

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, it was about time I read the next book in the Esther Diamond series! 😊

It's the festive season and Esther has to pay the rent, so she gets a job as a jewish elf and Santa helper at Fenster & Co. But weird things are happening in this store, enough to freak out both customers and employees...

This was another super fun addition to this awesome & funny urban fantasy series.

The beginning of Esther's next adventure started out on a freaky and hilarious note. I actually laughed quite a few times, and then found myself wondering what was going on in this weird store. Setting it during the crazy Christmas season while trying to diversify the festivities certainly added to the entertainment factor. It was also a great platform for trouble.

I get such a kick out of meeting a new cast of goofy characters and catching up with some familiar ones. Satsy's in the house and so is Jeff, as well as Lucky. Of course Max and Nelli stop by because Esther needs their brand of expertise. Plus, Lopez just can't stay away. 😅

I actually really enjoyed the sizzling connection between them in this book. I really hope this is the start of something wonderful between them.

Yep. I enjoyed the hell out of Esther's latest tale.

Oh and BTW, I love the book titles and covers in this series.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, but rounding up because the fights in the department story were so funny.

In this installment, Esther find herself working as the Jewish Elf in Solsticeland.

Which is a pretty much as horrible as it sounds.

Resnick is brilliant enough to keep the action largely confined to the department and uses the actual hell such places can be around Christmas to deal with ghosts and such. There are cameos from other books in the series as well as Lopez. While the plot is much simpler than some of the earlier books, it is actually a great ride because of how Resnick uses the setting.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I simply devoured this latest installment in Esther's life. I didn't realize how quickly I was going through the holidays until I realized I was already two-thirds of the way through! This latest sojourn in to the demonically disastrous life of Diamond kept me on my toes as friends old and new are all stuck working at a department store during Christmas that, of course, seems to be possessed/haunted by a poltergeist. Hijinks ensue and an unplanned family meeting goes the absolutely worst way possible.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one felt better paced to me. I was honestly more than half way through the book before I realized it. Not that the previous installments weren't interesting but it was nice to see progress made on Resnick's abilities as an author. Well done and I can't wait for the next one.

[Daniel Wentzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one much more than the previous. I liked characters like Saturated Fats and even Jeff making their comebacks. Esther is the straight man of the group and does best with a crew of wacky sidekicks.
A surprisingly fast read.

[Michel Sizaire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next

[Al Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm hoping that this audio book is the low point of this series, if the next one isn't better I'll be done with it.

[DJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting a little tired of Lopez’ flip flop attitude. If he can’t love her just as she is —- move along.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great graphic audio in this series. Love the full cast.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this series but it feels like the quality is going down.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was cute. not as good as the others

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review here:

http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...

Overall, the book is a very funny and well written piece, although the reveal and resolution aren't particularly a surprise.

[Phoebe · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like the Esther Diamond books, you will probably enjoy this one. I wavered between 2 and 3 stars, however, because as much of a fan as I am, it doesn’t mean I can ignore some of the glaring problems with the story.

Esther is working a thankless, grueling holiday stint as an elf at a famous department store’s holiday floor when it becomes apparent that there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than one might expect. Shipments to the store are getting hijacked, the store’s owning family is at each other's throats, and the elves and santas are severely understaffed as workers start not showing for their shifts. When a mechanical tree tries to kill Esther, she decides there might be more happening than meets the eye.

I may be a fast reader, but for all the potential threads to explore in this book, it felt more like a writing exercise for the author that ended too soon, and less like a well-developed story. The ideas were great (if occasionally mirroring a little TOO closely the famous David Sedaris piece about working as a holiday elf), but the execution lacked depth.

These books ARE entertaining, written with a light humor, and so I try not to poke too many holes in the plot, but this one shied away from logically answering almost any single piece of the story, in part because the mystery was not the star of the show. In retrospect, I’m not entirely sure what the main focus WAS, because the will-they-won’t-they romance felt under-served, Esther’s character development was erratic, and the usual cast of side characters didn’t even get moments to shine. I felt like I learned more about Jeff than anyone else in this book.

I was left with SO many questions. Did no one report a loved one as missing for the days that the temp staff was missing? How were none of the staff identified in the hijackings? When the Fenster’s problem-child Freddie is caught at one of the trucks, Lucky mentions that he will get off lightly because he was “not responsible for his own actions at the time” which I found odd. Did the police buy that he was being mind-controlled? What possible excuse could he have given?

Esther’s one and only encounter with the rest of the Fenster family operates only as an information dump, as some of the potentially interesting family members are never seen again. One of the book’s villains is identified early on, and yet never develops enough to feel like we see the motivation for the underlying crime. We just get a hand-wave of “they’re crazy and they snapped.” We’re given even less about the second villain, who ends up reading like a bad guy from Scooby Doo.

We never see the demon that has been crawling through the store, nor is its nature spelled out. An electronic singing bear in full light goes nuts, yet later that night flashlights are stopping stuffed toys in their tracks. We do not know what it was precisely that Max, Lucky, Twinkle, and the rest did to finally stop the demon from breaking through, or how our villain knew to summon it. We never even “speak” with Twinkle again. We do, however, get a lot of time devoted to Lopez, but again that feels mishandled. Rather than continuing on with the (understandably) complicated nature of their relationship, they seem to clear the board and decide to just “go with it” for now, which wasn’t the payoff I could have hoped for. Was it, perhaps, just fan service by adding in the romance?

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a fan of the series, way back to the old days when Disappearing Nightly was published by a Luna Books, and I've suck with it ever since.

Sadly, Polterheist is one of the weaker installments.

It suffers from an interesting problem: it both drags and rushes.

To explain, I have to describe the formula the series holds to. The books always starts with Esther, the narrator, revealing that something weird has happened, before explaining the events that lead up to the weirdness. After that, she contacts her friend Max, and immortal wizard who fights Evil. They investigate like any other mystery, except exploring supernatural solutions. Meanwhile, Lopez, Esther's not-boyfriend and a cop, investigates. Esther is forced to lie to him, because he doesn't believe in magic, and the two dance around their relationship. Finally, Max and Esther figure who's behind the paranormal crimes and stop them.

The book starts out the same way, but it takes a full 71 pages for the book to get back to initial weirdness, about a third of the book. We don't get to see Max for another 50 pages, and by then we're half through the book. That's how it drags.

From there it speeds up to make up for lost time and things go to quickly. They barely investigate, before they figure out what's not happening and put their plan into action. The action ends before you've really gotten into it.

And this section isn't even fully devoted to the mystery. We get to see Lopez and Esther continue there dance.

This is how it rushes.

And then it drags again. The books goes on for another couple of chapters after the main action has ended.

Basically, Polterheist comes across as a collection of scenes, rather than a cohesive novel.

That's not to say the book is devoid of merit. The writing is as clever as ever and the scene where Esther finally meets Lopez's parents is hysterically funny. And their relationship finally develops in a meaningful way.

I'm still willing to recommend this books on those strengths. It's clear that the author is trying to switch up the formula and I appreciate that. I just hope she improves by the next book.

[Cissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! And this was a fine addition to it. I saved it to read during the Christmas season, since that's when it's set, and I'm glad I did- it was a perfect light romp for a somewhat stressful time.

I'm not going to summarize the plot. Just know that Esther is reluctantly working as Dreidle, the Jewish elf, in a big NYC department store's "Solsticeland" display. And then, as often happens around her, things start to go Horribly Wrong.

Esther has no paranormal talents whatsoever, unless one counts an uncanny (heh) ability to get mixed up in such. Fortunately, some of her friends are more skilled.

This had a nice bit of creepy along with the humor. But it's a humorous series (with great dialog), and the scene in which Esther meets her sort-of boyfriend's parents, in the worst possible way, had me laughing out loud. And really, the MOST horrible way. Yes, worse than that.

I'd be annoyed by the pace of Esther's and Lopez's on-again, off-again relationship, except I think it IS progressing- slowly- book by book.

The characters, as well as the dialog, is up to the previous books' levels. The plot is well-paced. These are definitely light books, but well-written and so much fun!

Recommended... but you might want to start with either "Disappearing Nightly": or "Doppelgansters", and read through the rest.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this, the latest Esther Diamond novel, out heroine is once again in-between acting jobs and her usual gig at Stella's is taken over by kids on holiday so she ends up working at a large department store as the Hanukah elf. SHe get s the job because a lot of previous employees in the holiday exhibit have left abruptly. As usual strange things start happening like elevators and animated trees attacking Esther and we find out that hell is coming to New York. With the help of Max, Lopez and others she manages to thwart Evil once again and all is well.

This novel is typical of the series in many ways but atypical in others. The story takes place almost entirely at the department store with instead of a lot of scenes at Max's place or other locales and also Max himself is a smaller player in this. But in no way does this make the book any less interesting or entertaining. The thing I love about these novels is that Resnick doesn't take herself too seriously and uses a deft hand in guiding her lovable characters through romp after romp all the while injecting obvious knowledge of the culture and phenomenons she writes about.

If you are looking for fun and action, this series is the ticket.