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A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life #1
Deadly Remains: Book One of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life
THERE ARE DAYS WHEN LIRE DEVON WOULD KILL TO BE CONVENTIONAL. Espresso at Peabody's. Lunch with friends. Quiet evenings at home with someone special... Sometimes she'd give anything to be that girl. But nothing is ever that simple when you're the most talented clairvoyant in Seattle. Now there's a murder, as baffling as it is horrifying, and the police want Lire to help them flush out the killer. Well at least some of them do. Detective Sgt. Vanelli seems a lot more interested in picking a fight than enlisting her aid. This first book in a delicious new contemporary fantasy series from Katherine Bayless is a fresh mix of mystery and romance with a heady dash of the supernatural.
505 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2010
111 people are currently reading
521 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Bayless
11 books63 followersKatherine Bayless is a paranormal fantasy author and day-dreamer with an abundance of cherished hobbies and a cursed need for a nightly nine hours of sleep. When she isn't writing, Katherine is a paper crafter, photographer, and occasional MMO player. She lives amid vast skies and ancient volcanoes in Central Oregon with her husband, three children, a sweet but shamelessly spoiled whippet named Patches, and Zeke, a cabinet-opening, treat-stealing commando that doesn't know his own name because everyone just calls him Cat.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
April 5, 2011
Let start from the beginning the book is about Clairvoyant Lire Devon as she's called in to help the police of a small town outside of Seattle solve a murder investigation. One of the detectives seems a little resistant to working with her but she's determined to help them solve these murders especially when it begins to hit close to home. Throughout the book we get to understand that life as a Clairvoyant hasn't always been easy for her especially when at age 3 she discovers a secret that her mother was having an affair with her uncle. So needless to say that her life has been difficult.
Lire's budding relationship with detective Vince Vanelli shows great promise. He's skeptical about all this paranormal business despite it being an accepted part of society. However, I just didn't feel their connection, it just felt like it kept revving but it never fully materialized. Their entire relationship just read very young. They spend a lot of time making out and she drools over his chest, it just felt like something a teenager would write and not a grown woman. Lire was likable but her life just seemed a little too bland, Lire like her relationship with Vince just lacked passion and fire.
Overall I enjoyed the book, the world that she was created was very interesting and I loved the way she delved deeper in to what it would be like to be a Clairvoyant and to get a reading off of anything you touched. So that grabbed me from the first few pages. However, the book lacked passion. It had all the right ingredients but it was just missing the passion. I loved the hero and heroine but you never really got to know him while you were overloaded with description of every minute detail of EVERYTHING. I was eager to continue to finish the story and find out more, at times I was completely engrossed in this world but at others I just wondered how much more I was going to have to sit through. Apparently this is a beginning of a series and I guess she just spent way too much time building up the series that I feel like she forgot to focus more on this book. I would read the next book to see if it improved but I wouldn't be in a rush to do so.
Lire's budding relationship with detective Vince Vanelli shows great promise. He's skeptical about all this paranormal business despite it being an accepted part of society. However, I just didn't feel their connection, it just felt like it kept revving but it never fully materialized. Their entire relationship just read very young. They spend a lot of time making out and she drools over his chest, it just felt like something a teenager would write and not a grown woman. Lire was likable but her life just seemed a little too bland, Lire like her relationship with Vince just lacked passion and fire.
Overall I enjoyed the book, the world that she was created was very interesting and I loved the way she delved deeper in to what it would be like to be a Clairvoyant and to get a reading off of anything you touched. So that grabbed me from the first few pages. However, the book lacked passion. It had all the right ingredients but it was just missing the passion. I loved the hero and heroine but you never really got to know him while you were overloaded with description of every minute detail of EVERYTHING. I was eager to continue to finish the story and find out more, at times I was completely engrossed in this world but at others I just wondered how much more I was going to have to sit through. Apparently this is a beginning of a series and I guess she just spent way too much time building up the series that I feel like she forgot to focus more on this book. I would read the next book to see if it improved but I wouldn't be in a rush to do so.
February 11, 2011
Lire Devon has adapted to circumstances that force her to live a difficult life. Unable to have direct physical (skin on skin) contact with people or things without suffering a psychic backlash that could put her in a coma, she's incapable of even leaving her home without planning for what, to some, would seem like a debilitating disability. She's accepted those requirements, come to to terms with both her limitations and her abilities, even as she occasionally yearns for a more normal existence. She's a clairvoyant in a world where some normal humans fear her, where just walking into a coffee shop with her long gloves on gets her stares of disgust and a wide berth given to her. She can't even count on being served when she sits down at a restaurant table.
Unfortunately, bigotry and paranoia, fear and disgust are rampant in normals - even in her own family, where her gift caused a rift that estranged her from her mother and sister for most of her life. But she lives with that. She accepts that. Because at the end of the day, Lire Devon has a gift. And that gift has given her a successful business and enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
Not content to rest on her laurels, she occasionally offers her talents to the police department pro bono. She's one of the few psychics in the country who are strong enough to do so without burning herself out. When a brutal murderer of psychics turns serial, Lire is called in to assist, and she's quickly drawn into unfamiliar and terrifying territory. As if a psychopath isn't bad enough, demons and secret societies are jockeying for power, normals and psychics alike are little more than pawns, and prophecies tilt her in directions she didn't even realize exist. But when the psychopath turns his attention to Lire and starts leaving her personal notes at the scene of a vicious crime, she starts to wonder if this case will call more than her skills into question - and if the answers will cost her her life.
Kicking off a new series, Katherine Bayless has created a world full of potential and a heroine with unique and fascinating obstacles. For me, the strongest parts of the book dealt with a sobering and realistic look at Lire's limitations and the myriad of things she does, as well as the strength she has to have, just to cope. The serial killer plotline doesn't exactly break new ground, but it was disturbing enough and written well enough to maintain my interest, as was the relatively nice counterpoint of the romance thread. The killer plotline went a awry towards the end, when the additional complications of the mysterious "they" and some nebulous prophecy stuff muddled the storyline unnecessarily and engendered a few scenes that were supposed to be emotional but fell a little flat for me, but it wasn't bad, really. Mostly I was left feeling pretty ambivalent to the climax of the conflict, because there were several earlier scenes that had greater physical and emotional consequence to Lire and were more tightly and tensely written.
Sometimes, as in the case of Deadly Remains, it's not what is lacking in an author's style or abilities that hampers the story, but what is overdone, and in this case, a significantly trimmed narrative would have benefited plot, pacing, and impact. There was an extreme amount of excessive and superfluous information. Way too much needless description of anything and everything that Lire thought, did, was, or saw was written out in plodding detail that not only caused the flow of the book to meander and lumber aimlessly at times, but robbed the narration of any sense of danger or urgency and made several scenes seem repetitive. That seriously impacted my emotional investment and connection to the characters and the story - to the point that I found myself feeling bored several times as I was reading. I was too busy being inundated with minutia.
Besides the minutia, there were entire scenes that served little to no noticeable purpose and distracted from the arc of the book. Even the dialogue between the characters seemed overwritten at times, especially as the relationship between Lire and Vince was sputtering in its attempts to heat up.
There were a few moments that really shined, and things that I did genuinely enjoy. I loved Red, and would have adored spending more time (from an earlier point in the book) with the djinn. I found them fascinating, and felt Bayless did a great job introducing them and differentiating them. Lire wasn't a bad heroine, either. A little uninspired, maybe, but she wasn't bad. I found Vince's character definition to be a little cliched and two dimensional, but he wasn't by any means offensive, either.
Had this quite lengthy book been trimmed by about a hundred pages, some of the muddier aspects cleaned up, and much of the plot tightened and intensified, this could have been a truly spectacular and original urban (with a stress on the urbane) fantasy series debut. As it stands, it's not bad, it just didn't leave me slavering hungrily for more.
~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
Unfortunately, bigotry and paranoia, fear and disgust are rampant in normals - even in her own family, where her gift caused a rift that estranged her from her mother and sister for most of her life. But she lives with that. She accepts that. Because at the end of the day, Lire Devon has a gift. And that gift has given her a successful business and enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
Not content to rest on her laurels, she occasionally offers her talents to the police department pro bono. She's one of the few psychics in the country who are strong enough to do so without burning herself out. When a brutal murderer of psychics turns serial, Lire is called in to assist, and she's quickly drawn into unfamiliar and terrifying territory. As if a psychopath isn't bad enough, demons and secret societies are jockeying for power, normals and psychics alike are little more than pawns, and prophecies tilt her in directions she didn't even realize exist. But when the psychopath turns his attention to Lire and starts leaving her personal notes at the scene of a vicious crime, she starts to wonder if this case will call more than her skills into question - and if the answers will cost her her life.
Kicking off a new series, Katherine Bayless has created a world full of potential and a heroine with unique and fascinating obstacles. For me, the strongest parts of the book dealt with a sobering and realistic look at Lire's limitations and the myriad of things she does, as well as the strength she has to have, just to cope. The serial killer plotline doesn't exactly break new ground, but it was disturbing enough and written well enough to maintain my interest, as was the relatively nice counterpoint of the romance thread. The killer plotline went a awry towards the end, when the additional complications of the mysterious "they" and some nebulous prophecy stuff muddled the storyline unnecessarily and engendered a few scenes that were supposed to be emotional but fell a little flat for me, but it wasn't bad, really. Mostly I was left feeling pretty ambivalent to the climax of the conflict, because there were several earlier scenes that had greater physical and emotional consequence to Lire and were more tightly and tensely written.
Sometimes, as in the case of Deadly Remains, it's not what is lacking in an author's style or abilities that hampers the story, but what is overdone, and in this case, a significantly trimmed narrative would have benefited plot, pacing, and impact. There was an extreme amount of excessive and superfluous information. Way too much needless description of anything and everything that Lire thought, did, was, or saw was written out in plodding detail that not only caused the flow of the book to meander and lumber aimlessly at times, but robbed the narration of any sense of danger or urgency and made several scenes seem repetitive. That seriously impacted my emotional investment and connection to the characters and the story - to the point that I found myself feeling bored several times as I was reading. I was too busy being inundated with minutia.
Besides the minutia, there were entire scenes that served little to no noticeable purpose and distracted from the arc of the book. Even the dialogue between the characters seemed overwritten at times, especially as the relationship between Lire and Vince was sputtering in its attempts to heat up.
There were a few moments that really shined, and things that I did genuinely enjoy. I loved Red, and would have adored spending more time (from an earlier point in the book) with the djinn. I found them fascinating, and felt Bayless did a great job introducing them and differentiating them. Lire wasn't a bad heroine, either. A little uninspired, maybe, but she wasn't bad. I found Vince's character definition to be a little cliched and two dimensional, but he wasn't by any means offensive, either.
Had this quite lengthy book been trimmed by about a hundred pages, some of the muddier aspects cleaned up, and much of the plot tightened and intensified, this could have been a truly spectacular and original urban (with a stress on the urbane) fantasy series debut. As it stands, it's not bad, it just didn't leave me slavering hungrily for more.
~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
February 12, 2017
Really enjoyed this book, very different with a heroine who is so 'real'. Loved the idea of the teddy bear as well, very unique!
February 24, 2014
This is a great paranormal mystery with interesting characters who are fully fleshed out, several villains, and wonderfully creative world-building. Lire and Vince are great as they slowly learn to trust each other and begin to fall for each other. My favourite. character was Red and I can't wait to learn more about him. Wonderful first entry in the series.
March 26, 2011
Loved it. 4.25 stars, probably. This was one of those books that, when I finish it, I'm crushed that the next isn't yet available. Loved Lire and Vince, adored Red. The world the author created rang true, and the plot was gritty, lightened with bits of humor, and ultimately very satisfying.
August 12, 2012
Entertaining but looking for whats next????
February 18, 2011
Fantastic story! This is the start of a new series and I can't wait to read more.
January 25, 2012
The minute I saw the premise of this book I was interested and wanted to learn more immediately. Before I read it, I was expecting a strong female heroine that could take care of herself, had passion, fire, intelligence with some great supporting characters that kept the story moving forward. I feel like I only got a part of that and the rest was thrown by the wayside. At points I loved the pacing and thought and the story kept me engrossed until all of a sudden I had one of those, "What the heck?!" moments. As writers usually learn, those moments where your readers are asking what the heck just happened or how a particular line or action was relevant to the plotline, then you made a mistake. There were too many times where I just wondered why in the world she decided to do that suddenly because some of the scenes felt forced and contrived. The passion between the characters felt forced as well and I didn't feel any real sizzle from them. Bayless set the story up with a wonderfully interesting premise and beginning but she just didn't deliver on the promise which left me a bit disappointed in the end.
When we first met Vince Vanelli he was completely against her mumbo jumbo psychic abilities and you could see some heat building up between them that PROMISED to be explosive and then fizzled out before it even got anywhere. Then I remember when she was in the car with him she just suddenly blurted out how her she found out about her mother's infedility which led to their nearly lifetime estrangement and resentment. This is supposedly a secret she has held inside for so long and shared with perhaps 3 people overall and then she just suddenly blurts it out in "frustration (?)" to a cop that seems to not believe in her abilities, thinks she's a fraud or at least that she's not as great as she claims, etc. I'm sorry but that just kind of made me feel like it was forced to start some conflict and show her "pain" and create some sympathetic closeness between them that would be the start of their changing relationship. I couldn't believe it. I did think there were some issues with her descriptions being too drawn out and almost repetitive as well as the fact that I felt that I was constantly being "told" rather than "shown" throughout the story. That kind of annoyed me but not enough to stop reading. I could get over it.
The last of my "complaints" or rather constructive criticisms about this book is that it seemed as if she was trying to do too much in one book to set up for the next story. This is all well and good but there has to be a limit to the madness. Also there were times that I felt she was incredibly too stupid to be believable. When I first meet her, she seems intelligent enough but then all of a sudden she's trying to stop the bad guy that is possessing someone and going after her friends and with her powers (levitation, fire, ice, and clairvoyance) she elects to tie his shoe laces rather than pick him up and toss him to the side? REALLY?! Then she goes through her training with her new powers to go after the killer and just walks into his trap so calmly and then when she's finally tied up and can't do anything she decides to say things like, "If he thought I was going to die without a fight he had another thing coming (paraphrase)". Are you kidding me?? By the end I found myself not even caring, even going so far as to root for her to die because she seemed to stupid to live at that point. The ending was an anticlimax and left me apathetic about the whole thing.
Now despite my criticism above I do not think it was the worst book that I have ever read. Is it the best? Not by a long shot. I think the author should spend a bit more time on the drafting process because for the storyline to make the whole thing a big more believable and allow it to flow better. Overall and okay book with an interesting plotline and premise that I would like to see continue if the author ends up improving her writing style and craft.
When we first met Vince Vanelli he was completely against her mumbo jumbo psychic abilities and you could see some heat building up between them that PROMISED to be explosive and then fizzled out before it even got anywhere. Then I remember when she was in the car with him she just suddenly blurted out how her she found out about her mother's infedility which led to their nearly lifetime estrangement and resentment. This is supposedly a secret she has held inside for so long and shared with perhaps 3 people overall and then she just suddenly blurts it out in "frustration (?)" to a cop that seems to not believe in her abilities, thinks she's a fraud or at least that she's not as great as she claims, etc. I'm sorry but that just kind of made me feel like it was forced to start some conflict and show her "pain" and create some sympathetic closeness between them that would be the start of their changing relationship. I couldn't believe it. I did think there were some issues with her descriptions being too drawn out and almost repetitive as well as the fact that I felt that I was constantly being "told" rather than "shown" throughout the story. That kind of annoyed me but not enough to stop reading. I could get over it.
The last of my "complaints" or rather constructive criticisms about this book is that it seemed as if she was trying to do too much in one book to set up for the next story. This is all well and good but there has to be a limit to the madness. Also there were times that I felt she was incredibly too stupid to be believable. When I first meet her, she seems intelligent enough but then all of a sudden she's trying to stop the bad guy that is possessing someone and going after her friends and with her powers (levitation, fire, ice, and clairvoyance) she elects to tie his shoe laces rather than pick him up and toss him to the side? REALLY?! Then she goes through her training with her new powers to go after the killer and just walks into his trap so calmly and then when she's finally tied up and can't do anything she decides to say things like, "If he thought I was going to die without a fight he had another thing coming (paraphrase)". Are you kidding me?? By the end I found myself not even caring, even going so far as to root for her to die because she seemed to stupid to live at that point. The ending was an anticlimax and left me apathetic about the whole thing.
Now despite my criticism above I do not think it was the worst book that I have ever read. Is it the best? Not by a long shot. I think the author should spend a bit more time on the drafting process because for the storyline to make the whole thing a big more believable and allow it to flow better. Overall and okay book with an interesting plotline and premise that I would like to see continue if the author ends up improving her writing style and craft.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2014
Lire works for the police pro-bono – and as the most powerful touch-psychic in the area, she’s definitely a major asset. Unfortunately, prejudice and superstition make it hard to convince others to accept that, especially Detective Vince Vanelli. She has enough problems navigating in a world where touch is a constant peril, without having to babysit the chip on his shoulder
There’s a serial killer on the loose and she’s determined to help catch him especially when one of the victims hits so close to home. She pushes far further than is wise – both taxing her powers and rising the ire of an secret organisation that has a lot of power to make life difficult; but can Lire really risk the killer killing again?
When I picked up this book I saw it was about a psychic helping the police I was interested, but expected something I’d seen before – after all, a psychometric reading information from evidence, or any psychic helping the police isn’t new.
And there were a lot of concepts I’ve seen before – but this goes to show that a concept doesn’t have to be completely new to be awesome. Because while I’ve seen them before, I don’t think I’d seen them as well done as I have here. The information that Lire gets from touching things is really well done – as is the peril of her touching things without realising. The way she can get overwhelmed is really well done – as well as the worry over the subject matter – how can you go around touching things involved in a murder without seeing and experiencing truly horrendously traumatic images and events? Or, what if you touch someone who themselves is a terrible person and you absorb their entire experience and mind set? It’s really well written to really bring home the power of these visions and how they can affect the psychic’s mental health.
On top of that, the world building has been developed beyond these concepts – so we have a psychic who gets impressions from touching things? We often see that, are giving a dash of tragedy and move on but this book takes it to the next level. What does that mean? How does this psychic eat? How do they drink? How do they wash their clothes or buy furniture or sleep in a hotel? Since animals also leave impressions, can they even eat meat? This is where this book excels – it takes the basic concepts but develops it and makes it real with the detail and all the little elements that we generally don’t think about but have to be considered.
I also love how it’s developed into an actual marketable skill – authenticating antiques or providing information for historians is an excellent twist I’ve never come across before.
I’ve rambled on about this world building of the psychics for a while and it probably gives a terrible impression that there are lots of infodumps in this book – but there isn’t. It actually flows wonderfully with all these elements of the world naturally incorporated into Lire’s experience.
Also she has an undead necromantic possessed teddy bear which manages neither to be twee nor ridiculous. How can this not be a good thing?
What did, I think, drag the book down a little wasn’t the world building or the writing both of which were excellently integrated, but the plot. I loved the plot – I loved all of the plots. I just don’t think we needed plots, plural, in the first book of a series. We had the serial killer plot that was a good story, it was an exciting plot, it had lots of information to chew on, was an excellent way to get to know the world, establish the characters and the way magic works and give us lots of exciting action and baffling mystery as well. This story was excellent, well written and good fun.
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June 17, 2011
SO, I've read it as I felt a sudden need to read something concerning clairvoyance, and not an academic essay at that. The book was quite enjoyable. Characters are reasonably built, I love the idea of , and the universe Bayless created. The magic users vary so much, and they have to face many obstacles. Life is not a dream whenyou have a gift. I find that notion refreshing, as in many fantasy books, the power comes at a prize, but all in all, it's usually a matter of strength and training, not an life-long problem, disabling one to live a semi-normal life.
The book shows the wild side of clairvoyance, taking it to a bit of an extreme.
Paranormal aside, it's also quite well constructed whodunit with a touch of romance. In other words, everything a good summer read calls for.
Enjoy!
The book shows the wild side of clairvoyance, taking it to a bit of an extreme.
Paranormal aside, it's also quite well constructed whodunit with a touch of romance. In other words, everything a good summer read calls for.
Enjoy!
March 18, 2012
Excellent first book. I did not want to put it down. the main character was well written, interesting and easy to relate to. I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I hope she writes more soon. Definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes a good paranormal read. The romance side of things was definitely lacking - felt school-girlish for what was thirty something characters, but the rest of the story was great.
August 10, 2017
Every time the tension and suspense was building up and I started to get excited about what was to come it crawled in snail speed forward to the point of being stagnant and just ridiculous.
An attempt on the heroines life, clearly a moment of suspense and action right?
Well, after reading through a detailed description of the paramedics and comparison on how attractive they are, who else was there and what they were doing, saying my interest almost flatlined.
Focus lady! Focus!
An attempt on the heroines life, clearly a moment of suspense and action right?
Well, after reading through a detailed description of the paramedics and comparison on how attractive they are, who else was there and what they were doing, saying my interest almost flatlined.
Focus lady! Focus!
October 14, 2018
Deadly Remains
I'll admit, I'm a lot less harsh with books I buy on Kindle. Usually I don't pay more than 3 or 4 bucks on a Kindle book and so I'm a lot more forgiving for the rough edges and any typos I might uncover.
Deadly Remains was good enough that I probably would have paid for it at full paperback price. There were spots where I thought the story had been a bit rough, where things bothered me and I wasn't entirely sure whether I liked how the MC thought. But, the world building is a lot of fun and the magic system in this story was pretty cool. It was a unique twist on magic that I've never rea before and the story was entertaining enough that I was able to warm up to the MC by the end. All in all, this is a series I wouldn't mind continuing.
I'll admit, I'm a lot less harsh with books I buy on Kindle. Usually I don't pay more than 3 or 4 bucks on a Kindle book and so I'm a lot more forgiving for the rough edges and any typos I might uncover.
Deadly Remains was good enough that I probably would have paid for it at full paperback price. There were spots where I thought the story had been a bit rough, where things bothered me and I wasn't entirely sure whether I liked how the MC thought. But, the world building is a lot of fun and the magic system in this story was pretty cool. It was a unique twist on magic that I've never rea before and the story was entertaining enough that I was able to warm up to the MC by the end. All in all, this is a series I wouldn't mind continuing.
August 1, 2020
Absolutely delightful read! This book really merges the mystery-suspense genre and urban fantasy. The fantasy touches were quite unique, from Lire's psychic gift and its ramifications, to her best friend Red. The characters were also nuanced. No one was completely good or completely bad. The author did had excellent job of building Lire's fantasy world, but there is also so much more I'd like to know. Vince's fae blood needs further explanation, and I'm curious about how the prophesies work out. Definitely reading the next book in this series. I really enjoyed the author's writing too. It's almost lyrical in places.
June 30, 2019
I really enjoyed this book; we have a clairvoyant who lives with the day-to-day hassles of picking up things from other people and the things they’ve touched, a world where magic is celebrated, tolerated and feared/hated depending on who you talk to, and a series of murder-by-demon.
I was hooked almost immediately and couldn’t put the book down for the last 150 pages or so!
I was hooked almost immediately and couldn’t put the book down for the last 150 pages or so!
October 21, 2023
Fairly decent paranormal mystery. I would have liked the main character to be more three-dimensional when interacting with others. She comes across as flat and less interesting than she could have been. I do like the addition of various paranormal characters that opened up other dimensions, like the djinn.
December 6, 2016
Loved it! One for fans of strong women characters!
A well crafted world with likable characters, this held my interest till the end. Let me put it this way- I just finished this book and am immediatly buying the next. A really good urban fantasy.
A well crafted world with likable characters, this held my interest till the end. Let me put it this way- I just finished this book and am immediatly buying the next. A really good urban fantasy.
April 26, 2020
A great first book
I really enjoyed this book. Full of suspense, drama and action. This is a great first book of what is sure to be an interesting and entertaining series. Highly recommend.
I really enjoyed this book. Full of suspense, drama and action. This is a great first book of what is sure to be an interesting and entertaining series. Highly recommend.
June 2, 2021
Wonderful first novel in a series! I highly recommend this novel!
Original, lots of action and plot twists! The main character is tough and complex. Their world is well developed and fascinating. Great fun!
Original, lots of action and plot twists! The main character is tough and complex. Their world is well developed and fascinating. Great fun!
March 25, 2022
the ML is insufferable and they had zero chemistry. Also the female lead is an idiot.
July 2, 2020
Can’t wait to read the next book!
May 12, 2018
I thought based on the cover that this would be more of a dark and broody suspense/ mystery/ detective story. It wasn't dark most of the time. Sure, it was at times, but the heroine is interesting and the world building very well done. She's definitely collecting a loyal male following, too - love triangles (and hexagons) seem to abound.
In this one, she helps the police find a serial killer who is using a demon and killing magic users for some nefarious purpose. She also discovers the first normal man she can touch without reading his mind.
In this one, she helps the police find a serial killer who is using a demon and killing magic users for some nefarious purpose. She also discovers the first normal man she can touch without reading his mind.
October 19, 2018
now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. i was hooked after the first page.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this book.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this book.
January 23, 2016
Some books grab you and take you on a nice, smooth ride from beginning to end. Afraid to say, this one took the scenic view. Over a few bumpy roads.
Lire is a clairvoyant who occasionally does consultancy work with the police department. She is brought in on a case involving ritual murder. The premise hooked me, and the plot kept me going through a lot of the meandering.
The thing is, I love world building. I love immersing myself in another universe, and seeing the world unfold. I especially love getting a sense of a larger world outside the bounds of the book, like things are happening that aren't on the page.
I don't think I've ever said this before, and I'm almost reluctant to mention it, but there is way too much world building! Okay, that's probably not the right way to put it. There's way too much for just one book. The main storyline kept getting sidetracked by bits and pieces of information that should have been edited out and saved for another book. A lot of it was about magic, and otherworldly creatures, and psychic stuff, all of which was interesting, but became overwhelming. It was hard to remember it all, and figure out what was important to know right now, and what was just another piece of scenery.
Another thing that bugged me is that, other than Lire, every major character in the book is male. All the detectives, agents, bad guys, good guys, hell even the cab driver was male.
I'm not saying there were no other female characters, but none of them played a major role, and in fact, I can't even remember the name of Lire's best friend, even though she flitted around just waiting to be needed to support Lire.
Don't get me wrong, the book isn't bad. It's a good start to a new series. The plot is pretty exciting, and the action scenes are well done. And the world building is interesting. Just... smaller doses please.
Overall, I enjoyed it.
Lire is a clairvoyant who occasionally does consultancy work with the police department. She is brought in on a case involving ritual murder. The premise hooked me, and the plot kept me going through a lot of the meandering.
The thing is, I love world building. I love immersing myself in another universe, and seeing the world unfold. I especially love getting a sense of a larger world outside the bounds of the book, like things are happening that aren't on the page.
I don't think I've ever said this before, and I'm almost reluctant to mention it, but there is way too much world building! Okay, that's probably not the right way to put it. There's way too much for just one book. The main storyline kept getting sidetracked by bits and pieces of information that should have been edited out and saved for another book. A lot of it was about magic, and otherworldly creatures, and psychic stuff, all of which was interesting, but became overwhelming. It was hard to remember it all, and figure out what was important to know right now, and what was just another piece of scenery.
Another thing that bugged me is that, other than Lire, every major character in the book is male. All the detectives, agents, bad guys, good guys, hell even the cab driver was male.
I'm not saying there were no other female characters, but none of them played a major role, and in fact, I can't even remember the name of Lire's best friend, even though she flitted around just waiting to be needed to support Lire.
Don't get me wrong, the book isn't bad. It's a good start to a new series. The plot is pretty exciting, and the action scenes are well done. And the world building is interesting. Just... smaller doses please.
Overall, I enjoyed it.
January 1, 2016
I enjoyed this book, but was so disappointed reading the teaser to the next book in the series at the end that I may not continue with the series. I vascillate between a 3 and 4 star and tend to agree with many of the 3 star reviews in that the characters needed a bit more strength and passion to their personalities. Lire was a whiney brat one minute then became a strong warrior two sentences later. This happened continuously. It was also difficult to get 100% behind Vince as his actions seemed to go from one extreme to another without much explanation...or at least one shared with the reader. I felt there was a lot of detailed explanation laying the foundation for the whole series. however, the world the author created was varied and interesting and I would like to learn more about it. There seemed to be a couple really interesting angles, Vince's ancient bloodline for one, that I would like to see explored in future novels. However, the combination of Lire being arrested and the distance between Lire and Vince in the teaser for the next book makes me not really interested in reading on through the series. Seems the author is using tired over-used plot lines that I have read so many times I have lost count to move this series along. Why does every couple come together at the end of a book to somehow create severe distance in the space of a few days or weeks between books? If they are that conflicted about being together or what another person brings into your life, then move on. it's the equivalent to 'shit or get off the pot!'
September 27, 2014
I really enjoyed this, and I think(?) I'll go on to the next one, maybe in the near future.
The problem I had with this was approximately half way through it hit the hiccup of a dead zone. It really seized up and lost a lot of momentum, to the extent that I considered ditching it but eventually decided on a mega-skim. It was chugging along so well this was a true disappointment. It did, in the long run, pick up again, but not for a substantial number of chapters.
There were a couple of unexpected leaps which gave the book a new feel and shooting the novel into a new angle. This gave a good lift and left the book heading on to become much more in the fantasy/supernatural realm.
The writing was good including the vocabulary. It was a bit of a leap for me to purchase this novel at $5.99, it was really out of my price range for new author on Amazon. I consider this was a definite loss considering the considerable quality of many independent authors.
I buy plenty of independent authors whom frequently put a first book, often in a series, out for $0 or $1-2.99 and I believe this to be a good technique to garner an audience. I can't get out of the sneaking thought of 'greed' which gives me a definite disincentive.
The problem I had with this was approximately half way through it hit the hiccup of a dead zone. It really seized up and lost a lot of momentum, to the extent that I considered ditching it but eventually decided on a mega-skim. It was chugging along so well this was a true disappointment. It did, in the long run, pick up again, but not for a substantial number of chapters.
There were a couple of unexpected leaps which gave the book a new feel and shooting the novel into a new angle. This gave a good lift and left the book heading on to become much more in the fantasy/supernatural realm.
The writing was good including the vocabulary. It was a bit of a leap for me to purchase this novel at $5.99, it was really out of my price range for new author on Amazon. I consider this was a definite loss considering the considerable quality of many independent authors.
I buy plenty of independent authors whom frequently put a first book, often in a series, out for $0 or $1-2.99 and I believe this to be a good technique to garner an audience. I can't get out of the sneaking thought of 'greed' which gives me a definite disincentive.
June 20, 2015
Ok, I've read this quite awhile ago and I loved this book enough to check up on the author periodically for the sequel, which has finally come out! Yay! I'm currently reading said sequel so I'll keep you updated on that one. I liked Deadly Remains for the heroine, who is intelligent without being plucky or sassy or described as ordinary but never anything but... Well, she's not ordinary, but it's a "psi-world" after all so she's not supposed to be. So she's not the loved by-all type and the romance is thankfully not an instaromance or a wambam-lifemate type of thing. It's the awkward, lovely, embarrassing and sometimes hot kinda love that takes more effort from the author to knit, and I appreciated the heck out of it. I less appreciated the "prophecy" angle (it's out there, but this book isn't about that), cuz I really dislike the spoiler effect of those type of books (kinda takes the mystery out, right?); but the mystery plot murder solving was finely tuned and appropriately horrifying, with a few surprises here and there. Enough so that I immediately bought book 2... Which starts a couple of months after the end of this one and promises many delights, relationship troubles (refreshing!), and another gruesome murder spree...
September 11, 2014
This is a fun interesting read and shows a lot of promise. This author can write well in the urban paranormal genre. The two stars are for the poor editing and the inconsistencies with the main character. One minute she is together, brave and sure and the next she is a hot mess. There was enough action and story for three books and I would have preferred more depth and less action in this first effort. In the end it was too much. Too many threads, too many characters and not enough attention to detail to warrant more then two stars. However, this is a writer to watch. She has great imagination and values. She gives the impression of having so much inside, too many stories to tell, that she is letting it bubble out willy nilly. Stand back when she takes control of that stream and delivers a book that will impress.
March 30, 2016
Slight spoilers!!!
This was more of a corny paranormal book, which is fine if you enjoy lighter storylines. I do, but this was a bit much for me. I couldn't get past the teddy bear companion. It seemed unnecessarily cutesy. It was long, and a lot of scenes seemed like filled and didn't add anything to the plot. My biggest complaint, however, was the villain. In books like these I love trying to guess who the bad guy is, and try to see if I can figure it out before they can. I spent all this time going through the characters trying to see if it would fit only to find out that the villain and the the bad guy group aren't shown or foreshadowed or anything. Just randomly thrown in. That really bothered me. We are introduced to characters and told all about them, but we don't end up seeing them again.
This was more of a corny paranormal book, which is fine if you enjoy lighter storylines. I do, but this was a bit much for me. I couldn't get past the teddy bear companion. It seemed unnecessarily cutesy. It was long, and a lot of scenes seemed like filled and didn't add anything to the plot. My biggest complaint, however, was the villain. In books like these I love trying to guess who the bad guy is, and try to see if I can figure it out before they can. I spent all this time going through the characters trying to see if it would fit only to find out that the villain and the the bad guy group aren't shown or foreshadowed or anything. Just randomly thrown in. That really bothered me. We are introduced to characters and told all about them, but we don't end up seeing them again.
March 27, 2011
Oh lordy, the author can't decide what supernatural types to have in this book, so she just grabs em all. The author has this set in a universe that has a few clunkers that it wants us to swallow and I dont honestly know if I can. Also, an editor is really needed when the book is mixing "their" and "they're" up. As well as "reign" and "rein". And for some strange reason the author seems to write like a guy, Lire is sometimes more like a caricature of a woman, than authentic. Hopefully the author will grow, learn and get better, especially with the narrative. Nope, it just got worse and at the end Lire reads more like a whiny, horny 17 yr old than a functional adult who apparently will have more power than anyone else in the world.
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