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Female private investigators Charmaine and Jessi Joliet track down the claim of a bestselling horror author that his fictional monsters are trying to kill him. Soon enough they’ve got three murders, an annoyed homicide detective demanding answers, and more paranormal shenanigans than these two psychics can count; let alone stop the string of crimes committed by dead folk walking.
New Orleans urban legends come to life. The city is full of spirits hanging around like they own the place. And to top it off, the ghost of Marie Laveau shows up to put in her two cents on what from hell is going on. Charmaine and Jessi have their hands full slapping the lid closed again on the supernatural Pandora’s Box that someone opened.
New Orleans urban legends come to life. The city is full of spirits hanging around like they own the place. And to top it off, the ghost of Marie Laveau shows up to put in her two cents on what from hell is going on. Charmaine and Jessi have their hands full slapping the lid closed again on the supernatural Pandora’s Box that someone opened.
465 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 29, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 24, 2019
We received a copy of this book through Voracious Readers.
I agreed to read and review Dead Ahead by Lynn Emery on spec because I love urban fantasy and a good mystery. I was also intrigued by the setting of New Orleans because there’s a lot of fun to be had with the history of that place. With so much to work with, I was expecting some substantive creativity from the author. Perhaps I expected too much. The Joliet sisters are two paranormal detectives with some psychic abilities of their own. They have a tenuous relationship with the police, and get sucked up into a chain of homicides that have a supernatural flavor. The references to New Orleans’s history, both mystical and otherwise, were a mile wide and an inch deep. The sheer amount of references crowded out any real plot development, and obliterated any possibility of larger themes.
I found the definition of the world to be lacking. Emery never set forth what her particular interpretation of urban fantasy was in this book. Small details were revealed in the course of the narrative, but it seems that the author relied on the reader to bring their own generalities of urban fantasy to fill in the gaps. I don’t understand this because the author could’ve relied on voodoo and other mysticisms that are already prevalent in New Orleans’s history, but any references to these were obligatory at best. In addition, the characterization was, frankly, lazy. (And not without a significant vibe of wish-fulfillment.) Religious characters were only religious in their dialogue, and at inconsistent times. It was almost as if the author forgot that particular character trait for stretches of the novel and then would suddenly remember, and pour it into that character’s dialogue for the next three chapters. Another character relies heavily on science to explain the peculiarities of the supernatural world, but only at times that are convenient for the narrative. Because of these things the book just dragged on. I expected it to be much shorter, perhaps because I assumed that the length would be proportionate to the effort invested.
And there were, disgustingly, an abundance of typos.
I agreed to read and review Dead Ahead by Lynn Emery on spec because I love urban fantasy and a good mystery. I was also intrigued by the setting of New Orleans because there’s a lot of fun to be had with the history of that place. With so much to work with, I was expecting some substantive creativity from the author. Perhaps I expected too much. The Joliet sisters are two paranormal detectives with some psychic abilities of their own. They have a tenuous relationship with the police, and get sucked up into a chain of homicides that have a supernatural flavor. The references to New Orleans’s history, both mystical and otherwise, were a mile wide and an inch deep. The sheer amount of references crowded out any real plot development, and obliterated any possibility of larger themes.
I found the definition of the world to be lacking. Emery never set forth what her particular interpretation of urban fantasy was in this book. Small details were revealed in the course of the narrative, but it seems that the author relied on the reader to bring their own generalities of urban fantasy to fill in the gaps. I don’t understand this because the author could’ve relied on voodoo and other mysticisms that are already prevalent in New Orleans’s history, but any references to these were obligatory at best. In addition, the characterization was, frankly, lazy. (And not without a significant vibe of wish-fulfillment.) Religious characters were only religious in their dialogue, and at inconsistent times. It was almost as if the author forgot that particular character trait for stretches of the novel and then would suddenly remember, and pour it into that character’s dialogue for the next three chapters. Another character relies heavily on science to explain the peculiarities of the supernatural world, but only at times that are convenient for the narrative. Because of these things the book just dragged on. I expected it to be much shorter, perhaps because I assumed that the length would be proportionate to the effort invested.
And there were, disgustingly, an abundance of typos.
May 11, 2019
I received this free for review from Voracious Readers Only.
I read the premise and thought it sounded interesting, and I was not wrong. I'm a big fan of books that are different to anyhing I've read before (which doesn't happen very often) and so this book definitely has this going for it.
From what I understand, this is the fourth book in the series, and as I have not read the previous three and so this may mean that what I'm about to say isn't actually that important.
Jessi and Charmaine's relationship is hilarious, and although Charmaine felt like the main character here Jessi was way more fun. I really wish that we got more Jessi and less Charmaine. Don't get me wrong, I loved Charmaine too, but feel as though her dabbling in religion could've used more explanation, because it's certainly interesting that a psychic investigator would turn to something like traditional religion (not sure if that happens in previous books or not so that could be my own ignorance).
I was a bit confused by the plot at many points - I feel like there was just a lot going on and it possibly wasn't quite executed as well as it could've been -- and in all honesty I'm not entirely sure what actually happened at the end. Part of this could be because the novel seemed very heavily character rather than plot focused, but that could just be my interpretation of things.
In saying all this, I did enjoy the book, and think I may need to read it again to try and figure out what was going on.
I read the premise and thought it sounded interesting, and I was not wrong. I'm a big fan of books that are different to anyhing I've read before (which doesn't happen very often) and so this book definitely has this going for it.
From what I understand, this is the fourth book in the series, and as I have not read the previous three and so this may mean that what I'm about to say isn't actually that important.
Jessi and Charmaine's relationship is hilarious, and although Charmaine felt like the main character here Jessi was way more fun. I really wish that we got more Jessi and less Charmaine. Don't get me wrong, I loved Charmaine too, but feel as though her dabbling in religion could've used more explanation, because it's certainly interesting that a psychic investigator would turn to something like traditional religion (not sure if that happens in previous books or not so that could be my own ignorance).
I was a bit confused by the plot at many points - I feel like there was just a lot going on and it possibly wasn't quite executed as well as it could've been -- and in all honesty I'm not entirely sure what actually happened at the end. Part of this could be because the novel seemed very heavily character rather than plot focused, but that could just be my interpretation of things.
In saying all this, I did enjoy the book, and think I may need to read it again to try and figure out what was going on.
November 16, 2018
I liked the entire premise of the psychic investigators and the storyline was very interesting. I absolutely loved Jessi. She's hilarious. But too many mistakes (spelling, extra words, missing words, etc) made it through the editing process for my liking which made me rate it three stars rather than four.
December 9, 2021
Just finished this book and really enjoyed it! It reminded me a little of the Janet Evanovich books with a supernatural twist. Fun to read, and a good twist at the end! I just realised it's part of a series and I'm excited to read more.
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November 19, 2018I did not think I would get into this thriller but I soon was hooked. I love the way the sisters work together and are so different.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews