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Kilhaven Police #4
Deep Shift
Kilhaven has officially gone to shift.
Four years have passed since Officers Norman Green and Heather Valance got lucky on their bloody raid, and the world isn’t exactly a better place for it.
Kilhaven’s murder rates have skyrocketed.
Police recruitment is scraping from the bottom of the swamp.
An unofficial war between werewolves and vampires has reached a fever pitch.
And Green wants nothing to do with it, even if it is all his fault.
But an unexpected visitor is about to change everything…
With newfound skin in the game, Officer Green catches the scent of conspiracy, one that wafts from deep in Kilhaven’s high society. So deep, those who sense it within the department are too scared to speak a word of it to others, even those they trust the most…
Innocent lives may be at stake, but Green can’t follow this trail on his own and hope to survive it. Unfortunately, the one person who could help him is also the one woman who got him—and all of Kilhaven—into this mess in the first place…
Can Green and Valance team up once more without making a shifty situation even shiftier?
Four years have passed since Officers Norman Green and Heather Valance got lucky on their bloody raid, and the world isn’t exactly a better place for it.
Kilhaven’s murder rates have skyrocketed.
Police recruitment is scraping from the bottom of the swamp.
An unofficial war between werewolves and vampires has reached a fever pitch.
And Green wants nothing to do with it, even if it is all his fault.
But an unexpected visitor is about to change everything…
With newfound skin in the game, Officer Green catches the scent of conspiracy, one that wafts from deep in Kilhaven’s high society. So deep, those who sense it within the department are too scared to speak a word of it to others, even those they trust the most…
Innocent lives may be at stake, but Green can’t follow this trail on his own and hope to survive it. Unfortunately, the one person who could help him is also the one woman who got him—and all of Kilhaven—into this mess in the first place…
Can Green and Valance team up once more without making a shifty situation even shiftier?
- GenresUrban Fantasy
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 13, 2020
9 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 6, 2022
This book takes place 4 years after the conclusion of “Shift Out Of Luck,” the third book in the series. Norman Green is back, promoted to Senior Officer. Heather Valance has moved out of the Fang Sector and into the seemingly more sedate Alpha Sector. Bannockburn, Brooks et. al have moved on as well, into Robbery and Vice.
Despite the personnel changes, things aren’t much different. Vampires still run rampant, and drainings have increased. Conspiracies- is something really a conspiracy theory if it turns out to be true? - abound, and, as usual, the top brass of the police don’t want to know about any of it, leaving it to Norman, Valance and company to try to do something about it.
This book is, perhaps, a little less humorous than the last 2 in the series. There is still quite a lot of humor, some of it darkish, but a lot centered around Norman’s flaws and human foibles (and less around his flaws as a police officer, which accounted for more of the humor in the first 3 books). In this book, Norman has the extra responsibility of taking care of his 14 year-old Shifter sister, Kim. Of course, he has no idea how to do that, and that not only accounts for a lot of the humor, but also gives the book a certain sweetness, though it is thankfully far from saccharine or maudlin.
Loyalty is a big theme in the book. Norman is loyal to Kim, and to his Kilhaven police co-horts and fellow “conspirators.” And they to him. As on the other books, talk about, and the practice of, “creaturism” is a not-so-subtle poke at racism. And there is more of a critical eye turned towards religion - members of the Draculean Church play a big part in the novel - as a negative/brainwashing influence, echoing a theme from the author’s Jessica Christ books.
From a story perspective, this might be the best book of the series - and the others were very good! It moves at a fast pace, has a good, straightforward-but-not-too-simple plot, uses humor along the way, and has a realistic humanist feel to it (despite being a book filled with paranormal were-wolves/animals, shape shifters, cherubs, vampires, and the occasional demi-god). Maybe that very juxtaposition is what makes it so good.
Despite the personnel changes, things aren’t much different. Vampires still run rampant, and drainings have increased. Conspiracies- is something really a conspiracy theory if it turns out to be true? - abound, and, as usual, the top brass of the police don’t want to know about any of it, leaving it to Norman, Valance and company to try to do something about it.
This book is, perhaps, a little less humorous than the last 2 in the series. There is still quite a lot of humor, some of it darkish, but a lot centered around Norman’s flaws and human foibles (and less around his flaws as a police officer, which accounted for more of the humor in the first 3 books). In this book, Norman has the extra responsibility of taking care of his 14 year-old Shifter sister, Kim. Of course, he has no idea how to do that, and that not only accounts for a lot of the humor, but also gives the book a certain sweetness, though it is thankfully far from saccharine or maudlin.
Loyalty is a big theme in the book. Norman is loyal to Kim, and to his Kilhaven police co-horts and fellow “conspirators.” And they to him. As on the other books, talk about, and the practice of, “creaturism” is a not-so-subtle poke at racism. And there is more of a critical eye turned towards religion - members of the Draculean Church play a big part in the novel - as a negative/brainwashing influence, echoing a theme from the author’s Jessica Christ books.
From a story perspective, this might be the best book of the series - and the others were very good! It moves at a fast pace, has a good, straightforward-but-not-too-simple plot, uses humor along the way, and has a realistic humanist feel to it (despite being a book filled with paranormal were-wolves/animals, shape shifters, cherubs, vampires, and the occasional demi-god). Maybe that very juxtaposition is what makes it so good.
December 18, 2021
Deep Shift by Brock Bloodworth and H. Clair Taylor is the 4th book in the Kilhaven Police series. And though I wouldn’t typically read, review, or recommend a series that’d I’d describe as a humor-driven, paranormal police procedural, the novels so far have proven to me that there are stories I’m overlooking that are well suited for me.
A few years after the events of book 3, Officer Norman Green comes home to find his kid sister at his apartment after running away from home and her shifter-ist parents. With a dangerous career as a police officer, the last thing Green is prepared to handle is a teenage girl. But his sister’s arrival leads him to something that rubs his instincts the wrong way: a string of child disappearances with no missing person reports. There’s something amiss, and it has led Green to the last miss he wants to run into: Heather Valance.
What can I say? The series has gripped me. Not only is each book the perfect length to help break up longer reads, but the humor of each novel is also a fantastic respite from the more serious reads I most often frequent.
I wasn’t sure where the series would go after book 3, but I knew there were so many more secrets and mysteries in this world that Bloodworth and Taylor could explore. And explore they did. The world they’ve built only continues to expand, and it’s done so effortlessly that you don’t miss a beat.
Trust me. Stop what you’re doing and give this series a try. Thank me later.
*Full Disclosure — I work for the publisher, but I wasn't paid to review this book. While this is an honest review, I was involved in the production of the audiobook, but I make no profits from sales of this title.*
A few years after the events of book 3, Officer Norman Green comes home to find his kid sister at his apartment after running away from home and her shifter-ist parents. With a dangerous career as a police officer, the last thing Green is prepared to handle is a teenage girl. But his sister’s arrival leads him to something that rubs his instincts the wrong way: a string of child disappearances with no missing person reports. There’s something amiss, and it has led Green to the last miss he wants to run into: Heather Valance.
What can I say? The series has gripped me. Not only is each book the perfect length to help break up longer reads, but the humor of each novel is also a fantastic respite from the more serious reads I most often frequent.
I wasn’t sure where the series would go after book 3, but I knew there were so many more secrets and mysteries in this world that Bloodworth and Taylor could explore. And explore they did. The world they’ve built only continues to expand, and it’s done so effortlessly that you don’t miss a beat.
Trust me. Stop what you’re doing and give this series a try. Thank me later.
*Full Disclosure — I work for the publisher, but I wasn't paid to review this book. While this is an honest review, I was involved in the production of the audiobook, but I make no profits from sales of this title.*
September 13, 2022
What a fantastic episode of Green’s policing story.
The witty and light-hearted writing makes it a pleasure to read and there is always a paragraph or section of banter to smile or chuckle at.
Because of the very readable style, Bloodworth/Taylor also manages to slip in some really profound monologues and shares some pretty deep wisdom without it feeling forced.
All-in-all, the humour and Bloodworth/Taylor’s incredible skill at creating readability allow the story to run at a decent pace, making it a real page-turner. The seamless shoe-horning in of the weirder and weirder juxtapositions, the quirky characters and the increasingly incredulous plot make for a cracking read. By the time you’re getting into the story, none of it seems odd at all, such is the preposterous believability of the world Bloodworth/Taylor have created.
A very enjoyable journey that leaves you thoroughly fulfilled but still wanting a little bit more!
The witty and light-hearted writing makes it a pleasure to read and there is always a paragraph or section of banter to smile or chuckle at.
Because of the very readable style, Bloodworth/Taylor also manages to slip in some really profound monologues and shares some pretty deep wisdom without it feeling forced.
All-in-all, the humour and Bloodworth/Taylor’s incredible skill at creating readability allow the story to run at a decent pace, making it a real page-turner. The seamless shoe-horning in of the weirder and weirder juxtapositions, the quirky characters and the increasingly incredulous plot make for a cracking read. By the time you’re getting into the story, none of it seems odd at all, such is the preposterous believability of the world Bloodworth/Taylor have created.
A very enjoyable journey that leaves you thoroughly fulfilled but still wanting a little bit more!
August 4, 2021
The first book in the series had me laughing on a regular basis. This last installment has a little bit of that humor but mostly the story is pure action-packed police procedural. And it really works well. Brock and H do a great job of advancing the series' metaplot while keeping the action grounded in the immediate experiences of the series' characters and I basically ignored all my responsibilities for half a day while I read and read and read.
June 15, 2023
Good series
Following Officer Norman Green from rookie to detective has been a hoot. How can a human be accepted to a police force full of werewolves and shifters and end up a detective. You have to read the books to see how it happens. Lots of craziness along the way.
Following Officer Norman Green from rookie to detective has been a hoot. How can a human be accepted to a police force full of werewolves and shifters and end up a detective. You have to read the books to see how it happens. Lots of craziness along the way.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews