The descriptive bit: Wes Cooper is not-quite a ghost, and he’s immortal, oh yeah, and he has a whole bunch of magic almost exploding out of him. He’s keeping that part secret from his vampire, ex-cop, partner, Hudson Rojas. Basically, Toronto is being invaded by ghosts and other creatures from the otherplane and things are getting dangerous.
My thoughts bit: This book was a fun romp through the supernatural realm with one of the best Scooby gangs ever. We and Hudson lead up a team of investigators who originally appeared in the first book of the Not Dead Yet series. There’s Lexi who is a talented witch, Wes who is a baby vampire sired by Hudson, Iskander is Hudson’s business partner and the down-to-earth one of the bunch.
There’s no shortage of action in this story. There’s drama in the ranks because Wes and Hudson are both hiding secrets and the stress of that is wearing on them. New vampire Wes is trying out a relationship but he suffers from depression and it’s really beginning to pull him down. Iskander has been keeping his distance from his Muslim family because his brother-in-law is homophobic and doesn’t want him near.
I loved following Wes as he struggles with his new magical powers. He’s a sweet guy and he’s massively flawed and remarkably honest about it in his own mind. Burke definitely nailed the characterizations in this novel. Even the side characters (although I hate calling them that because they’re amazing) are developed to the point where I cared about all of them. I seriously would read another novel about any of these characters!
Don’t worry if you haven’t read the first book: Not Dead Yet. I hadn’t read the first one and there’s enough exposition at the beginning that you won’t feel left behind. I will tell you that as soon as I finish this review I’m off the find a copy of the first book because I need to know how these wonderful people found each other.
The warnings bit: Please be aware, I’m by no means an expert on what may or may not have the potential to disturb people. I simply list things that I think a reader might want to be aware of. In this book: lots of violence, the killing of supernatural creatures, biting and drawing blood. Some descriptions of death, mention of homophobia.
I received an ARC of Give Up The Ghost by Jenn Burke from HARLEQUIN – Carina Press via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 