Customer Reviews

Embrace the Grim Reaper (Library Binder)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The accident left her husband and their son dead; no one can figure out how Casey Maldonado survived with many believing it was divine intervention. Casey knows how because after Pegasus Car Company settled, she fled her family, friends, lawyers, strangers and media whose constant refrain was to demand more. Her traveling companion knows why she lives; Death using human forms when he deems to appear explains to her that "life" should prove much more interesting riding around with someone suffering from survivor guilt.

Casey stops in Clymer, Ohio though is unsure why except Death pushes her there as this town is no different than the others she has recently seen. It is on the verge of collapse as its only industry HomeMaker is leaving for Mexico. Casey follows her nose to the Home Sweet Home soup kitchen where she offers to serve. Usually optimistic Eric Jones nee VanDienbos accepts her offer even as he and most of the townsfolk are depressed, grieving the alleged suicide of his girlfriend Ellen Schneider. No one who knew the single mom believes she killed herself. Casey, encouraged by B&B owners Lillian and Rosemary and guided in an enigmatic way by Death, investigates with clues leading her to HomeMaker where Ellen worked.

EMBRACE THE GRIM REAPER is a fascinating paranormal amateur sleuth tale starring an intriguing lead female struggling with grief and guilt and her more interesting traveling companion Death who surfaces at odd moments in differing persona. The story line is fast-paced from the opening when Death explains why Casey lives and never slows down as she investigates Ellen's death. Although the violent climax comes as a shocker, urban fantasy mystery fans will enjoy Judy Clemens' departure from her Pennsylvania dairy farmer Stella Crown "normal" amateur sleuth series.

Harriet Klausner

Thoughts of "Tires screeching, the world spinning, metal rending" reverberate through Casey's mind, the lone survivor of a horrific automobile accident that has left her husband and young son dead. Wrestling with anguish and more than a little guilt for having survived and settled a claim with the automaker, Casey hits the road, verbally sparing with her alternatingly annoying and endearing sidekick Death who insinuates himself into her reality at inopportune moments.

Their travels quickly lead them to Clymer, Ohio -- a down-on-its-luck yet quaint rural town -- where the HomeMaker appliance plant in shutting down, leaving most of the residents with nothing but unemployment along with the apparent suicide of Ellen, a single mother of two children. With characters left over from the set of Lake Wobegon, and the plot moving along at a leisurely pace, there's nothing, aside from two sinister strangers and innuendo, to keep the reader from settling into a comfortable yarn with, perhaps, a moral lurking just around the corner.

Don't relax.

Just as I did, the story hit me like a hapkido kick in the chest. In attempting to find the real mystery behind Ellen's apparent suicide, Casey eventually finds herself face-to-face with two guns and two crazy people. With only a few pages left, the odds don't look good for Casey.

Okay, it could be argued that the story takes a few far-fetched turns, but that's what makes fiction fun. If Janet Evanovich can get away with it, why not Judy Clemens? This enjoyable read pulled me in with its leisurely descriptions, zany characters, and clever dialogue. The short chapters enticed me to read just one more. Long before the last page, I was ready to "Embrace the Grim Reaper" and hitch a ride with both Casey and Death to wherever their travels might lead.

I really wanted to like this first book in a (so far) two book series. The "Death [a woman!] as sidekick" device is intriguing, with lots of future potential. However, I'm afraid I'm not going to be reading any further in this series, and it's because of what I've come to call the "Anna Pigeon Syndrome". Casey Maldanado, the heroine of the Grim Reaper series, and Anna Pigeon, the heroine of Nevada Barr's mysteries (as wonderfully written as they are, I've given up on them, too) share the complete improbability of being able to (at least once per book) get beaten to a pulp and not only live through it, but have enough charge left in their batteries to some how do in the bad guys. In fact, even after Casey gets smashed in the head, kicked in the kidneys, arm almost broken, and slashed in the shoulder with a knife (all in the same episode), she overcomes TWO heavy-duty bad guys, runs all over a small towm, jumps over fences, hides, climbs, and then engages in a little (almost) whoopee-making. Excuse me, but the woman would be in shock - from the blood loss, at least, if not the pounding she's just taken. I like fantasy just fine, but the premise of this book (other than the real live Grim Reaper, of course) is that it is real life. Superhero Casey is not real life. (Also, I thought that naming the flawed vehicle that killed her husband and son a "Pegasus" and making it a hybrid was a bit too close to taking a cheap shot at the Toyota Prius.)

Judy Clemens is a true professional and a master of her craft. This novel reads to two levels. There is the low key mystery of Clymer Ohio and the closing of the largest business in the town and the sad effects of this and all the related sub stories that accompany it. On the other level is the tragic , heart breaking story of Casy, her husband and infant child killed in a car crash and she so horribly injured that her wounds both physical and emotional take an exceptional time to begin to heal. This is an enthralling novel full of tragic emotions and anger at the things people will do for money. Also I need to mention that Carey has a companion in all of this. His name is death and he talks to Carey about what is going on around her as she travels from town to town. Casey talks to death and asks him why he did not take her at the time of the accident and death tells her I could have taken you that day but this is more interesting. There is a suicide in the town that Casey fells is not suicide and while she settles in at the B&B and helps out atthe soup kitchen and works with the local theater group she realizes that the undercurrents in this town are very dark and evil.

When I picked up Embrace the Grim Reaper, I expected it to be a little more... fantasy? urban fantasy? Something like this, from the description.

In actuality, it's pretty much a straightforward mystery, with the occasional appearance of Death (who may or may not be imaginary, although others being able to see him too implies he's not only in Casey's head) being the only supernatural element about it.

Fortunately for me, I like straightforward mysteries. And somehow Embrace the Grim Reaper won me over quite soon. No, it's not perfect; occasionally I had a really hard time suspending my disbelief over some characters' actions and how fast everything happened; many of the supporting characters felt flat; there wasn't enough Death. Not enough Death by far, really, as I came to like him very quickly, even if he didn't actually do much.

One thing I appreciated about this book was the lack of infodumps and bad exposition. Casey's backstory for example was only hinted at, at first; we found out what had happened only in little bits and pieces throughout the book and for me, that worked very well.

I'm already eyeing the next book in this series, so I'll expect I'll be reading more about the adventures of Casey and Death.

Embrace the Reaper is part of a trilogy of novels (so far at the time of this review, it could even be more in the future) by Judy Clemens. The novel doesn't actually end, you've got to buy The Grim Reaper's Dance to know if the various parties after Casey catch up with her, as literally the last pages of this novel are her fleeing with them all chasing. The only thing missing is a voiceover, will Casey make it, will those after her catch up, tune in next week.... That's the only thing that's wrong with this great story, and all this would have been fine if the fact the story isn't a standalone read was mentioned on the cover. It's a bit unethical after customers have invested financially and emotionally by getting engrossed in the plot to make them buy more books, instead of wrapping up this story then starting the next with the same main character (or characters if you include Death and some towns people).

It is more than worthwhile buying the series though. Casey Maldonado is one of the best written female lead characters I've come across. Death, isn't really essential to the plot, in fact he plays no part in doing anything other than to annoy Casey by his presence and to play tricks on others such as making them feel really cold. Most of the time he's just sitting around eating a leg of chicken or something. He sort of reminded me of The Cat in the Hat. In fact the town of Clymer, Ohio's setting sort of has a Dr Seuss vibe and with Rosemary and Lillian, the two women Casey stays with, resembling the sisters Vivian and Lily from Pushing Daisies, this book has a really surreal and likable vibe going.

Basic plot of Embrace the Grim Reaper follows Casey, on the run from pursuers, she's distraught from having survived a car accident and wants her companion Death, to take her too. He refuses and why he's hanging around isn't really explained, nor is why Casey is one the run, hitching rides from truck stop to truck stop. She never stays with the ride for too long, to maximise the difficulties those after her will have in tracking her down. It is a tiny town with one main employer, where Casey decides to stay awhile after volunteering at the local soup kitchen. She's learnt that a woman named Ellen who Eric, the guy running the kitchen was dating, has died. The official word is suicide but with Ellen by all accounts being pretty happy, and having a young family to live for (the very thing taken away from Casey), she doesn't believe Ellen died by her own hand. Casey wants to get to clear her name for the children's sake, with professional acting skills, a black belt in hapkido (some sort of Karate/Judo type thing) and a strong bond to Eric, she's sticking around town until she's done just that. Unfortunately a local policeman keeps giving the hint she should move on, and those pursuing her before she got to town, are still doing so.

A great story, and I will definitely be checking out The Grim Reapers Dance and Flowers for Her Grave. The publishers though should have mentioned this wasn't a standalone storyline or even complete storyline novel on the cover though.

Casey Maldonado's husband and baby son were killed in a fiery car explosion in which she was thrown free. As a result, she received a large sum from the car manufacturer, but she has no desire to remain living. She takes off, just roaming around, using an alias, Casey Smith, accompanied, no less, by The Grim Reaper, with whom she carries on conversations. (She can actually see Death, begging her - for it is a woman - to take her and reunite her with her loved ones. To no avail.)

Among her wanderings, she finds herself in a little town in Ohio, where the only employer is closing the plant and moving to Mexico, leaving hundreds of unemployed behind. She becomes involved with a group of thespians putting on a Shakespearean play and close to the leading man. She learns that his lover had recently died of an overdose, said to be a suicide. But there are doubts, giving the basis for solving a murder mystery.

The basic plot is believable, and the writing is fine. However, the improbable use of the interplay throughout between Casey and The Grim Reaper was to this reader artificial and improbable. However, as light reading, the novel is enjoyable despite what was for me a shortcoming. (It would appear that this might be the start of a new series.)