97 of 104 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"No Humans Involved" may have been written too fast-but far from being dead this book is a live wire, May 8, 2007
This review is from: No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld, Book 7) (Hardcover)
Like another reviewer on this page, I had my review reported unfit for Amazon by someone and subsequently removed along with all the helpful votes it had earned. This has happened three times now. Whoever is doing this "reporting", please stop. I know the Amazon guidelines very well and this review follows them-if it did not the nice people who run this website wouldn't have allowed it to be posted in the first place. If you have a specific issue to take up with me or my review write a comment attached to my review or email me but please stop trying to delete this review. Amazon reviews works because everyone can post their opinion.
"No Humans Involved" is the turn for Jamie Vegas, our favorite celebrity Necro, to narrate. She was actually a cool choice for a first person speaker because it made the book really different to have a heroine who can't do anything to protect themselves physically. No super strength or wolf-shape like Elena, no spells like Paige or Eve, and definitely no Angel sword. Sometimes this is annoying because Jamie spends a while whining about always having to be rescued, but it a way it's more relatable, because hey, what reader could take on a werewolf or demon and expect to come out alive? Jamie is more human than the others. And she's definitely the funniest narrator yet.
But she's still way not normal. This book takes place on a TV shoot to raise the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, involving Jamie and two television spiritualists (no necro power for them.) At first Jamie thinks this will be a great way to get her own TV show, and Jeremy, the werewolf pack Alpha agreed to come out to LA from New York to visit, raising her hopes for a romantic relationship with him (no, in this book, in the beginning, they are not dating.) But while doing a TV summoning, Jamie comes across some real world ghosts, not that that's weird, they're all over the house, but these are different-she can't see them, or hear them really, but they can touch her. Remembering the situation in "Industrial Magic" (vampire ghost) she decides something must be done and discovers these ghosts are children-something which according to the laws of the underworld shouldn't happen. And they became trapped on earth by humans using magic-with no supernatural blood involved.
So something must be done. Can Jamie find out what humans have discovered the ways of magic, save the ghost kids, do something more than just flirt with Jeremy and manage to pull of this TV show to her advantage? Read the book to find out. It's chopped full of the usual action, adventure, horror, suspense, laughs, nifty trivia about the otherworld and of course, sex. Unfortunately because of the series is finally popular enough, it's only out in hardcover, but it's not a waste of money to buy it now.
With the "Women of The Otherworld" series having officially become large at six books total, the author, I believe, fell pray to a trap that commonly hit popular writers, especially those writing series. Now hitting these pitfalls makes this in no way a bad book, as you will see by reading the rest of this review, but it does mean that sadly, "No Humans Involved" is not as strong as the previous novels in the series.
First of all it's clear it was written too quickly. Normally for Kelley Armstrong this isn't a problem because she can churn out mini-stories on her website that fill in the blanks between books and they're great-but this book has things happen that leave you wondering when the characters planned on doing on that. Like, when did Jamie tell the backyard ghosts about the trapped child ghosts? And when did they decide to help? It never says, and according to Jamie herself, and all the past books, ghosts just aren't very altruistic. In accordance with this parts of the book and the ending just seemed too neat and tidy; it really needed more filling out. There were too many helpful coincidences, escape routes...bla bla, you get the picture.
Also there were some things mentioned about Jamie's past that were like little blips in the book that I would have loved to know more about. It seems like in "Bitten" we got Elena's life story, and we know a lot about Paige, but this book barely scratched Jamie's surface.
Other than that, this was another great book. I do believe we even got introduced to our next narrator, who will take book #8 (when it comes out) on a decidedly dark turn.
I do hate to give a Kelley Armstrong novel anything less than five stars, but this was just written too fast and it didn't have enough depth-still, though for a book with so much to do with death, it's a live wire. So in the end, four stars. Recommended (obviously) but read the others first. We have come to the point in the series where you'll just be lost without starting earlier on.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suspenseful Paranormal With a Touch of Romance, May 8, 2007
This review is from: No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld, Book 7) (Hardcover)
I've read all the books in this series and although Bitten remains my favorite because it offers what I think is the perfect blend of romance and suspense, I've enjoyed every novel Kelley Armstrong puts out. No Humans Involved is very smoothly written and Jamie Vegas, the lead character and narrator, has a wry, intelligent voice that pulls you in from the first page. I definitely got caught up in her trials and tribulations as a necromancer and wanted to see her solve the mystery of the ghosts plaguing her. I also was rooting for her to find love with Jeremy, the Alpha werewolf with whom she's been in love for years.
The plot has already been summarized well by others, so I won't attempt to do so again here. Suffice to say that if you enjoy supernatural suspense with some romance mixed in, you'll like this novel. Also, unlike some series, I think you can read the Women of the Underworld books out of order or as stand alones although, of course, certain moments will resonate better if you have read the other books.
What I Enjoyed: Kelley Armstrong is a talented writer and her prose always flows well. In this book, the writing is particularly strong when Jamie grapples with the pratfalls of being a necromancer (she can't help every ghost and all the chatter from the dead may ultimately contribute to her losing her sanity). I also liked the humor in the scenes where Jamie gets the better of the Hollywood types she works with on her television special.
I've always liked Jeremy and I very much enjoyed the way he and Jamie initially dealt with the complexities of any potentional romantic relationship between them. That said, I thought more time could have been spent on their romance. The sex scenes are a bit more passionate and detailed than those in recent installments, but it's obvious that the romance is secondary to the suspense. I would have liked more romance, but since that's obviously a personal preference, I'm not downgrading my 5-star review. But I would say that if you're someone who likes to read paranormal romance you might feel a bit shortchanged when it comes to Jeremy and Jamie's relationship.
Overall, though, I highly recommend this book. The pace is brisk, the plot tight and the resolution satisfying.
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33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the hardcover price!, May 8, 2007
This review is from: No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld, Book 7) (Hardcover)
I had already written a review for this book and it disappeared. I have no idea why they removed it, for it didn't contain any crucial spoilers, or at least I hadn't mentioned anything that hadn't already been mentioned by other reviewers. I have no idea on what new grounds this site removes reviews, so I won't go into details and just sum this up by saying that No Humans Involved is one of the best installments in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. Jaime Vegas, celebrity necromancer, is a surprisingly splendid heroine. I say "surprisingly" because she had always struck me as flaky in the other books, but she has a great voice of her own and shows complexity and great pathos during some scenes, especially the ones where she deals with the ghosts and spirits. I also love the romantic tension between Jaime and Jeremy, the alpha werewolf of North America. I really enjoyed their scenes together. Overall, I loved this book and look forward to the release of Personal Demon, the next installment.
My one peeve is the hardcover price, but it's worth spending more money on something so entertaining and well written. If you prefer waiting for the paperback, then that is fine, but read this! You will love Jaime Vegas!
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