Customer Reviews

Murder Game

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

First of all, I LOVE the Ghostwalker series - and have loved Kaden in all the other books. This book was no exception. However, I have to ask - did Dr. Whitney give Kaden an extra dose of a "super charged sex hormone attractant"? Christine's books have great romance/love making scenes, however this book was way over the top. As another reader mentioned, I found myself fast-forwarding through the sex scenes to get back to the story. (I can't believe I'd EVER say that.) The plot was great: murder, mystery, suspense, action packed...a very good addition to the Ghostwalker series.

This is the seventh installment in Christine Feehan's GhostWalker series. GhostWalkers are psychically and genetically enhanced Special Forces soldiers who didn't quite understand what they were getting into when they signed on to this "Black Ops" project. Their missions are on a need to know only basis and not the type of missions from which you would expect a soldier to return but these soldiers are in fact the perfect super warriors.

As expected when dealing with such a valuable commodity as a super soldier, powerful individuals who do not have the greater good in mind would do anything to obtain these men and/or the science behind them.

In case you were wondering, yes, these are paranormal romance novels. Each novel is a particular GhostWalker's love story. This is Kadan Montague's love story. Okay men, don't leave just yet. There is plenty of action, machismo, and some of the steamiest love scenes Christine has published to date in this book. Oops, I may have lost the guys with the last part; or maybe not.

I have been anticipating Kadan's story almost from the beginning of this series. He has been an enigma lurking in the background of almost every GhostWalker novel preceding this one and it does not disappoint. This is a man who is considered "one scary individual" by his own teammates. He is a cold blooded killing machine.

Kadan is sent on a mission with which even his fellow GhostWalkers cannot assist because they are all considered suspects in a series of murders. It is up to Kadan to clear them all. He quickly realizes he cannot go it alone so he seeks out a very special woman to help him.

Tansy Meadows has an almost supernatural ability to track serial killers but at a very high personal cost to her health and even her sanity. She tries to avoid human contact whenever possible, which explains her chosen profession of wildlife photography. It allows her a great deal of time away from everyone and everything. Isolation has become a basic requirement for her life to have any possibility of continuing. Now Kadan needs her help. How can she possibly go with him? It might literally kill her in more ways than she initially understands.

I am a reader of all of Christine's novels and from the very first installment of this series, the GhostWalkers became a favorite. Men who are capable of meeting the requirements to become members of the Special Forces are men who are already in a class of their own. I consider them a cut above us average humans and incredibly HOT! Now enhance their psychic and physical abilities and you have MAJOR HOTNESS!

The GhostWalkers premise creates plenty of opportunities for espionage, intrigue, mystery, and adventure. I think that is what has allowed each novel to be so fresh and each story to be strong enough to stand alone. It has been a series that has yet to run out of steam, and Kadan's story is actually one of the more exciting and complex of the series so far.

For those who have never read a GhostWalker novel and are wondering if he or she MUST begin at the beginning. It is not necessary. I would encourage you to read the first book, "Shadow Game", if you can to get a good feel for the beginning, but even that is not necessary. It is, however, definitely more pleasurable. Just read, and enjoy. Snatch up each installment as you can and all the pieces will eventually fall into place.

Dear Kaden,

I have looked forward to your book since Lilly's. You are the enigma, the man who shields not only his friends from danger, but himself from the rest of the world. You are the perfect ghostwalker and man oh man I want you to be mine!!

Your genetic matched mate Tansy started out as a great character but fell two dimensional after only 50 pages. And the sex.... oh man the sex all you two did was have sex, sex, sex oh and how about more sex. Like you meet Tansy... then see her naked... then have sex that night. Her parents are 'kidnapped' and how do you big strong Kaden handle it?? You have sex... again.
Did I mention that this book had a lot of sex? For the sake of not sounding too repetitive I'm going to stop there. The plot was amazing and shouldn't have taken back seat to the sweaty scenes. Christine Feehan is a great writer, she was just too horny while writing this.

Alas Kaden you fall below Jack and Ken now for their books were plot with a little cherry of sex. I hope the next one is as amazing as I dreamed Murder Game would be.

Jessie

The murder game itself was fascinating, and I found myself wishing that the author had spent more time on it. For a plot that lends itself to action, the action of this book got broken up and slowed down by talk and introspection, some of which was rather repetitive. It was fascinating to watch the Ghost Walkers work together, particularly as this is the first Ghost Walker book that I've read.

However, I have one major reservation about this book, something that left a bad taste in my mouth when it was all over. First, let me make one thing clear. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round; I get that. Some folks want to read fantasies about taming the bad boy, bringing the alpha male to heel, or even being submissive to a dominant man; that's their choice. What I don't like is when an author gussies it up as though they have to defend that fantasy and make it "justifiable." And that's how this book comes across, in a really big way. Kadan is extremely domineering, and while Tansy has just enough spine for the author to be able to say, "see? She's a strong woman, really she is" (as Kadan and Tansy insist on pointing out to the reader on a number of occasions), one kiss from Kadan and she becomes "pliant" and "obedient" (yes, words used within a page of one another to describe Tansy's reactions to Kadan).

Kadan might not be physically abusive, but he comes close to it a couple of times. And he does things that most people would NOT consider appropriate in a relationship, such as requiring Tansy to allow him to touch her provocatively in front of other people even when it embarrasses her. And it's somehow supposed to be okay because she can read his mind and knows that he's actually insecure and needy under it all.

Again, if you want to write a dominance/submission story for those people who enjoy such things, go right ahead. But damn well be honest about it--don't dress it up and toss a dozen different justifications at it so you can pretend that isn't what it is. As it is, this book left me with a sour feeling of blatant authorial manipulation of the reader.

My rating would be a 4 for interesting story, plot, and characters, but the above issue left me so annoyed with the book that I had to drop it to a 2.

I found the book in a store a couple of days after Christmas and I was overjoyed to have a new book to read on my Christmas vacation.

For the most part I enjoyed the book. I never thought I would say this but there was too much sex in it (which is why I didn't give it 5 stars). The murder story would be going along just great and then it would be broken up with several pages of sex. Then the story would start up again. It got to the point that I was skimming the sex pages so that I could get back to the story.

The story in brief is that men who should never have been made Ghostwalkers are being controlled by a puppet master and killing people across the country. At each murder scene an ivory chess piece (best way to describe it) is left. The good Ghostwalkers use the ivory pieces to try to figure out who is doing the killing and who is the puppet master.

Now if you are familar with the Ghostwalker series, you will have no problem understanding who's who and everything that is going on. However if this is your first Ghostwalker book, I think you might find it a bit confusing.

Like others I was really anticipating Kadan's story. Even as a secondary character in the other books, he's been strong and likable - until this one. In this one he's basically an out of control jerk. I'm so glad some of the other reviewers also felt there was just too much sex. I was worried I maybe had just been reading too much in this genre that I was building up a tolerance. But it's just gratuitous in this book - way over the top. Even the way Feehan writes the sex scenes in Murder Game is weird (she actually uses words like vaginal walls and cervix in the 'romance' scenes). It's like she's written so many sex scenes into this book she ran out of ways to describe it other than clinically. I gave it two stars only because of the non-romance plot was interesting, and there is a lot of play for the Ghostwalkers working as a team which is absent in some of the other books. Poor Kadan though, Feehan really let him down.

Murders are happening along the coasts, and Kadan has been ordered to find out who, why, and stop them. He's also ordered to keep it under wraps - no one on his team is allowed to know what's going on. For the murders are suspicious - whoever is doing it, is getting in and out in a flash, no witnesses, no evidence, nothing. They're being made to look like it's the GhostWalkers. Someone high up has always wanted them gone. Now they're being threatened - a force wants them wiped out, and Kadan refuses to go down without a fight.

There's only one person he can ask for help, and he needs to find her quick. One of many of Lily's "sisters", Tansy is one of enhanced girls. As a child, she'd helped the police and the FBI catch murderers with her enhanced gifts. There's only one draw-back - the voices of the victims, of the murderers, stay in her head. Whitney had taken away her defenses and she can't block them. After the last episode, she'd spent a long time in a hospital until she believed her mental stability would allow her to function.

Now, up in the Sierras, she's working her freelance job, getting pictures for National Geographic. And that's where Kadan finds her. But when he sees her, his body reacts, instantly. He knows that the enhancing Whitney did included being paired with Tansy, but what he feels is deeper; quickly, to him, Tansy is home. She sees a side of him that not even his closest friends, the other GhostWalkers, have seen.

Together, in their struggle, they track down the murderers and who is running the game. Only, he's a `hunter', and a `dreamwalker', exactly like Tansy. Stopping him just got a lot more complicated.

And I so loved this book! I don't think there is one GhostWalker novel that's left me disappointed. I waited long enough for Kadan's story. Kadan, who always seemed so cold, distant, ice in his veins.

I can tell you, he met his match with Tansy. She's a strong woman, determined, like a bulldog who won't let go once she sinks her teeth into something, no matter the cost to her. Unless it's sex, she's not pushover. She stands up to Kadan, like he's never seen anyone do, and he loves her all the more for it.

I think, though, that I'd like to see the next woman be able to stand up a little stronger, to be able to push back when it comes to the sex. They constantly melt and agree to anything - I'd like to see the tables turned, and for at least one of the woman to be able to resist it.

What I really liked, the best parts, where when I busted a gut laughing at something the characters did or said. Kadan, the man with ice in his veins, was being teased, and I laughed my a** off. When that recording started playing in the car, I burst out laughing even as Tansy did. Listening to the banter between the men... all the while they're taking out the bad guys, which is supposed to be serious, and the banter between them had me laughing so hard, I had tears! That, IMO, was THE best parts of the book.

Perfect story, plot, characters, ending... the action was superb, the sex scenes tender as much as they are intense,the twists... OMG, the twists! You find out who's involved in what and it's actually a shock!

Excellent! And I can't wait for the next!

First of all, Ghostwalkers is not my favorite series Christine Feehan has given out, but this book must be one of my fav books she has released in last few years. It really was the best in the series. There was a lot of sex scenes, but hey, thats one of the reasons we love her, right? And the plot is truly gripping.
SPOLIER ALERT!
Someone (a Ghostwalker) is killing ppl in east and west coast. Every time a game piece is left behind which makes Tansy believe there are total of 8 'players' in this deadly game. Ghostwalkers have to figure out who are those players, and who is their puppetmaster.

You just can't get better then C. Feehan.

I had a really hard time getting through this book. Usually I will sit down and read a book cover to cover with as few small breaks as possible but this book took several days for me to finish. The long breaks in between were almost mandatory, it was like my brain could only take so much angst and emo before finally screaming help at which time I would hurl the book across the room to pick up later.

But even with all that I enjoyed it while I read it. I know it doesn't make any sense. But I guess to sum all that up in small doses I really liked the book but if I had made myself read it cover to cover I might have gone insane.

My problems were the extremes: Kadan with no emotion, Tansy with way too much emotion. Now Kadan I could live with, he was a little Gamma but more because he couldn't feel emotions, not because he was a jerk. Tansy, on the other hand, I had MAJOR issues with. People in the book kept telling me how strong she is but I just didn't see it AT ALL. And the TSTL (too stupid to live) moment when she sliced her leg open... well I wanted to personally knock her upside the head.

She's on the edge of sanity and yet she thinks NOW would be good time to start a seriously intense relationship with a guy she's known five seconds? That was just too unbelievable for me. I really felt both characters would have benefited from some one-on-one time with a psychiatrist.

The sub-plot was really good and very engaging, and I think that's what pulled me back to the book even though I disliked Tansy.

I'm still not sure if I liked or hated this book so I'm going down the middle with my rating. It's worth the read if you have read the previous GhostWalkers books but on its own I think I would have said "Thanks but no thanks." and moved on to something else.

I've been a fan of Christine Feehan for a rather long time and enough is enough. Kaden was my favorite character and she destroyed him. This series doesn't seem to be going anywhere and I don't even understand where this book was supposed to be taking us. This wouldn't bother me except Feehan's writing isn't good enough to pull this off especially since she keeps trying to connect each book with one main plot point. There was practically no plot but Kaden constantly making it clear to Tansy that she was his and he'll touch her whenever wherever even if she doesn't want him too. He actually does that to her in front of people from his unit that she doesn't know, and he can't understand why she'd want him not to.

This book was 464 pages of almost NO PLOT and constant not so well done sex. Enough already. I won't be purchasing anymore books by Feehan besides the seven sisters last book (though knowing Feehan we'll probably find out that there are more books in the series, probably with Ilya's brothers...) and I'll go to the library for the carphantian series. Other than that I'm done with her.