Customer Reviews

Poltergeist (Greywalker, Book 2)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Second in the Harper Blaine "Greywalker" paranormal series, featuring a young woman P.I. who died for two minutes and since that time is able to walk the world that exists between the living and the dead, known as "the Grey." In this book, Harper is hired by a college professor who is running experiments to see if the collective minds of a group of people can make their own poltergeist. He wants her to figure out whom, if anyone, is faking some phenomenon that have begun to crop up, or else authenticate that the experiment has worked and is valid. When one of the participants of the group ends up dead--beaten and mangled--in his apartment, Harper sets out to find whether the energy entity that has become Celia, the poltergeist, did Mark in or whether he was killed by someone all too human.

I enjoyed this book a lot; I wish we had the option of giving half-stars here at Amazon, as I'd give it four-and-a-half. It certainly did have an interesting premise and storyline, though it did take me a good 50 pages to really get sucked in to the story. The only downfall for me is that Harper still feels somewhat "dry" to me--even though we learn more *about* her, what she likes, dislikes, what's important to her, we haven't yet really been shown who she is...the messy parts, the 'soul' of Harper seem to be sitting there just beyond our grasp. It's hard to explain just what I mean. Still, this is a series I enjoy and I am defintely looking forward to the next one, and hope to get to know Harper even better next time around.

One thing I really appreciate is that there isn't a bunch of gratuitous sex and continual sexual tension between Harper and every male she encounters like in some paranormal books. I mean, after all, if I want romance and erotica, I'll read books from those genres!

Just two minutes can change your life.

Private investigator, Harper Blaine, was viciously attacked and died for a very short time before the doctors revived her.

Or did they completely? Now, Harper sees dead people--or more specifically denizens of the Grey: ghosts, vampires, and such. She can also move in the Grey, their realm. Her previously mundane practice is now filled with clients seeking solutions to supernatural problems. Harper is doing her best to help despite having to proceed very cautiously while she learns about the Grey.

Near Halloween, Harper's approached by Dr, Gartner Tuckman, an abnormal psychologist from fictionalized Pacific Northwest University (PNU). Tuckman and his cohort are attempting to re-create the "Philip experiment," a 1970's psychokinesis study conducted by the Toronto Society for Psychical Research. In this study, Canadian researchers attempted to get a group of subjects to create a poltergeist based upon a fictional character "Philip". The group was able to produce several psychokinetic effects, including moving a table, etc. The experiment demonstrated that a group of subjects' concentrated attention could create a psychokinetic event. (See links below)

The problem with Tuckman's experiment is that the Celia, the poltergeist his subjects have conjured, has very high PK resonance and he's afraid that one of his assistants is somehow tampering with the setup. Worse, Celia shows signs of being dangerous.

Within hours of Harper's involvement, one of Tuckman's assistants is killed by what could be a psychokinetic force. Harper's in a race to figure out how to use her novice knowledge of the Grey to find the killer and disband the psychokinetic energies before someone else is hurt.

"Poltergeist" is a fascinating fictionalized look into the actual world of the paranormal. The storyline was riveting and well-plotted. Richardson lays out the clues for you in a journalistic fashion, which provides the clues a reader needs to solve the case.

I'm also enjoying how much Harper Blaine and company have developed. Her supporting cast: including techno-wizard, Quentin; vampire, Carlos; and Grey consultants, Ben and Mara Danzinger, are all interesting and well worth seeing them return.

Also, Ms. Richardson has spent a lot of time thinking out her magic system and how Harper's awareness of the Grey will grow with each time she walks within it.

The reason for the .5 star deduction was how slowly the novel started. At one time, I attended a mystery writing workshop conducted by a published author of more than 50 books (at that time). He advised that your protagonist needs to find the body within the first 20 pages, preferably 10, or the reader will get lost. "Poltergeist" really didn't get started for me til page 41. I probably would have inserted death and danger a lot sooner into the book than Ms. Richardson did.

I usually do not comment on others' reviews; however, Don D'Ammassa likens this series to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake. My concern in this matter is that some readers who have stopped reading Ms. Hamilton will be put off by the comparison. The "Greywalker" series has limited erotic content and the violence is kept to a necessary level. I could even recommend these books to a literate and intelligent young adult reader without fear of parental wrath.

I believe Harper Blaine is much closer to Tanya Huff's Victory Nelson of the "Blood Books," which actually were the first female supernatural detective novels to my knowledge.

[...]

Poltergeist, by Kat Richardson, is the sequel to Greywalker.

Private Investigator, Harper Blaine has been hired to investigate a psychological experiment where the participants have supposedly created a poltergeist. With just the power of their minds. Since the phenomena have been suspiciously over-the-top, Dr. Tuckman believes that one of the participants is somehow tampering with the equipment and somehow fabricating the phenomena. But when a student is maliciously murdered, Harper discovers that each one of the participants have secrets, as well as Tuckman. And one of them is a psychopathic killer.

While I'm not really interested in the paranormal, Richardson is a truly talented writer that pulls me into the story. Each of the characters is unique and fun. Some of my favorites from Greywalker are back, and Harper's long-distance relationship becomes predictably strained.

Of course, when a story involved poltergeist and unexplained phenomena, the story is going to be suspenseful. But I think I would have enjoyed this book even if it just revolved around the character interaction. From Harper's reaction to a rambunctious child to her dealings with the vampire Carlos, whether I can relate or not, I'm hooked.

I expected so much more for Richardson's sophomore book. Greywalker had a unique premise and when this was coupled with the fact that it was her first book I enjoyed it quite a bit. Poltergeist, on the other hand, did not live up to my expectations for the expected improvement in writing coupled with the storyline.

The storyline was stretched and thin, as though a short story was forced into a book. Add to that all the interesting parts from the first book were virtually missing, leaving this read a semi dull read.

Additionally, and I didn't notice this too much in Greywalker, although it was probably there as well, Richardson's writing was flat and lifeless. At times it felt as though she was talking/writing at the reader, rather than the reader becoming involved and invested in the characters.

Not sure if I will read Richardson's next one in the series when it comes out.

2.5 stars.

I'm giving it two stars because there was nothing outright offensive. But neither was there anything in this book to recommend it.

I found "Greywalker," the first book in the series, somewhat disappointing in that the lead character was a little too much of a thinly-disguised Mary Sue, but I thought that the second book might have smoothed out the original's problems. After all, how could anyone fail with a premise as interesting as the one here? A tough, sexy woman with a unique paranormal power, contacts among the city's supernatural residents, and a successful business as a private investigator? Apparently, failure is all too easy - it just takes bad writing.

Unlike the first book, "Poltergeist" does not show Harper Blaine with any clients other than her primary one. Nor is there anything significant going on in her personal life. Consequently, it is structured with very little complexity or depth. This plot may have been appropriate for a good short story, but a 349-page book needs a sub-plot or two to justify its length.

Of the potentially interesting characters introduced in the first book, only Carlos, Quentin and the Danzigers make any real appearance, and they are all shallow versions of their earlier selves. The odd quirks that made Quintin so interesting (like having no apparent address, or his unsurprised acceptance of Harper's vampire client) are absent this time. Carlos, who before was so terrifying as the dangerous necromancer, is now just a vaguely sinister source of background information. And the Danzigers have become little more than providers of exposition and sounding boards for long, tedious speculation on the nature of the "Grey," the supernatural realm in-between life and death. Due to actions that took place in the first book Harper is able to travel in the Grey, although she does it so seldom and to such little advantage that the reader is left impatient and frustrated with a plot already much too slow.)

Some new characters are introduced: Phoebe, a book store owner with a thick West Indian accent that's even more painfully inauthentic than Mara Danziger's Irish one. Solis, a police detective friend of Harper's who isn't given much development but who could prove interesting in later stories. And the Danziger's toddler son Brian, whose chief function seems to be bringing what little momentum the story has to a screeching halt by repeatedly interrupting discussions that are already moving far too slowly. The scenes with Brian and a later scene with other children serve another function, and that is to prove that Kat Richardson really shouldn't write any more dialog for children. There was one new character (Frankie) who grabbed and kept the reader's attention, but the reader's relief at finally meeting someone interesting was cancelled out by the catty way Harper's narration first described her.

A large part of the book describes a series of interviews Harper conducts with members of a research group, setting up a pattern that repeats over and over and over and over: Harper meets group member, makes some halfway-nasty mental observations about them, interviews the unrealistically happy-to-cooperate-with-a-total-stranger subject, and leaves without learning much. In an story already nearly devoid of complexity, this repetition takes a plot element requiring five pages or so and pads it out to almost eighty.

The book could still have been saved if the narrator was entertaining or compelling, but Harper Blaine is neither. She is tough and more than competent, but she doesn't really demonstrate this until about 200 pages in. She uses her special power so little that it is almost superfluous. She never says anything memorably witty or humorous. And her descriptions of the people she's interviewing can be unpleasantly condescending. We all got enough of that in high school, thank you.

In sum: an boringly simple plot that takes much too long to go anywhere, shallow characters, and a narrator who isn't someone I'd be particularly interested in knowing. Hopefully, the storytelling gets better and Richardson's writing improves in the subsequent books in the series, but I'm not planning on reading them. I've already wasted enough time on the first two.

Poltergeist picks up a few months after the end of Greywalker. Harper is now more in control of her ability to see into the Grey, but she still hasn't perfected it. With no other Greywalkers to talk to she has to rely on the advice of her friend Mara, and more riskily, the knowledge of Carlos the vampire. Her latest case sees her investigating a University research group who have created an artificial poltergeist. When one of the group is murdered Harper decides to find out who is responsible.

As Poltergeist builds on the story started in Greywalker, I think it's best if you read Book 1 of the series first. Although the mystery part of the story is pretty much standalone, Harper's ongoing arc and interactions with several characters continue from the previous book.

One of the things I like about the Greywalker series is that it isn't obvious where the story is going. I've watched that many episodes of CSI that it's rare for something to surprise me. But Kat Richardson manages to keep her plots intriguing. In the end, the mystery wasn't that mysterious, but all the other stuff that happened along the way, more than made up for it. The fact that while you're reading the story you're completely immersed in Harper's world.

Harper's life doesn't just stop because she has a case. She's also trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with Will Novak (the auctioneer from Greywalker) who has moved to London. Mara and Ben are still on hand to offer assistance, with their resident ghost Albert seemingly encouraging their toddler's bad behaviour. Strange ghosts are accosting Harper in public toilets, vampires are ringing at 5 am asking for favours and she's still not completely sure how her power works. Even with this large cast of characters, you can keep everyone straight in your head because they are each written as individuals. And none of these incidents detracts from the main story, they just flesh out Harper's world, making it real.

Quinton remains something of a mystery. I'm still sure there is more to him than meets the eye, though we only learn slightly more about him in this book. I also love the fact that Chaos (the ferret) loves him. He's very perceptive:-

"...Working for jerks costs extra and working for jerks on short notice is even more..."

And he's ultimately the one who comes up with the solution to the problem. Even though 'magic makes his head ache'.

The ending sees Harper having to ask Carlos the vampire for help. Which she already knows is something of a double-edged sword and he remains true to form. KR's vampire's are disturbingly creepy and I look forward to seeing how Carlos and Harper's relationship develops in upcoming books.

I still feel Kat Richardson overuses 'OK' in her dialogue, but apart from that minor quibble on my part I enjoyed Poltergeist as much as I did Greywalker, and this is definitely a series I plan to follow.

According to Kat Richardson's website Book 3 Underground will be a Summer 2008 release.

The paranormal bits of this series appear tacked on to take advantage of the growing urban fantasy market. This heroine's "paranormal power" is so under-used and uninteresting as to be completely irrelevant. The whole concept of a greywalker could be interesting and entertaining if used properly, but the author's clumsy handling of it makes it quite possibly the most snooze-worthy premise I've read in recent times.

Then there is the relentlessly dragging plot in which nothing, and I do mean nothing of any interest happens. She visits friends, all of whom possess ridiculous accents, and partakes in pointless supposed to be charming but really just teeth grindingly annoying scenes with children that come off as pointless and annoying filler, and conducts pointless interview after interview---have I made the point that there's a lot of pointless meandering nothing to this book?

I really wanted to like this series. But it's just ....generically bland and boring with a phony paranormal premise tacked on and no real direction or interest. Even the main character is such a complete non-entity that it's hard to make much of a connection with her and none of the side characters have sufficient depth or believability to make them worthy of following beyond this book.

Greywalker is an appropriate title for this character because she is completely grey--lacking any color, any heat and any vibrancy. A bland washed out pale imitation of an urban fantasy heroine.

Poltergeist started out interesting. A scientific experiment is being performed to see if people can create a poltergeist. Harper is hired by the person in charge of the experiment to show that the phenomenon is being faked. It's a little confusing, but the scientist is a little strange. Unlike Greywalker, the mystery comprises the entire book. While it was exciting at the beginning, it quickly became stale. Harper interviews the study participants over and over and comes up with unimportant details. There is little mention of the characters from the first book, and the grey is still barely present. We do get some more convoluted explanations from Ben and Mara about the grey, but it wasn't enough. There are no vampires here, no explanation of the spell put on Harper from the first novel, one conversation with Will, and little progress with the grey. If the mystery was entertaining and exciting enough those things wouldn't have mattered so much, but Harper interviewing study participants to find who they disliked was elementary and snooze worthy. I'm disappointed because I enjoyed Greywalker very much. I will not be continuing in this series.

This book actually creeped me out. In a genuinely nervous, peering into dark corners kind of way. I haven't run across a ghost story that did that in quite awhile, and last night after putting The Squirt to bed and curling up in my rocker to read, I found myself glancing repeatedly at my watch, wondering when DH would be home to keep me company. The cover doesn't help. Harper looks much more sinister (almost possessed) than she did on the cover of Greywalker (Greywalker, Book 1). So kudos to Kat Richardson. POLTERGEIST is not only a solid follow-up, but different enough in tone from its predecessor that it held my interest throughout and I felt compelled to keep turning the pages.

This time around Harper is hired by a local psychology professor to investigate the unexpected happenings in an experiment he's running on psychokinesis, involving a group of participants' ability to "create" their own poltergeist. Little does the skeptical Professor Gantner know how qualified this particular PI is for the job. The further she investigates, however, the more convinced Harper is that the group of misfits has, in fact, created a real ghost. And, when Dr. Gantner's assistant Mark is suddenly murdered in a decidedly unusual fashion, Harper immediately sets out on the trail of the ghost and the individual controlling it.

The bulk of this second Greywalker novel is taken up with Harper's day-to-day investigations as she gets to know the various participants in the poltergeist experiment and works alongside Detective Solis who's in charge of the murder case. Her friend, the quirky Quinton, enters the mix as well, helping Harper with the technological aspects of the case and providing an unflappable sounding board when she's at a loss as to how to proceed. Add in a couple of harrowing visits to the necromantic vampire Carlos, and I had to shake the apprehension off my shoulders more than once. I continue to like Harper for her ever matter-of-fact approach to the darker aspects of the job and for the way she looks out for the few friends she has, almost in spite of her natural reserve and strong inclination toward isolation. I'm hoping the third Greywalker novel, Underground (Greywalker, Book 3), will include more interaction between Harper and her friends and perhaps some additional information on her past. I just know there's stuff she's not telling us...

I really wanted to like this book. Kat Richardson is a very talented writer who clearly has done her research on psychokinesis ("PK") and the Philip experiments - and therein may be the problem I had with the book.

The first three chapters of this book are dedicated to setting up the case and explaining PK and the Philip experiments with little to no attention paid to character development or a broader story arc and even 80-odd pages into the book, Richardson is still explaining theory and case studies. I really enjoyed the first book in the series and was looking forward to reconnecting with the characters I had formed a bond with but the first half of the book was so bogged down with an in-depth study of PK that it was a real challenge to hold my interest long enough to get on with the case.

If you are a reader with a cultivated interest in PK or the Philip experiments then you'll love this book, Kat Richardson is a talent and she has done her homework. If however, you're like me and you're a reader who was looking more for continued character development and growth in the overall arc to the series, then you're going to have get a little more than halfway through the book before you hit pay dirt. Even after two books in the series, Harper Blaine is a little dry and still not very well defined for the reader and that's a disappointment.

This is not a bad book, it's just not what I expected as the second installation of a series. I am going to read the third book in the series and I hope that I get more of the character development that I'm looking for in a series.