Seawitch: A Greywalker Novel [Hardcover]

Kat Richardson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 7, 2012 | Series: GREYWALKER (Book 7)

Harper Blaine was your average small-time PI until she died—for two minutes. Now Harper is a Greywalker, treading the thin line between the living world and the paranormal realm. And she’s discovering that her new abilities are landing her all sorts of “strange” cases.

 

A quarter century ago, the Seawitch cruised away from her dock and disappeared with everyone on board. Now, the boat has mysteriously returned to her old berth in Seattle and the insurance company has hired Harper to find out what happened.

 

But Harper is not the only one investigating. Seattle Police Detective Rey Solis is a good cop, albeit one who isn’t comfortable with the creepy cases that always seem to end up in Harper’s lap. As they explore the abandoned vessel, Harper and Solis discover a cabin containing symbols drawn in human blood, revealing the ghost ship’s grave history.

 

As Solis focuses on the possible murder of a passenger’s wife, Harper’s investigation leads her to a powerful being who may be responsible for the disappearance of the Seawitch’s passengers and crew. And while their searches lead Harper and Solis in different directions, they will need to put aside their differences to solve a deadly mystery twenty-five years in the making…

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A great heroine.”

(#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Charlaine Harris )

About the Author

Kat Richardson lives on a boat in Seattle with her husband and a small pit bull--who is not the world's largest ferret, no matter how much she pretends.. Kat rides a motorcycle, shoots target pistol, and has been known to swing dance, sing, and spend insufficient time at the gym.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Roc Hardcover; 1 edition (August 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451464559
• ISBN-13: 978-0451464552
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #137,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of the Greywalker paranormal detective novels. Kat is a former theater brat and non-fiction editor who currently lives on a boat in Washington state with her husband and the ghosts of ferrets. She also rides a motorcycle, shoots target pistol, and makes trouble.

In the past, she helped develop a fan-built PC game (T2X), wrote a short horror screenplay (The Glove), taught English Country Dance, fenced epee, broke both arms, wrote about diamonds, ate alligator (no, she didn't kill it), sold dead lizards, pretended to be a nun, sang, and has been kidnapped by pirates! (well... maybe not pirates....)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Readers will enjoy immensely August 17, 2012

By A Book Obsession.. TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

In some cases, death doesn't always stick, and Harper Blaine is proof of that. The latest book in Kat Richardson's `Greywalker' series brings back Harper, as well as an apparent ghost ship all tangled up in the Grey to investigate.

With so many female paranormal investigators out there, it's important to note the ways in which this one is different. Harper is grounded, unpretentious and sometimes even resigned to what she can do as a Greywalker. She's careful, and thinks twice about leaping into danger, most of the time. Unlike some of the urban fantasy heroines, she isn't a wand-waving or guns blazing private investigator, and that makes her unusual.

The book is full of rich detail about the Pacific Northwest, which makes sense as the author is a native, and living in the region myself, I appreciated some of the sly digs at the local peculiarities and weather, which is a character in and of itself. In fact, the fog which is an important element of the story only adds to the air of creeping unease that becomes more evident as Harper and Detective Solis work together to solve the mystery of the Seawitch.

Solis takes on the role of the skeptic, but one that knows enough about Harper to realize that there is something more to her 'weirdness' than seeing things. He's not ready to just embrace the idea of the Grey, but he's not actively hostile, which is a pleasant change from most outsiders in this genre.

The two of them take slightly different routes to investigate what brought the Seawitch home, and who, or what is responsible for its absence as well what happened to its missing crew. Ultimately, though, this is one partnership that might stand the test of time, or the 'weirdness' that Harper tends to attract....

Solis isn't the only one trying to figure out his place in light of new information. Quinton, Harper's boyfriend is back, and he's got some family issues of his own that promise to crop up again in future volumes.

Seawitch is an entertaining and engrossing read, with plenty of rich Pacific Northwest detail, enough to whet the appetite of any research buffs, and a crop of paranormal and mundane characters that readers will enjoy immensely.

(Reviewed for A Book Obsession..) Read more ›

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A very well-balanced urban fantasy August 8, 2012

By Garrett Jones

Format:Hardcover

Originally posted here:[...]
Seawitch is the seventh novel of the nationally bestselling Greywalker series by Kat Richardson. Private investigator and Greywalker Harper Blaine is back in Seattle after the the events of book six (Downpour) took both her and her boyfriend out of their comfort zones and to a national park near Seattle.

Harper Blaine used to be a smaller-time private investigator-that is, until she died for two minutes. Now, she's a Greywalker, someone able to see and interact with the Grey, the plane of the ghostly and otherworldly, and home to ghosts and other entities. Due to this ability to tread the very thin line between the living world and the paranormal realm of the Grey, Harper lands some decidedly "strange" cases.

The ghost ship Seawitch disappeared twenty-seven years ago and hasn't been seen since--until now. Now, it's the subject of Harper Blaine's latest case, a case that has her teaming up with Detective Rey Solis of the SPD, a man well-skeptical of anything falling outside of "normal" logic. On top of a partner who doesn't really trust her, Harper must also navigate her way through this case while avoiding destruction, ghostly and paranormal threats and death.

You know, the usual.

Delves a little deeper
Seawitch, like all of the previous Greywalker novels, expands Richardson's unique magic and supernatural system. We see a little bit more of Harper's view of the Grey and of the mortal world. In particular, there is a focus on the Guardian Beast of the Grey and Harper's relationship with it (y'know, it being her boss and all). The magic of the system also gets some screen time as Harper's understanding of it grows. In addition to the supernatural growth, Harper's physical boundaries are expanded.... The nature of her case means that, sooner or later, Harper will have to spend some time on boats and out on Puget Sound, something that hasn't really happened in the course of the series thus far.

The only detracting aspect in my mind comes from my having read the rest of the series, actually. In Seawitch, there simply isn't as much development and discovery of the Grey and the various other supernatural elements as there has been in the previous novels. Much of this can be attributed, however, to the idea that Harper's experiences have finally reached the point where she is no longer coming upon absolutely new things around every corner. This is not a bad thing or a good thing, it just is, but it made the book seem less in comparison.

Thicker writing than a typical urban fantasy
Having just burned through five different novels within two weeks, I became aware of something I'd always registered unconsciously but never actively realized: I read the Greywalker novels more slowly than I do the majority of urban fantasy. After thinking on it, I believe this is due to Richardson's specific writing style. There is just something about it, some combination of Harper's narrative voice and Richardson's descriptions that forces the reader to slow down and process all of... well, all the things (ALL THE THINGS!). To put it in perspective, I can go through one Greywalker novel in two days if I have nothing else going on (including my day job). In the same amount of time, I can go through three or four other urban fantasy novels. Seawitch was no exception to this trend set by the previous installments in the series.

Now, this is not to say that Richardson's writing has any blatant problems or that the flow is stilted, as that is most certainly not the case. Richardson's writing flows--just at a slower pace than that of series like Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files or Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles. In my opinion, it's a nice change of pace from the usual fare.

Organic character developments
By far, my most favorite aspect of Seawitch comes in the form of its characters. I love everything Quinton, and we get glimpses into his past and family life in this novel. He also goes so far as to call out Harper, pointing out some of her own character flaws--something which makes them both more human. And that doesn't even take into account their reactions to the situation and that particular conversation.

However, it was Detective Rey Solis and his family that were my absolute favorite parts of Seawitch. A lot is revealed about Solis and why he does what he does. His reactions when confronted with the reality of the Grey and of the paranormal are completely believable. Subsequently, he becomes much more likable than he was in previous novels.

Oh. And his wife is awesome. Just a heads-up.

Why should you read this book?
If you're returning to Harper's story, you won't be disappointed. While Seawitch doesn't expand the world as much as previous novels, Harper is still her kick-ass self--and a bit more so, as she is more confident with the whole "taking charge" thing in Seawitch than in previous novels. Quinton makes his appearances, and the glimpses of his past are enough to leave any fan wanting to know more. If you're a newcomer to the series, you might end up a bit lost at the beginning, but not too terribly. As always, Richardson's unique system of the Grey captivates, and the sheer amount of character development is admirable. With this latest in the Greywalker series, Richardson has crafted a well-balanced urban fantasy novel with a kick-ass heroine who isn't afraid to take names, a story that will appeal to both mystery and paranormal lovers, and a fantastic supporting cast of characters that bring an exquisite level of believability to Harper's world.

Oh, and did I mention mermaids? 'Cause there were mermaids. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good and interesting but not the series best book September 9, 2012

By Karissa Eckert

Format:Hardcover

This is the seventh book in the Greywalker series. It was a solid addition to the series but was pretty contained; there was no new big story-arc started.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. The narrator does an excellent job and sounds exactly like I imagine Harper would. She also does an excellent job distinguishing between voices.

Harper and detective Solis have both been assigned with the investigation of a mysterious ghostly ship that has appeared in the harbor named the Seawitch. Of course the appearance of the Seawitch is linked with a number of disturbing paranormal things. It is up to Solis and Harper to unravel the mystery behind its reappearance before it is too late.

The story is written in a very detailed and analytical way, like all of the books in this series. These book are very heavy on the investigative aspect of the story. In this installment we are introduced to some new paranormal creatures; mainly mermaids and the Father of all Otters.

There isn't a ton of character growth in this book. Harper spends some time trying to learn how to be a better friend to those around her, but she doesn't really grow in power or learn to use her power as a Greywalker in new ways. More of the story is spent on Solis and him trying to deal with all of the paranormal things he runs in to. Solis is forced to face some uncomfortable truths and he does grow quite a bit. We learn a lot about Solis and his background.

This wasn't really the start of a new broad story arc, the investigation and the Seawitch mystery are fairly self-contained to this one book. There are some things going on with Quentin and his father that sound interesting and are set up to be dealt with in the next book.... This set up leads to us learning more about Quentin's background.

The plot was well woven and well put together. There are a lot of interesting mystery/paranormal elements that come together in fascinating ways.

Each of the books in this series has focused on something. In this case the book focused on the Father of Otters mythology and boating in general. The story was nicely tied up and there were some things left unresolved that will most likely be tied up in the next book.

Overall a solid addition to this series. The whole book is pretty self-contained and could probably be read just fine as a stand alone novel. It was fun to meet some new paranormal races and we get to learn a lot about Solis and his background. The book sets things up for an interesting storyline involving Quentin and his past in future installments of the series. This whole series is recommended to those who like detailed and analytical investigative urban fantasy. Read more ›