Customer Reviews

Underground (Greywalker, Book 3)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After a near-death experience, Private Investigator Harper Blaine now has the ability to move between this world and the next. A place called the Grey. When her friend Quinton asks her to investigate a serial killer, Harper soon realizes that this is no ordinary killer. It's a monster from old lore. And with her unique abilities, Harper is the only one who can hunt it down.

With history and lore tied to Seattle's underground, this story is rich with ominous descriptives and suspense. Harper must deal with ghosts and zombies, which begin to interfere with her personal life. Shocking revelations, intense suspense, unique paranormal characters, and a mystery that keeps you guessing gives this urban fantasy more than its share of fun thrills. This series has continued to improve with each installment.

Leslee of Night Owl Romance - 4.5 / 5 Hearts

If you are looking for a new addition to your urban fantasy collection, then look no further than Kat Richardson. I discovered her by accident when her first book in this series, Greywalker came out. The premise, a private investigator who dies violently and is revived and can now see ghosts and the underlying energy in the world, was unique so I bought it. When I sat down to read it, I was blown away by how good the writing, the world building, and the mystery were. I would liken it to Anita Blake, the early years, without the sex and set in Seattle. Somehow I missed the second book, Poltergeist, but you can bet I will be rectifying that immediately. When I received Underground in the mail I was in the middle of two other books so it had to wait its turn. When I sat down to read it, I was sucked in. I didn't want to stop. The hair on my neck was standing up almost from the very beginning.

To recap, we join Harper Blaine, PI extraordinaire, and her mysterious friend Quinton. He wants her to investigate why Pioneer Square's homeless are turning up dead and mutilated. Zombies are being sited in the Underground, part of Seattle's hidden past. We finally learn more about Albert the ghost who lives with Harper's friends, the Danzigers. We also learn more about Quinton and his past. It is obvious that this is not the end to Harper's adventures and I thank the powers for that blessing. Each book builds on the previous one to a certain extent so be warned.This is a tight, taunt, mystery wrapped in the paranormal, what more could a girl want. Ms. Richardson, keep `em coming!

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© Night Owl Romance 2007-2008

PI Harper Blaine is back. This time, she's gone underground in more ways than one. Something's eating Seattle's homeless and she and crack geek Quentin realize quickly enough that something isn't human. It's going to take her ability to talk to the dead to get enough testimony to find out what is going on.

And the mysterious Quentin is playing more of a role here. It seems, he's underground as well, in hiding from the NSA. As relations cool between Harper and WIll, things get definitely interesting with Quentin.

The story's rich with details of Seattle's underground, though Richardson admits to playing a bit with geography and access. There's also some interesting Native American lore here.

"Underground" is the third Harper Blaine novel, the first of Kat Richardson's offerings to come out in hardcover. I've loved this series from the beginning; however, this is the first one I had trouble getting into. Don't worry, the story picks up in the last half particularly when they go on the rez to find a Native American witch who'll help with answers.

[ASIN:045146107X Greywalker (Greywalker, Book 1)]]

Poltergeist (Greywalker, Book 2)

Rebecca Kyle, August 2008

Kat Richardson's third Greywalker novel,Underground once again features Seattle PI Harper Blaine.This time Harper helps her friend Quinton try to discover who or what is eating the homeless of Pioneer Square.Harper's search for answers will take her from the underground,to the vampire community,and finally to a Native American reservation.A solid and entertaining paranormal mystery.If you enjoy movies like The Sixth Sense or T.V.'s Ghost Whisperer you'll enjoy Harper Blaine who has the ability to see and talk to the dead.Likewise if you enjoy mysteries and hard boiled detectives with a twist of someting different look no further than the Greywalker series.

Third book in the "Greywalker" paranormal fantasy series set in Seattle, WA. Featuring Harper Blaine, a woman who becomes a Greywalker after having died for two minutes. She is able to go into the Grey--the murky area between life and death, seeing ghosts other spirit-folk.

This story features a series of grisly killings of Seattle's homeless community, where folks are showing up dead with body parts missing and having been quite literally chewed up. The murders, while being investigated, are not a high priority given the victims' status, and are being written off as "attacked by dogs" and such. Harper gets involved with the case when Quinton, her friend who does her tech work, designed her security system, etc. asks her to investigate as he knew some of the people who have died--and others who have simply disappeared recently. He knows about Harper's abilities and thinks she's the perfect person to look into things, and as she has no pressing cases, she does. Plunging to the world of the homeless, the Seattle Underground, and learning much about a local Native American myth, Harper makes some startling discoveries.

This is the book where I think the author finally comes into her stride. Don't get me wrong--I liked the first two books just fine, but I didn't really feel "connected" to Harper and there was an elusive `something missing' from them. Whatever that was, it's now been found! This story sucked me in right away and I literally read this book in two sittings. I felt as though I finally got to really get into Harper's head, and the story wasn't just about her, it *was* her. I no longer felt like I was sitting on the sidelines. Very much looking forward to Vanished, the next in series. A+

OK, real quick, Blaine died for two minutes and came back with the ability to see into a dimension called the "Grey". In it she can see ghost, vampires, lines of power and things that go bump in the night. Being a PI means that some of these 'things' ask her for help or let he help where others cannot. Around Pioneer Square in Seattle parts of bodies and bodies without parts begin showing up. The problem is that the parts that are missing look like they've been chewed off and there's little blood. Also some new types of Zombies are showing up in the area. Got that.

The story is sometimes a little hokey but it is good in that it brings in stories about the original inhabitants of the area (the Salish) and long buried or forgotten tales. In this case we're talking about a creature (like Cerebus) that has three heads and eats people. It's caretaker has given control of it to a human (homeless) as thanks for helping it. Unfortunately the human is a wasted 'rummy' who has no idea what to do with it or how to control it. This part of the stories pretty good.

Thrown into the mix is some people from the first two books (the Danziger's) and their resident ghost (Albert); and a new love interest for Blaine who was also around the first two. The problem with this part of the book is that it's so patently standardized that it could have been pulled completely out of a 'Bronte' novel. Man on the run from the government with a secret past, blah blah blah. Very unoriginal an can be seen on any soap opera. But what can you do.

Therefore, we are left with an epilogue that is so subtle that it only doesn't say BUY MY NEXT BOOK AND FIND OUT. (Sorry but it's very loud).

Zeb Kantrowitz

This story is a good one and has a lot of history and information along with it.

Some times it does get tedious, but i did think it was a good story.

I like the fact that Harper and Quinton are together and wonder what the relationship will go to.

Will was sweet but did not get it.

The rich history and the plight of the homeless and their world is opened up in the story line, the monster is not real believeable but, i did enjoy the native american information.

Okay, this series continues to entertain me much more than I initially expected it to. I was so pleased to get a copy of UNDERGROUND for my birthday and I immediately dived right in. It picks up shortly after the events of Poltergeist (Greywalker, Book 2) and Harper is still dealing both physically and emotionally with the fallout from her ghostbusting stint. Things with tall, blond, and lanky Will are less than stellar and distraction comes in the form of Harper's mysterious friend Quinton who shows up on her doorstep demanding she investigate a rather gruesomely dead body he ran across on the train tracks. It's not the first dead body to be found in a similar state in recent weeks and Harper and Quinton discover up close and personally that it won't be the last either. Together they traipse through the uncanny city underneath Seattle's streets in search of a mythical monster who may or may not be eating the city's homeless and may or may not be controlled by an ancient Native American god.

Once again, I simply love the way Kat Richardson describes Harper's Seattle. And this time around she's added Quinton's Seattle--a very different city altogether, populated by the homeless and the dissident, and located entirely underground. I've been wanting more on this particular character and storyline and UNDERGROUND provides a satisfying amount of info while still saving a few secrets for future installments. Just like Harper, I was sucked into the mysteries behind each underground inhabitant, particularly Quinton and just who he's hiding from and why. This book had a slightly grander feel than its predecessors by nature of the monster they're fighting and I loved the inclusion of Seattle's more unusual history as well as the Native American legend and language. Harper remains a likable, scrappy character who I look forward to following. If you enjoyed Greywalker (Greywalker, Book 1), make sure you pick this one up. Definitely my favorite Greywalker book thus far.

This is the third book in the Greywalker series by Kat Richardson. The 4th book, Vanished (Greywalker, Book 4), had already been released and the 5th book, Labyrinth (Greywalker, Book 5), is due out August 2010. There are six books under contract for this series last that I heard. I enjoyed this book and thought it was a good addition to the series. I listened to this on audio book. The audio book was fairly well done, sometimes the narrator has trouble distinguishing the different male voices, but other than that it was easy to listen to.

In this book Quentin contacts Harper about some weirdness happening in Seattle's Underground. Homeless people are going missing and are found dead. Even creepier, body parts have been found in the Underground and the occasional zombie has been seen wandering around. The weather has been strangely cold and wintery; Harper needs to figure out how this is all connected and find out if it is a threat to Seattle. This time the vampires bow out of helping; but luckily Harper has the very resourceful Quentin at her side.

As mentioned in previous reviews for this series, these books are mysteries with a paranormal bent to them. There isn't much romance, there is some action, but most of the book is focused on solving the case through investigative work. I again enjoyed Harper's analytical mind and practicality in getting the case solved. It was wonderful to learn some of Quentin's secrets too. He is a great character and I enjoyed having him play such a big role in this story.

As with previous books Richardson really does her research and gives us extensive detail on both the Underground of Seattle and the history of the Native Americans of that area. I enjoy this detail, but I could understand how some people might find it cumbersome. So again, if you have read previous books you are familiar with this, Richardson goes into great detail on things and I really enjoyed learning about them.

Harper does a great job incorporating the skills she has learned as a Greywalker in previous books to help solve her current case. It was nice to see Harper making use of all that she had learned. Additionally she again learns some new things about her power as a Greywalker.

The overall story is nicely summed up, as it has been with each book in this series. I am really enjoying this series. The books aren't incredibly exceptional but they are very well done and make for enjoyable reads. I love trying to race Harper to the conclusion of the mystery. Richardson does an excellent job summing things up and at the end of this book there is a little teaser to what the next book is going to be about.

Overall this has been an excellent series and this book was no exception to that. I look forward to reading the 4th book, Vanished, in this series.

I enjoyed the first and second novels in this series, but I enjoyed this one the most. The Grey gets darker and scarier as Harper delves deeper into the perilous unknown. Book three in the series was almost a continuous walk through an alternative version of Dante's Inferno. Ms. Richardson's writing continues to improve as she takes us into the mind of her protagonist so we can see a world we never thought, or wanted, to see. I especially enjoyed Quentin's explanation why werewolves couldn't exist. Much the same could be said for vampires. I strongly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys the dark side of the paranormal and a tough, gritty female protagonist.

Unholy Embrace