Customer Reviews

Urban Shaman (The Walker Papers)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Joanne Walker, born Siobban Walkingstick, is returning to Seattle from her Mother's funeral in Ireland. On the plane home, as pilots are making a final pass into the city, she sees a woman being attacked at a church.

Everyone thinks she's crazy. Heck, even she thinks she's crazy, but she's compelled to help this woman. So, she hires a cab and sets out to find trouble in the bad side of town....

That opens the story of Joanne Walker, mechanic-cop for the Seattle PD. In "Urban Shaman" Joanne must quickly learn to accept and adapt to the new powers she has--because lives depend on her.

"Urban Shaman" is a quick read and a good one. I strongly recommend you get into this series. Trust me, if you enjoy Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher and other novels of this type, you will be catching up when the others come out!

The author has such a great idea for a story and she is so wonderfully descriptive in her writing that I enjoyed it even though it has many glaring content mistakes. Some of the reviewers were disappointed because they were sold the book as a "Paranormal Romance" and they didn't get any sex scenes, but Amazon sold it to me as a "Native Mystery" along side the Jim Chee and the Charlie Moon series and that's the way I viewed.

The Positive:
There's a fun, vibrant, feel to the way Jo and her battles are written as she tries to save a Marie and the rest of Seattle from Cernunnuos and his Wild Hunt gone wrong; while she's also dealing with her knew found abilities, and some inner pain that she hides even from herself.

The Negative:
The author seems to have only a Hollywood Movie understanding of Police work and less than that of the Seattle PD, Police Hiring Practices, Criminal Procedure, Police Language and less about Police Culture. This is a problem when your main character is supposed to be a Police Officer. The author seemed to have almost NO knowledge of the Qualla Boundary, the place her main character grew up. The character graduated from a Tribal run High School, NOT a BIA school, that prides itself on ALL of its students having a rudimentary understanding of the Peoples' culture, history, and language. In the main character's home town the street signs are in English AND Cherokee and the kids at her alma mater play Stick Ball most days that the weather allows, yet growing up in this environment she had not even a tourists knowledge of the name of the community or the culture? These mistakes caused problems in the way characters related to each other and distracted from, an other wise, good story.

This author shows so much promise because even with those bright beacons distracting me, I still enjoyed the novel!

Ms. Murphy, PLEASE use a content editor for future stories you are too good a writer to have these mistakes in your books.

A brief description: CE Murphy's new book "Urban Shaman" tells the story of Joanne Walker, the daughter of a Native American and an Irish woman. Joanne is flying back from Ireland after her mother's funeral, and from the plane as it circles Seattle, spots a woman running away from an attacker. Joanne feels compelled to help the woman, and by doing so, becomes involved in an exciting and fast-paced adventure involving being chased by the Wild Hunt and ancient Celtic gods, and coming to terms with her newly emerged status as a powerful Native American shaman.

I can usually finish a book of this length in a day or two, depending on my available time and level of fatigue after a day at work. It took me about three or four days to finish this book, because I kept putting it aside, pondering what I knew of the subject matter (Native American and Celtic mythologies) against what I was reading, and then just deciding to tackle it all another day. That makes me sound sort of cynical and dismissive, which is not exactly true, but the truth is, I started off thinking this was going to be a really terrific book and ended by being confused and disappointed. This is not to say the book was bad - it wasn't. The basic idea behind this book is exciting and interesting, and I did enjoy much of it. It is very atmospheric, and the descriptions of places, people and events were terrific. I could really "see" everything that was happening. The part where Joanne meets the dead shamans in the star field is lovely, very nicely done. The action sequences are good (if confusing later in the book). There are also parts of the story that are quite well done in terms of relating the sense of suspense and terror. I even found myself a bit nervous after reading certain passages while at home alone late one night.

That said, I think this book could have used the services of a good editor. Obviously the author has a terrific idea for a series, but she could use some assistance in tying various ideas together, fully explaining the reasons why things happen (why exactly again did all those people die?) and removing various unneeded motifs or plot devices (it's not like Joanne didn't get any sleep - I routinely function on less). First of all, I felt that maybe Ms. Murphy had perhaps not adequately researched her subject matter, or of she did, then events and back story were deliberately left overly vague and ill-defined. There is a telling section of the book where the main character, Joanne, attempts to research the Wild Hunt by looking it up on the internet. Joanne states that internet sources are iffy and you just have to go with the information that is repeated in several sources. I have to say that perhaps contacting a scholar in these fields (the story is set in Seattle, which has a world-class university) or reviewing books and articles written by scholars in these fields is also a valid way to go. It's not clear to me that the author herself did much more than researching iffy internet sources. I say this because there was just not enough information provided about the Wild Hunt or about Native American religion, but just enough that the final reason given for all the goings-on in the book just seems ridiculous. A lot of books and movies of this type have the hero or heroine visit an expert (who usually later suffers a horrible fate) to get the low-down in order to explain what's happening to the audience. It's a cliche, sure, but one that works better than Joanne's net-surfing. I mean, after all, if the Wild Hunt is chasing you, aren't you going to try to get the real low-down on who they are and what they want, or are you going to take your chances on someone's GeoCities website? Another reviewer states that even an explanatory phone call from Joanne's father would have helped so much, and that's a statement I agree with.

Similarly, Joanne's newly acquired abilities to psychically thrash a powerful Celtic god are not well-explained, and these sections of the book therefore take on an Anita Blake quality; somehow the heroine conveniently acquires supernatural power just when it's needed, but it's not well-explained why or how. When Coyote tells Joanne that "The Old Man" made her brand-new (i.e., a brand new soul never reincarnated) for this purpose, it makes me wonder why in the world the Celtic god Cernunnos would care in the least about "The Old Man." A confrontation would have been interesting, but then, maybe that smacked too much of Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" or Peter Beagle's "The Folk of the Air." (Speaking of Peter Beagle, read "Tamsin" for a lovely take on the Wild Hunt.)

This book is worth your time.

The main character is imminently competent and likeable, with a very strong voice. One of the strongest and well written protagonists I've seen in a while.

The story is also good - solid Urban Fantasy. And solid fun from cover to cover - this one is a page-turner. I recommend starting it on a Friday night when you don't have any big weekend plans!

Don't be turned away by thinking this is Luna, so a romance with fantasy trappings. It's not.

Belongs on a bookshelf next to Emma Bull's _War For the Oaks_ and Terry Windling's _Borderlands_ anthologies.

Joann Walker spots a woman running down the street chased by ghostly hounds into the hands of a knife wielding killer. The only problem with this is that she see's this all as she passes by-in a plane...on a commercial international flight.

Regardless of impracticallities, Joann runs to the rescue only to find that her world, her very way of life, and possibly her soul are now in jeopardy. She's never thought of herself as special and never believed in new age mumbo jumbo but all her believes will be tested in the fight for her life. With a wise talking cabby, a cross dressing detective, a love'm/ hate'm boss, and a once mint '69 Mustang Joann will due battle not only with her past but also with the mythical fae Hunt led by the Celtic death god Cernunnos and his twisted proginy.

A fast paced and witty read this is definitly a good book to pick up. It was funny but also filled me with tension to see how Joann's adventures would turn out. I've already picked up the next book in what looks like a series, Thunderbird Falls.

Usually when I start a book, I hate to simply give up. I am willing to follow the author where they want to take the story, but I just couldn't do it with this one.

Within 100 pages I had to set this one aside in favor of more promising books.

My first difficulty was in believing that our main character could witness a long drawn out detailed scene on a Seattle street from the window of a plane. (She was able to describe the knife that a man was twirling in his hand) All this while she is having problems with her contact lenses which seem to mysteriously resolve themselves because hours later she hasn't done anything to them yet she has stopped complaining.

There were more unbelievable situations that I struggled through but when I found that I was going to have to endure a few pages in order for the author to give us a history lesson I gave up.

While some may find this story entertaining I would rather spend my time reading the works of an author who has taken to time to write a good story and not a rush to publication.

For those of you readers who are interested in finding something new and different in the paranormal genre, then I absolutely recommend you grab this book and fast. I was lucky enough to have grabbed the last copy. I am one of those readers who are picky about my books and even still new writers, but I've gotten into the habbit here lately of thinking outside the box. I'm glad I did with C.E Murphy. Urban Shaman took me on the most wonderful journey, one that I have not had in such a long time. Not since I started reading Charline Harris's books have I come across a female chracter so compelling. I couldn't put this book down!
Urban Shaman's leading lady, Joanne Walker (born Siobhan Walkingstick) has captured my heart forever. There's so much I loved about this character, especially her sense of humor. There were moments I couldn't stop laughing. (A big plus in my book) Thank you Madame Murphy for this character! Since I have a love of Celtic Mythology besides Greek Mythology, I felt the blending of Celtic and Native American lore was simply brilliant!
Here's the 411. Joanne is a mechanic yet she works for the Seattle Police Department. She's been on personal leave of abscence to tend to her dying mother. For four months she stays in Ireland and on her way home, she spots a woman in trouble from the airplane. From that moment, everything in Joanne's life changes in a huge way. Her path crosses with a cabbie by the name of Gary. (He reminds you of that smart alec uncle you can't help but love, but he's big as a bear and has a smart mouth.) When she finds the woman she sees from the plane and helps her, Joanne is suddenly plunged into the ancient Celtic world and runs across an old Celtic god by the name of Cerunnos who leads the Wild Hunt. Sparks fly between these two! Besides the fact that he tries to kill her in the beginning, towards the end he gives her this kiss that makes you wonder what Murphy has in store for these two. If not him, then certainly her boss, Morrison, for even though he growls at her you can tell he cares about her. There's also the curious incident when she finally meets her spirit guide, Coyote, who in Native American lore was also known as the Trickster, much like Loki in Viking Lore. Coyote helps Joanne to realize that the power inside her has been there all along. It takes her nearly dying for her to truly realize that fact, and for her to face the fact that she is anything but normal. Never have been, never will be.
For those of you who don't know what the Wild Hunt is, I'll tell you. Many culturs have a name for it, but many believe it is a phantasimal cluster of dead horsemen and huntsmen, riding on beastly horses with savage wolves and ravens riding among their ghostly throng. They represent the untamed, dark and wild spirit that is nature, things that man will never understand. Seeing the Wild Hunt was considered to be a bad omen, a sign that the seer was going to die or another's impending doom. It is said that mortals caught within the Wild Hunt's grasp are kidnapped or taken down below to the Land of the Dead, never to be seen again, or sometimes they became part of the Hunt.
To also tell you, Cerunnos in Celtic Mythology was also named the Horned God, but he also had other names, like Herne (who is his son in the book) from the Anglo-Saxon term. But he was also known in Teutonic Mythology (Viking) by the name of Odin.
So, I hope what I have told you helps you. Trust me when I say that this is a wonderful read and you won't regret it. I loved this book and I hope you will too. But you'll have to read it to find out what I'm talking about.

I enjoyed the character and seeing another take on the Wild Hunt myth. I thought the prose flowed well and it did keep me interested. BUT....the last half of the book got a bit jumbled and formulaic.

Worse, it could have been set anywhere. The only Seattle references were things that could have been lifted from a guidebook. There was no sense of local flavor, the streets, the air, the light...which I thought the author could have researched easily enough, given that she lives in Alaska and flights are frequent. Also, there were some factual problems, as in the snow that fell. Seattle certainly does have snow, but it's unusual, and the characters should have made more of that fact. So, a good enough effort, but not wonderful.

Urban Shaman was an extremely fun, and funny, read. The pacing was quick and kept me thouroughly engaged throughout the book. The first-person narration style helped to draw me in to the life of the extremely quirky and engaging main character as she struggled to redefine her life (while, in the meantime, fighting off various figures from Celtic mythology).

Urban Shaman made me laugh out loud multiple times and had me chuckling regularly enough that the person on the next treadmill over at the gym asked me what was so funny. It's a fun, fast read with an engaging main character, well-developed supporting cast, and a plot that keeps you guessing, sprinkled through with a lot of humor. I heartily recommend it.

I give this book one star because I couldn't finish reading it. I enjoy books with people learning new powers and discovering new things about themselves, so I enjoyed this book initially. The book was very fast paced in the first 100 or so pages. I loved hearing about the Celtic and Indian traditions and I cared about the mystery that was being set up. However, once the story is neatly in place, and the details on the mystery are given, the book turns into a slow crawl through overemphasis on small details and boring events. I didn't like the main character and couldn't get over her complaining about why things had to happen to her. I found some of the details unbelievable, especially her boss and friends believing so easily in the occult. To sum it up, it started great, but got very boring, and I just became uninterested. I would call this book a mystery with a little bit of the paranormal in it, not a paranormal book or even an urban fantasy.