Book Review – ‘Grave Night’ (#10 Harbinger P.I.) by Adam Wright

A private investigator paranormal fantasy that fell flat for me.

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

No. of pages: 279

If you can keep your cool when everyone else is losing theirs…maybe you don’t realize how bad the situation is.

Rekhmire the Destroyer wants to annihilate the world (that’s what destroyers do) and he isn’t going to stop until he’s achieved his stretch goal of making everyone a part of his undead army.

Not on my watch. It’s time to send this walking piece of leather back to the tomb he crawled out of. But how am I supposed to do that when he’s immune to all magic and weapons?

A Harbinger’s gotta do what a Harbinger’s gotta do.

I’m a massive fan of this series, but I’m not seeing growth with the writing and character development.

All the side characters are simply props to drive the plot forward. There is no complexity, no personality, no conflict, no consequences. They just run about doing Alec’s bidding as soon as he barks an order. It was so boring.

Magic is used a lot in ‘Grave Night’ again without consequence – bucking the trend of the previous books in the series where there was always a cost for dabbling in the occult.

This book was so flat I was a little angry – I’ve invested a lot in this series, and been hoping to see some improvement in character, writing style, grammar, but there was none to see.

There is so much repetition. Repeated words, phrases, and situations… as a writer it’s so lazy. Think of a different approach to convey the same information – that’s what makes writing interesting and compels a reader to stay engaged. This book read like a first draft… all the ideas were there, the structure, but the soul, tone, and elegance had yet to be added. The worst example of Tell instead of Show I’ve ever read.

Like I’ve always capitulated about the Harbinger series, the ideas and takes on the supernatural are unique and fun. I didn’t feel that so much with ‘Grave Night.’ It lacked the usual zing – which left the other failings apparently obvious.

The characters aren’t re-introduced to the reader. With so much time since the last publication there was no sufficient memory jog for the characters – it’s like Wright picked up in the middle of the conversation and I had to scramble to remember past events and the characters relationships to the relevant scene… and gained no strong emotional bond, no development, all the characters were lifeless and flat like the zombie protagonist.

I also hate to say, but this instalment has the worst dialogue of the series. I’d been expecting the delayed release meant Wright was editing the manuscript, making ‘Grave Night’ better, but all evidence points to another rushed-to-publication effort that is having me lose faith in this series, this author, and self-published books in general.

I’d not recommend this at all except you will need the plot points if you wish to continue with the series. You could read the first chapter, and then the last and you’d pretty much have the book summed up effectively.

Overall feeling: *SMH*

© Casey Carlisle 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Night Hunt’ (#9 Harbinger P.I.) by Adam Wright

A faltering, flat instalment for the series.

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

No. of pages: 201

The night is dark…and full of paranormal killers.

If Jason, Michael, and Freddy were merged into one being and given supernatural powers, the result would be something like Mister Scary. He’s been carrying out his murders from the Shadow Land for way too long now. It’s time to put him down.

It was fun to delve into the Harbinger franchise once again – this is a guilty pleasure read for me. Adam Wright has a great imagination and can weave the familiar and unfamiliar with ease. Thought to be honest, I felt like I was reading one of my high schoolers papers. At the end of Chapter 2 the last three pages were repeated again at the start of Chapter three. There were obvious grammatical errors and missing words that hampered an immersive experience. Additionally, Wrights writing style seemed to have devolved. This manuscript felt rushed into publication. There was a lot of telling and little showing, an awful amount of repetition, and a serendipity of events that seemed to fall together without an obstacle. ‘Night Hunt’ read like a first draft, still needing a bit of development and editing. It was really disappointing as this series has wormed its way under my skin.

The structure of the story is another episodic instalment to the franchise, ending in a cliff-hanger for more novels to come. Again, there is too much introduced in ‘Night Hunt’ that was not resolved to give me complete satisfaction, and the writing felt immature. Don’t introduce too many elements in your story that you intend to resolve in a sequel – it puts readers off. And it makes the author appear amateurish.

I really enjoyed the magical elements and setting of the story. But just about every character had no or little development; and again Alec assembled the ‘Scooby Squad’ magically and without argument – it was all too convenient. I really need to start seeing some character driven stories and not plot driven ones. If he continues to follow his current writing style I fear the sequels are going to be interesting but altogether flat.

The action scenes were crafted well, but too short, and again suffered from serendipity – it means you can sense the hand of the author guiding the story instead of it unfolding organically. You want to keep you reader engaged as much as possible.

There is still a great effort in creating suitable spooky ambiance for certain scenes, but I feel Wright could go a little further so we can attach an emotional connection to really hammer home the following scenes.

I see real potential in Wright as a writer, but hope that ‘Night Hunt’ is just a small falter in the development of his writing career. While entertaining, it did not feel up to his regular standard… and I want to see him, and this series, improve with each instalment.

In all honesty, after reading ‘Night Hunt’ I wouldn’t recommend this to a friend. It pains me to say there was so much going on with grammar, character development, and lack of editing that I didn’t get to really enjoy the story.

Not such a glowing review, but a hopeful one.

Overall feeling: Disappointed, but with a glimmer of hope.

© Casey Carlisle 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookquotes

The Harbinger series is my guilty pleasure! Great quick escapist reads to get you out of a book hangover or slump. A preternatural detective who meets all sorts of supernatural creatures and solves murders… sounds ridiculously delicious for a laid back afternoon.

Book Review – ‘Faerie Storm’ (#8 Harbinger P.I.) by Adam Wright

A guilty pleasure that’s getting me back into fantasy.

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

No. of pages: 268

Be careful what you wish for…it might be inhabited by a demon.

When a case takes me to the wilderness of Northern Maine, I’m not even sure there’s a paranormal angle. Two girls walked into the woods one night and only one of them came back. She’s so traumatized by what she saw that she hasn’t spoken a word since.

The police come up empty-handed so the girl’s father hires me to find out what happened. Getting out of Dearmont for a while seems like a good idea—especially when there’s an ancient wizard trying to force me into using a cursed sword—so I pack the mosquito repellent and head north.

But when my client ends up dead, surrounded by occult symbols, I realize this is no vacation. Evil forces are at work here and someone is going to have to deal with them.

Guess that someone will have to be me.

Another fun entertaining read from Adam Wright.

‘Faerie Storm’ follows another murder mystery and brings in a lot of characters both new and established in this series. We get a lot of world building, setting up to expand the Harbinger universe even wider (as Wright has a spin off franchise already slated with two novels for release in the Harbinger Academy series.)

This novel has really upped the ante, the stakes are higher, there is much more action, more intricate plot and plot points – Wright is really playing to his strengths in ‘Faerie Storm.’ It is the most engaged I’ve been in any of his novels so far. I am excited to see where his career goes if this level of development continues with each subsequent publication.

We don’t see a lot of growth or development with our protagonist, but he does overcome great obstacles and is changed because of it – the reason there isn’t a great character arc is because this is a serialised story. So we’re following different rules with this series. And what we get is fun escapist fiction that is action-orientated and a super-fast read. I managed to digest this tome in a matter of hours.

There are still some grammatical errors – nothing a spell check would pick up, but a line editor should have. And the formatting of the physical book was off where the printed page is skewed too far to the right. I’ve seen these issues pop up in every other of Wrights novels so far, and I’m guessing it’s down to rushing through the writing/editing/publishing process and using a self-publishing platform. But those kinds of issues are slowly eliminated with experience. I am seeing a lot less mistakes, but yet to have a ‘perfect’ copy.

I’ve mentioned before that this series is a guilty pleasure read for me – it’s the kind of fantasy I can get into. High fantasy tomes are sometimes a bit too heavy and I get bored with excessive world building and long character backstories (or constant diversions into language, customs, etc.) Stick to the mythology and character development and a great plot. I like my read to have a clip of pacing.

There are a number of things set up for over-arcing storylines in the volumes in this franchise to come that sound exciting. I was a bit bummed we didn’t get a better resolution to the Cabal – that storyline is dragging a bit; but having said that it is the most excited for a sequel I’ve been since discovering Alec Harbinger P.I.  I’m really looking forward to ‘Night Hunt’ releasing in March 2020.

Adam Wrights writing style is improving. I’m seeing less repetition in common phrasing, less of the chauvinistic attitudes of our protagonist, less of the convenience and coincidence of the secondary cast (it’s still there, but less obvious) I’d still like to see some character development of all the cast, feel a stronger emotional connection, because if any of them were killed off at the moment (apart from Felicity) I’d be like, meh. And there was a bit of a rush at the end in setting the scene that felt disingenuous for the characters and setting. A small developmental editing tweak could have made it so much punchier. But I have to say this is best and by far the most engaging read in the series so far.

This one gets the MVP trophy!

Overall feeling: I want more, gimme more.

© Casey Carlisle 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookporn

The latest addition to my TBR – #8 in the Alec Harbinger P.I. series ‘Faerie Storm.’ A guilty pleasure read… and have ordered #9 ‘Night Hunt’ and waiting for it to arrive…

What type of books are your guilty pleasures, you know, the ones which you secretly love but do not admit to loving so much?

Book Review – ‘Twilight Heart’ (#7 Harbinger P.I.) by Adam Wright

Sorceresses, witch portals, Excalibur… things are getting interesting.

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Detective

No. of pages: 214

From Goodreads:

How do you mend a broken heart?…

Put it back into the sorceress it came out of.

There’s only one way to lift Mallory’s death curse and Alec will do anything to save his friend.

I’m starting to sit on the fence with this series. While it falls under the category of ‘guilty pleasure’ for me – entertaining, easy, quick read full of action; Wright’s writing is not evolving, and each subsequent sequel is feeling episodic, repetitive and serialized.

These novels are tending towards being entirely plot driven. No character development. Still the secondary characters are used as tools to service the main character and drive the plot forward. I was trying to figure out what it was that was bothering me so much about this writing style, and then it hit me: the novel reads like a Cliff’s notes version of itself. Not enough time is spent on the meaty parts of the story (where we have opportunities for the characters to grow and change from the adversity they face) and in between these scenes is longer than necessary with descriptions of menial facts. I wanted more world building, more ambience. I’d like to see Wright dwell in the key plot points, turning points, and conclusion of the novel. ‘Twilight Heart’ felt a bit rushed.

BUT. Having said all that, the saving grace is that the material is quite entertaining. I love all the paranormal goings-on… though lately is getting a bit scattered. And you can read the entire book within 2-3 hours.

I will say that Wright’s writing has improved – I’m not getting the repetition of typical phrases that cropped up a lot in previous novels. The language is engaging and he can insert humour in the perfect spots. I just wish he’d allow the story to unfold organically. I get a real sense of the author guiding the story along. He’s got all the tools to write an outstanding novel in this genre – I just wonder if he’s putting undue pressure on himself to churn out a certain number of novels in a year?

While sticking to the now established pattern of solving one key crime/mystery per novel, and dropping breadcrumbs of others in the last page or two of another, I feel a little cheated. Again we could get more exploration of the new clues and mysteries. Have them scattered throughout the novel to build a momentum so that when the teaser for the next novel is delivered it packs a punch. Leaves the reader with anticipation. Instead it feels like a ‘Oh by the way… The End’

I also found more grammatical errors that could have been picked up with a read-through.

So while I am enjoying these novels, I’d only recommend them to their niche demographic, and, if Wright doesn’t start developing his storytelling methods, I’m going to get bored and abandon his books completely.

Overall feeling: Fun, but it’s getting a little meh…

© Casey Carlisle 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Midnight Blood’ (#6 Harbinger P.I.) by Adam Wright

A hodge-podge of magical beings and elements – and I like it.

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Detective

No. of pages: 242

From Goodreads:

If you love someone, set them free…If they come back, they could be a zombie

Someone is trying to kill Charles Hawthorne, one of the richest men in Maine. And they’re using magic to do it.

He suspects the members of his own family and hires me to check them out. I soon discover that Charles Hawthorne has a dark secret in his past; a secret that may have come back to haunt him.

With an ancient wizard bugging me to chase down the Midnight Cabal and two Shadow Watch agents who want to question me about my father, things are going to get crazy.

Oh, and Mallory’s back, along with some supernatural baggage.

Time to sharpen the swords…no, not that sword…and get to work!

Another instalment of the P.I. Harbinger series. I really enjoyed this one. A quick, adventurous read. I had commented a little about some of the machismo/sexism that our protagonist Alec sometime exhibited, and it seemed to have been tossed out the window in ‘Midnight Blood’ and made it a much more pleasant read – though we do get a bit of this attitude (and classism) from one of the agencies clients in the story.

There is still that niggling notion of some of the overarching storylines that continue through many different volumes of this series, and how they aren’t moved forward enough for me to get any satisfaction – if they are sprinkled so lightly, the reader is going to start forgetting clues and not get invested in the story. It feels much like a tv episode where a case is wrapped up and a few points are hit for seasonal arcs. Its fun reading but is starting to get repetitive. I don’t want the Harbinger series to get stale and formulaic. Though Adam Wright’s writing is improving with each subsequent sequel.

There were no repetition of phrases (like in some of the prequels) in ‘Midnight Blood,’ the pacing was great, and the story flowed easily. I did find a number of small grammatical errors, but nothing worth noting. I couldn’t help but ponder on the switch to dual perspectives (following Alec’s assistant Felicity as she took over the case of ‘Midnight Blood’s plot) well after the halfway point when Alec’s narrative had been well established… it felt a bit amateurish.

There is still a bit of that convenience of calling on the rest of his ‘Scooby Gang,’ and them just falling in line, risking their lives. It was written better here, but still, there was little establishment or motivation to make it feel believable.

I really enjoyed Alec in this one, there wasn’t the predilection to describe women by their physical characteristics in a sexual manner, and they weren’t falling over themselves to jump his bones. It was a lovely reprieve. I think with that old James Bond-esque tone removed, I really got into the story instead of eye-rolling at the relationships/flings/flirting. Taking time to develop character and story has greatly benefited ‘Midnight Blood.’ Whatever romantic relationship Alec develops in the future, I hope it follows suit and build and grows from something, and not just a reaction to something or an impulse.

This did feel too short. The main storyline on the attempts of a wealthy man’s life through magical means was perfect, but I needed more from the three other plot lines, and maybe some more development in the relationships between the cast. It doesn’t give me any time to care about the people Alec has in his life if they are just cameos serving as a plot device to drive the story forward (without facing any difficulty.) We’re getting to the point now where there are six novels in this collection and I can’t recall or describe the different types of relationships between Alec and the different members of the Scooby gang. He has saved their lives, but I don’t feel that connection when reading the book. Mallory is a past love interest, and some scenes are great, and others, just meh. As for the Blackwell sisters… I really have no clue there, they just seem to be someone to turn to when you need a spell or teleported somewhere. They serve no other purpose in the story.

‘Midnight Blood’ is predictable – you know Alec is going to solve his case – he always does. I’d like to see him fail, or face some bigger hurdle to mix things up a bit. But this is still a fun read I’d recommend to fans and lovers of the paranormal detective genre.

Not bad, still a guilty pleasure. Looking forward to the next sequel ‘Twilight Heart.’

Overall feeling: Getting better – a gold star for you!

© Casey Carlisle 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookporn

A totally guilty pleasure read for me at the moment… preternatural detective Alec Harbinger takes on all sorts of paranormal nasties and solves murders!

Book Review – ‘Shadow Land’ (#5 Harbinger P.I.) by Adam Wright

Delectable Detective and Punchy Paranormals but some Morbid Machismo….

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Detective

No. of pages: 200

From Goodreads:

When a child goes missing, his mother asks me to help. After all, she believes he was taken by a monster and that’s my field of expertise. The search leads to the storm drains of Dearmont; not a good place to be when you’ve seen as many horror movies as I have. 

Turns out the monstrous kidnapper is also responsible for the mysterious disappearance of a patient from a psychiatric hospital nearby. And as I investigate further, I’m pushed into the waiting arms of an old nemesis. 

Missing children, fishy creatures, and icy curses are all in a day’s work for Harbinger P.I. But when Mister Scary shows up, the hardest job is staying alive.

 I’m loving Adam Wright’s take on the paranormal, or preternatural as referred to in this series. There is always so much going on that I’m hooked and addicted to finding out what is going on. There is always more than one mystery to solve, an antagonist or two to fight or run away from. Wright’s concepts are fun and engaging.

However there is still one of the biggest gripes in ‘Shadow Land’ that I have had with this series front and centre – again with our protagonist Preternatural Detective, Alec having things fall into his lap, or his assistant Felicity doing them for him. I know a lot of detective work is boring and something we don’t necessarily want to read, but coming up with ideas and uncovering clues are prime aspects to test the protagonist and drive the story forward – watch any detective show on television for numerous engaging examples. This was a big miss for me.

I’m still getting a sexist vibe, and a little of that ‘things conveniently happening’ around Alec’s treatment of the cast, in addition to secondary characters popping into the story when relevant to the plot, but otherwise ignored… it feels like they’re being used but not developed, not allowed to become complex. It feels like lazy writing… so many missed opportunities.

But the narrative improved after the half way mark.

We re-visit the on-again, off-again thing with Alec and Felicity… its feeling tired. Was it done to drag their relationship out over a few more books? Something was missing in the tension between these two with ‘Shadow Land.’ And it was awkward – not between the characters Alec and Felicity, but in the writing. As much as I enjoy this world and the characters, I question whether Wright is rushing through the writing-publishing process to keep the momentum of sales for the Harbinger P.I. series instead of taking a little extra time to polish the manuscript.

Upon reaching the end of the book I wasn’t totally satisfied – there were so many new clues and elements introduced in ‘Shadow Land,’ and less than half were resolved. Great for getting me to continue with the series, but reflects badly on this novel alone. Plus, we end on a cliff hanger which was incentive enough for me to want to pick up ‘Midnight Blood’ – but some more resolution to the Mr Scary storyline would have been good – or the Cabal… just saying.

I was a little perturbed by the death of a paranormal towards the end as well – though it was explained – it felt unjustified, and frankly, rushed.

But the writing style is pleasant, and I like the folklore references. I wish we would delve more into the mythology of things. We are starting to get there as Alec was more involved in the research with Felicity. It’s nice to see he can actually do some detective work for himself because he tends to outsource a lot and spend much of the time wandering around thinking.

The pacing is good and the plot jumps all over the place as well. The point of view briefly switches to Sheriff Cantrell and then is daughter Amy (a deputy) interrupting the flow of a narrative and follow a story arc. It was interesting, and in the past few novels Wright has started to add in different characters perspectives… it doesn’t feel as cohesive as it should be though. And we jump from first person to third person narrative.

I did guess the puzzle to the main case solved in ‘Shadow Land’ in the first couple of chapters. I don’t know how, or why, maybe I’m getting tuned into Wright’s mind. So I guess that’s also why this wasn’t such an impactful novel for me.

Still, this is a guilty pleasure of mine. I love the supernatural elements and Wright’s take on the world of things that go bump in the night. Also, where has all the thing about Felicity becoming a fully-fledged P.I. gone? She’s back to acting like a glorified secretary again, and the sizzle between these two has left the pages. And it might be the feminist in me, but I’d really like to see Felicity play the hero apart from Alec, and not constantly running around providing answers before Alec even knew he needed them… how about he do it for himself and let her get into the action!

Still a really fun and interesting world. Wright puts his little twists on the preternatural that I find engaging and fascinating.

Overall feeling: Trying to ignore the flaws…

© Casey Carlisle 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Dead Ground’ (#4 Harbinger P.I.) by Adam Wright

The Preternatural Investigator is at it again….

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Detective

No. of pages: 200

From Goodreads:

When my old friend Jim Walker asks me to fly up to Canada and take a look at a strange murder case, it sounds like a good excuse for barbecue and brewskis. 

But the party gets crashed by a pit-load of demons and things take a turn for the worse. Throw a faerie queen and a couple of ancient vampires into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. 

Time to sharpen the stakes and start slaying the undead. 

Because if you gaze long into a vampire’s eyes, the vampire gazes also into you. 

Then it glamors you. And kills you.

Another instalment in the Harbinger P.I. series sees great twists at the end which redeemed this book in my eyes despite some issues I had in developing the plot and secondary characters. We get a heavy dose of paranormal happenings – witches, fairies, vampires, magical swords and spells.

There’s still more of the machismo that urks me in the narrative, but I am beginning to enjoy this series like b-grade 80’s horror films… there is something camp about it, and find it entertaining despite its faults. There is something addictive and compelling about the Harbinger series.

I wish there was more character development to help me care more about the characters. I’m starting to fall into a speed reading mentality just to find out what is going on because I’m not forming any attachments. This distinct lack of development of characters pulled in to aid protagonist Alex Harbinger in his quest, or in their relationships – they simply came to his aid without question whenever he asked. Even if it meant they could lose their lives. To this end it felt like they were merely a plot device, like Adam Wright couldn’t be bothered taking to time to grow a back story and help the reader develop an emotional attachment to the characters. Overall this was the biggest issue I had with the story.

To this end, while full of action and fast paced, I felt a little despondent at times. It was feeling a little repetitive. Again not enough is resolved and only little seeds of clues are mentioned for an overarching plot for the series. Much of what stood out to me about the prequels.

The books feel like they’ve been rushed to publish and not given the benefit of a good editor. Nonetheless, I’m becoming a fan and will continue to support the author. I am noticing improvements in his writing with each book in the series. It is starting to become a guilty pleasure with me. I have issues with the writing, but the concept, and potential of Adam Wright keeps me intrigued and coming back for more.

Really interested to see what his next release ‘Midnight Blood’ brings. I know Adam Wright has stated that its publication date has been pushed back because he’s moving house before the final edits, so maybe a fresh set of eyes and experience so far will push this sequel even further.

As much as I enjoy this series, I would only recommend it sparingly, but they are quick, adventurous, fun reads.

Overall feeling: Big on imagination, little on execution

© Casey Carlisle 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.