An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris

This new series by Charlaine Harris imagines an alternative history for the United States that evokes a dystopian Wild West feel.

Title: An Easy Death
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Gunnie Rose, Book 01
Publish Date: October 2, 2018, by Saga Press
Genre: Urban fantasy, western fantasy
Narrator: Eva Kaminsky
Source: Purchased

Publisher’s Description: Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life.

As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive.

Possible spoilers beyond this point.

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Invested Ivana says…

I’m never quite sure how I will react to the first book in a new series. Sometimes I adore it, sometimes I feel more cautious. It all depends on how invested I feel in the new world and characters.

With An Easy Death, I feel reserved, though I enjoyed it quite a lot. I was quite invested at the start of the book, where Harris shows us Lisbeth’s day-to-day life. Then that life is taken away from her, introducing the conflict in the story. Maybe that made me a bit gun-shy.

Eli and Pauline, the other two primary characters, aren’t ones I feel easy with. I’m not supposed to, as the reader, as Lisbeth isn’t herself. She’s never sure of their trustworthiness and intentions. But she has to work with them anyway to fulfill her contract and protect herself.

Since the book is told from Lisbeth’s perspective, perhaps I feel reserved because we know very little about Eli’s world, even though it has the potential to affect Lisbeth greatly. It will be interesting to see if future books let Lisbeth explore the world of the Russian wizards, or if she’ll have more adventures in the former southern US.

Though I feel reserved about the start of this series, I am looking forward to seeing where it goes. 4 Stars.

Other recommendations…

The Shadow series by Lila Bowen, The Devil’s West series by Laura Anne Gilman, or the Dark Alchemy/Wildlands series by Laura Bickle.

Playing Catch-Up: Fifteen-Second Reviews by Ivana

I have been a BAD book reader and reviewer for the last couple of years, but now I’m trying to catch up! I’ve listened to a lot of audiobooks that I haven’t reviewed yet. I MEANT to review them, but… life, ya know? Anyway, in an effort to get caught up, I’m going to do some fifteen-second reviews – just a quick note about some of the books I’ve read and whether I liked them or not. I’ll do longer reviews when I reread some of them, which I’m sure I will.

The Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan – purchased from Audible. FABULOUS!! I thoroughly enjoyed all five books plus the short story. I loved the perspective of a Victorian naturalist, and I appreciated the issues of being a woman working a field traditionally male and having less sentiment and more ambition than other females.

Conspiracy of Ravens by Lila Bowen – purchased from Audible. Great follow-up to Wake of Vultures. This western paranormal/urban fantasy is intriguing, both because of the gender identity issues it addresses and the Old West setting. Robin Miles is fantastic as the narrator of this series. I’m eagerly awaiting book 3, Malice of Crows, in audio (the audio is two books behind; what’s up with that?).

The Trouble with Fate by Leigh Evans – purchased from GraphicAudio.net. I liked this urban fantasy story, but GraphicAudio does have to abridge books because of their unique format, and I felt this one suffered a bit from it; the romantic relationship between the main protagonists seems to progress too fast. I want to pick up the Kindle version and read in unabridged format sometime soon.

The Magician by Raymond E. Feist – purchased from Audible. I am so excited that the original Riftwar tales finally came out for Kindle and audio. I last read Magician (Apprentice and Master) in high school or college, and there was a lot to the story I didn’t remember, so it was almost like experiencing it for the first time.

Midnight Texas series by Charlaine Harris – purchased from Audible. The first time I read Midnight Crossroads, the first book in this series, I thought it was slow and uneventful. But I later listened to all three books all in a row, and really loved them. It’s a quieter story than Sookie, but no less interesting once you get invested in the characters.

I Can’t Make This Up by Kevin Hart – purchased from Audible. Listening to Kevin Hart narrate his own book is hysterical. The story of his struggles to succeed and to deal with his growing fame are interesting and contain some good lessons. I particularly love it when he goes off script or starts laughing at himself. I’m so glad those parts aren’t edited out; they really enhance the listening experience.

Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines – purchased from GraphicAudio.net. Terminal Alliance is the first in a sci-fi series called The Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse. With a name like that, I expected a full-on, Douglas Adams-esque comedy. While it has it’s funny moments, Terminal Alliance was more serious than I expected and a very good story. GraphicAudio’s radio-play style, with individual character voices and sound effects, really enhanced the story. I can’t wait for the next book.

Believe Me by Eddie Izzard – purchased from Audible. Izzard gets very introspective in this memoir, identifying what has shaped him since childhood and how those things have contributed to the person he has become. He goes off-script a lot, which is just delightful for the listener. I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir.

A Wrinkle in Time & A Wind in the Door by Madeline L’Engle – purchased from Audible. I was pretty excited when the newest movie version of A Wrinkle in Time came out. But it seems no version can live up to my childhood memory. So I thought I’d go back to the original trilogy. My first observation is that NO movie is going to do these books justice because so much of the story is internal to the characters, rather than external and observable. My second observation is that the religious overtones (which some sources say were not originally part of the story, but were forced upon it by the publisher) were annoying. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish the third installment. I will always have nostalgia for these books, but they didn’t hold up well for me as an adult. That made me a little sad.

Indexing & Reflections by Seannan McGuire – purchased from Audible. McGuire never fails to build an awesome world. In this series, a team of investigators track down and stop instances of “memetic incursion: where fairy tale narratives become reality, often with disastrous results.” These books were part of the Kindle Serials program, which is now defunct along with this series, but I really wish it wasn’t. The premise of these books is incredibly clever, and the writing is excellent. I really want to read more.

The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Intergalactic Insurance Agent by Larry Correia – purchased from Audible. This is a hilarious, absurd, weird, and totally entertaining sci-fi comedy in the vein of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Plus, listening to Adam Baldwin narrate is a hoot! It’s a shortie at just over two hours, so perfect for a car trip.

Menagerie and Spectacle by Rachel Vincent – purchased from Audible. These books are totally amazing! Incredibly good and incredibly depressing at the same time. Vincent builds a richly diverse world and then fashions the humans who exploit that diversity for personal gain. But I have to say that my revenge fantasies are well-sated by the nature of the protagonist, and that book 3, Fury, promises even more bloody justice. I’ll be rereading these two books, with reviews, soon because Fury just came out, and I’m super excited to read it.

I’m getting back into the groove, so watch for more fifteen-second and full reviews coming soon!

Cemetery Girl: Inheritance by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden

For the second book in Charlaine Harris’s and Christopher Golden’s Cemetery Girl series, I paired the audio from GraphicAudio.net with the graphic novel itself for a unique experience.

Title: Inheritance (graphic novel, audio)
Author: Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden
Series: Cemetery Girl Book 02
Publish Date: Oct 6, 2015, Jan 11, 2016 (audio)
Genre: Graphic Novel, Paranormal Mystery
Source: Purchased

Publisher’s Description: She calls herself Calexa Rose Dunhill. She has been living—hiding out—in Dunhill Cemetery ever since someone left her there to die. She has no idea who wants her dead or why, but she isn’t about to wait around for her would-be killer to finish the job.

Despite her self-imposed isolation, Calexa’s ability to see spirits—and the memories she receives from them—guarantees she’ll never be alone, even among the deceased. The only living people she allows herself to interact with are Kelner, the cemetery’s cantankerous caretaker, and Lucinda Cameron, an elderly woman who lives in an old Victorian house across the street. With their friendship, Calexa has regained a link to the world beyond tombstones and mausoleums.

Until the night she witnesses a murder that shatters her life—a life now under a police microscope—as their investigation threatens to uncover Calexa’s true identity…

Possible spoilers beyond this point.

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Invested Ivana says…

I had such a great time listening to the first graphic novel in this series that I decided, for the second, I’d both listen to it AND view the graphic novel at the same time. I thought it would be interesting to see the images and hear the story at the same time.

I wasn’t wrong. It was fun to see what visual cues the GraphicAudio.net folks used when creating sound effects or extra dialog for the audio.  Since this is essentially a short story, there is no need to abridge the book, so all parts of the story are included.

The story itself moves Calexa a bit closer to having to face the past that landed her in the cemetery with no memory of her former life.  A third confidant is added to Calexa’s small circle of “friends.” And another layer of mystery is added to the story—someone seems to be searching for Calexa. But is it someone from her family, or the person that tried to kill her?

I’ll certainly be keeping my eye out for Book 3 in this series, in both formats, I really like the idea of making graphic novels into audios.  I’ll never be a huge fan of the graphic novel format because it just isn’t meaty enough for me, but I’m really enjoying the audio version of these books.

Cemetery Girl Part 1: The Pretenders

Title:  The Pretenders
Author: Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden
Series: Cemetery Girl Part 1
Publish Date: October 27, 2014
Publisher: GraphicAudio
Genre: Graphic Novel Urban Fantasy
Perspective: First Person

Publisher’s Description: She calls herself Calexa Rose Dunhill—names taken from the grim surroundings where she awoke, bruised and bloody, with no memory of who she is, how she got there, or who left her for dead.

She has made the cemetery her home, living in a crypt and avoiding human contact. But Calexa can’t hide from the dead—and because she can see spirits, they can’t hide from her.

Then one night, Calexa spies a group of teenagers vandalizing a grave—and watches in horror as they commit murder. As the victim’s spirit rises from her body, it flows into Calexa, overwhelming her mind with visions and memories not her own.

Now Calexa must make a decision: continue to hide to protect herself—or come forward to bring justice to the sad spirit who has reached out to her for help…

Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel (in other words, SPOILERS!).

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Invested Ivana says…

I have a love/hate relationship with graphic novels.  Some of them, particularly the artsy ones or ones that depict short stories from series I already read, seem so compelling–beautiful art, intriguing story–and I really want to read them.

But when I do, I find them completely unsatisfying, like eating one potato chip when you’re starving.  There just isn’t enough story in a graphic novel to satisfy me.  In spite of all the beautiful art, I’m looking for the words.  Many times I have to make myself go back and look at the pictures carefully because I just skimmed past them looking for more words.

When the Cemetery Girl series by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden was launched, I was again intrigued.  Two great authors and a southern cemetery ought to be enough to intrigue anyone!  But I hesitated; why buy another graphic novel when I know I would just be disappointed?

So, when I saw that GraphicAudio had produced an audio version of Harris and Golden’s graphic novel, I was even more intrigued.  How on earth could one make an audio recording – all words – out of a visual graphic novel?  Well for $5, I was willing to find out.

And let me tell you: it’s brilliant! For me, anyway, it’s a beautiful blend of imagery—invoked by sound—and story.  The story itself is beautifully told and the atmosphere that is created by the different characters, the background sounds, and even the volume and quality of the voices makes the story so very rich.

I have not yet seen the original graphic novel, but now that I’ve listened to it, I really want to sit down with the graphic, looking at the pictures while listening to the audio.  I think that would be an amazing experience and give me both the words I’m looking for and the freedom to really look at the art.

The story itself runs a bit over an hour, but GraphicAudio has included an interview with Harris and Golden at the end of the story that is an incredibly fun listen.

I’m just starting to explore what GraphicAudio has to offer, but so far I’m really enjoying their version of the audiobook.  I think they did an amazing job with The Pretenders and can’t wait for the next installment of Cemetery Girl.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

No promotional consideration was granted for this review.