Better than the first in the series. The writing and dialogue are both done well with just enough humor to keep you grinning and turning the pages. There were several passages where I honestly didn't know how Joanne Walker, the main character, got from one point to another. But by the time I was questioning, something else had already grabbed my attention and I didn't mind as much. Great story, and I am eagerly anticipating more from this series and the author. ( )

Second in the Joanne Walker “Urban Shaman” paranormal series. I listened to the audio book version of this one, the second of my free downloads from Audible.com that came with my MP3 player. At first I found the reader’s voice to be very annoying and contemplated stopping listening, but after awhile I got used to it, and the storyline became the focus rather than the voice. The story begins with Joanne discovering a young woman dead in the showers at the University where she is taking fencing lessons and continues with forays into the mystical world as Joanne acquires a teacher to help her get control of her Shamanic powers. The supporting cast were more fleshed out in this book and I felt like we were getting to know Joanne better, too (and I really like her!) although the frequent descriptions of the ‘spirit world’ got somewhat repetitive at times. I also find her relationships with the men in the book, particularly her boss and Gary, her elderly cab driver friend, a bit confusing. I will definitely continue to read on in this series, whether in printed form or another audio. ( )

Not bad... I can't say I like this series as much as the Retrievers series by Laura Anne Gilman though, which I find similar enough that I get some of the characters mixed up between the two series. :( It's really just the two main characters, Joanne and Wren, that seem pretty similar to me.

In this second installment in the series (3rd if you count the short story appearing in the Winter Moon anthology), we start off with Joanne trying to deny her powers (again!) because of what happened last time in the first novel. Some of the same things that bothered me there bother me here as well, with the main character suppressing her powers rather than embracing them. But since it's a story involving magic, which happens in our world in the here and now, I can't keep away. :P And I've got a lot of hope for this series going forward. ( )

second in the series after Urban Shaman ( )

Really, all I can say is "Meh". Not bad, but certainly not great either. I read the first half, then got kind of bored and skim read to the end. It's a very good premise, but I don't think the execution works for me. ( )