Kat Richardson

I just finished "Underground". This is Kat Richardson's third novel of her 'Greywalker' series and I love it! Her heroine reminds me a bit of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake...without the sexcapades...or the guilt...or the constant killing. Ok, maybe not Anita Blake. Richardson's heroine is a strong character who wrestles with her choices while always trying to do the right thing...even when it's not the most comfortable thing.

Harper died...for about two minutes. When she came 'back', she show more came back with the ability to see what she calls the Grey, that realm between the worlds where time and space aren't quite the same. She also has the ability to 'slide into' the Grey...where she can see ghosts and the past overlaid on the present, and magic and energies have color and weight...very hard to describe, but very well done! In the first book "Greywalker", Harper tries to find out why the world is now so different to her, and how she can come to grips with what's happened to her. The second book "Poltergeist" had Harper learning a bit more about her abilities and the 'rules' of the Grey and it's also where Harper finds out there are more creatures 'living' in both worlds than she ever knew! Each book has a mystery and Harper earns her living as a private investigator, so by now we know that when a 'case' gets dropped in Harper's lap, there's going to be something a big, or a lot, strange about it.

This time something is killing the homeless in Seattle's Underground. When her friend Quinn worries that he may be connected to the case, he asks Harper for her help. What these two find out while investigating isn't pretty, but it IS pretty darn dangerous. Harper also has to deal with a few vampires, a witch or two, some necromancers, ghosts galore, creatures from Native American folklore, and her boyfriend who knows nothing about Harper's 'other' life...and doesn't want to.

This series has sucked me in but good. As soon as I pick up the new book I'm out of touch with this world until I finish. Harper is someone I'd like to have a beer with...as long as she assured me there weren't any unseen things hanging about! If you like fantasy, give Harper a shot. The first two books are in paperback, but this one is only available in hardcover. I have all three on my 'keeper' shelf! show less

"Greywalker" introduces you to your heroine Harper Blaine and the world of the Grey where shadows of history walk among us as "ghosts" without our knowledge. The Paranormal exists on a separate plane that few can see and even less enter and interact. Harper, a Private Investigator, finds that she can do just that after a brief brush with death. his book is well written but can at times get fairly scientific in its explanations of the physics of the Grey. Makes for a slower read since you show more have to "think" about what the characters are talking about. However, this by no means takes away from the story and plot line. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a mystery with a little paranormal mixed in. show less

Kat Richardson’s Greywalker series is noir at its finest; and it reaches the darkest tones ever in the fifth book, Labyrinth. In fact, this book is unrelievedly dark, scary and suspenseful. Richardson topped herself with the fourth book in this series, Vanished; now she has topped herself yet again.

Labyrinth requires one to have read the earlier books in the series; it does not stand well by itself. In fact, I was astonished to find how many clues Richardson had lain about her fictional show more detective, Harper Blaine, as she told her earlier stories. The way she marshals all of the details previously set out reminded me of the way a lawyer writes a motion for summary judgment – grabbing this detail from that document, another from this deposition, a third from a bit of investigation by an expert, until they’re all woven together to form an airtight case – only here, what Richardson is doing, is formulating a plot that seems inevitable once all the clues have been assembled. It is skillfully done.

In Labyrinth, Harper returns home from London only to step into a nest of snakes – well, vampires, actually – immediately upon her return. Within the first fifteen pages of the book, Harper is attacked by a man – and I use the word “man” loosely – who wants her dead so that she can once again be resurrected, this time with further abilities to not only see but manipulate the Grey, the netherworld between life and death, the place where ghosts dwell and psychic energy has appearance, color and shape. Harper survives that encounter, but is forced to go into hiding at the same time she must be out and around in order to conclude her investigation and make sure she and her friends survive. Fortunately, the vampires she must avoid sleep during the day, but that isn’t sufficient protection when the Grey is constantly clamoring in her head, ever louder, and blood mages who remain fully human are laying traps.

Richardson has shown herself to be an able researcher in Blaine’s past outings, and, while history and geology are less necessary to this plot than in the earlier novels, she uses what information she needs here very well. Her mastery over her character and her character’s past is impressive as she weaves a tight net over Harper, but rarely lets Harper lose control. When Harper is overcome from time to time, Richardson makes us understand and even feel it, telling Harper’s story almost as if she is narrating a documentary instead of writing fiction.

I stayed up late a couple of nights in a row to finish this book, and would have stayed up through the first night to read it all if it hadn’t been that my husband, slumbering beside me, would probably not have appreciated a comatose wife on Thanksgiving Day. It is compelling; the writing propels you from event to event, and being able to listen in on Harper’s torment as the Grey reaches ever more deeply into her brain, her body and her soul is fascinating and frightening.

I don’t know where Richardson is going to take Harper next. It's hard to imagine that she could again reach the peaks she's attained with Labyrinth. I’m definitely signing up for the next tour, though, because Richardson has earned a devoted follower in me. show less

Kat Richardson’s GREYWALKER series perfectly unites the classic private investigator mystery with the paranormal fantasy. The mysteries are rigorous within the rules of the paranormal realm Richardson has invented; her background research is broad and utilized well; and her characters become deeper and more interesting with every new novel. The latest in the series, Seawitch, gives us insight into the character of Detective Rey Solis of the Seattle Police Department, who has been a pain in show more the side for PI Harper Blaine in the past, but who becomes more of an ally and even a friend.

Seawitch begins with Harper receiving an assignment from an insurance company: why has the yacht Seawitch returned to its home port 27 years after it went missing, presumably taking all of its passengers to a watery grave? The insurance company has long since paid the resulting claim, and it wants to know where the boat has been all this time; it suspects fraud, and it wants to prosecute someone for it. The boat is unmanned, making its reappearance inexplicable, but insurers don’t believe in the inexplicable.

Harper meets up with Solis when she approaches the boat for a preliminary examination, and is surprised to see him there. This isn’t a plum assignment, after all, and Solis is pretty much entitled to whatever plums the Seattle Police Department has, having recently been promoted to detective sergeant. Harper gets the creeps as soon as she sets foot on the boat; when she is suddenly drenched with seawater — not seawater from the sea, she’s just immediately drenched from an invisible wave while below the deck — Solis is stunned. As Harper says, “it’s one thing to imagine someone you know is a little on the weird side and a different thing entirely to have it thrust upon you in a hallway the size of a Volkswagen’s backseat.” That’s only the beginning of the weirdness that is visited on Harper during her exploration of the boat, though, and Solis learns that Harper “sometimes ha[s] little disagreements with… um, with reality. And physics.”

It’s the beginning of a wild ride for Solis, as well as for Harper. Mermaids and otters play roles, though the mermaids have little in common with Ariel of Disney fame (save for beauty) and the otters aren’t nearly as delightful as those you’ll find at your local aquarium. Richardson’s plot is intricate, requiring readers to stay on their toes to try to figure out what’s going on here before Harper and Solis do, but not so complicated as to make reading a chore. The sea voyage that comprises the final third of the book makes one realize that the waters of Puget Sound, which seem relatively tame when viewed on a tranquil summer afternoon from ashore, are dangerous and even deadly. What we learn about Solis along the way makes this an even more complex work, giving him so much more shaping and shading that he has become a character of nearly equal import to Harper. Seawitch is a fine addition to the GREYWALKER series, and you’ll finish it already longing for the next one.

This review was previously published at Fantasy Literature: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/seawitch/ show less