Robin Murphy (2)

I love how the opening of this book puts you right into Marie’s world. There is a bit of back story to catch up on, but it flows really well within the story. Right away you are introduced to the SIPS team and find out about Marie’s Psychic gifts. Each of the SIPS characters is colorful, an infectious eclectic mix of personalities and strengths. You quickly become attached to them. Though a paranormal thriller, I think it is heavy on the paranormal and light on the thriller. The mystery show more has a strong basis and the story is well written. It is missing some of the suspense and red herrings usually found in the genre. It is almost as if the suspense is just a backdrop for the paranormal and romantic aspects of the story to shine. This was a terrific introduction to the series and quite an entertaining read

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review show less

Book 3 in the SIPS series is an enigma to me. Of course I enjoyed hanging out with the team once again. They are fun bunch, like old friends. The story veered from the usual formula, which wouldn’t be necessarily be a bad thing, except that it was kind of muddled. It seems like that author wrote herself into a corner with her carryover from book two and no idea how to move past it. Though it was handled fairly well, to me, it just didn’t have a place in Kelly’s story. The main story show more about Kelly, was fantastic and I really think she should have her own book or even a series of books because she, along with Nick Lowry, has great potential as a character. It just seems the SIPS team was wholly unneeded for this mystery, except in the most peripheral ways and could have gone home after their own investigation was finished.

Once again the team’s paranormal investigation, the reason for the visit to Washington, was top notch with lots of details and information for the arm chair paranormal investigator to enjoy and, despite the sad turn of events, it is fun seeing Marie’s talents expand and the relationships among the team grow stronger. There is plenty here for SIPS fans to enjoy.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review show less

This is the second book in Marie's side job as a paranormal investigator. Not having read the first story didn't impact my understanding of what transpired in this book. I love the paranormal and occult,, so I was looking forward to, what I hoped, would be a good story. And there couldn't have been a better setting then New Orleans, the home of Voodoo and static worshippers. Robin Murphy furnished some interesting details about New Orleans and the different types of satanic ceremonies.

My show more favorite character was Gale, Marie's best friend. She's quick to jump to conclusions, and usually ends up with her foot in her mouth. She also sounds like she'd be a blast to party with. The story did move along at a fairly even pace, and there were a few minor plot twists.

My biggest complaint about the story was the writing. There wasn't one bit of internal dialogue anywhere. Not even for Marie, the main POV. Internal dialogue is how the reader gets to know the characters, how they feel, how the events happening around them are effecting them. Robin Murphy did try to personify her characters via actions, like popping a piece of gum into her mouth, or shifting in her chair. Those types of actions are just that, actions. They don't help the reader get involved with the characters. Because of that lack of attachment, the story fell flat. Whatever suspense or drama we, as the reader, were supposed to feel just wasn’t there. At times, I felt like I was reading a screenplay, not a book.

Anyway, I couldn't get involved with the story or characters, and I found this to be an average read. I give it 3 feathers. show less

I read this book via an Amazon KINDLE Unlimited download.

Besides being the rather voracious book reviewer, I am, I also happen to be an author with three books under my belt under two names. But getting to this point had been somewhat of a rather intimidating experience, at least for the first time I had to navigate the course in seeing my manuscript published, holding the book in my hands as I inhaled the invigorating aroma of the fresh ink on its print page.

The path leading to becoming show more published can at times be rather confusing if not overly complicated, and those who are willing to undertake this journey need to have some guidance in this matter. Ms. Murphy, in writing this book, desires to educate her readers in fulfilling this dream.

As with most things, the information which needs to be communicated regarding this matter cannot be simply dumped in front of someone and expect them to be able to understand everything on their own. The information needs to be spoon-fed in dosages which will be proven to be useful by the individuals receiving it; which is what this book does with the realistic, practical and comprehensible manner in which it has been written.

But, the author doesn’t stop here, she continues by providing useful information regarding what happens and needs to be done, once a book has seen the light of day. This includes the unending process of marketing/promoting the book on the multitude of available media sites, which includes creating the items to be used in this process, such as book trailers for YouTube, and elsewhere. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, which is why Ms. Murphy has included pictures, illustrations, diagrams, etc to get her information across.

Having already traveled this path to book publication on my own, I can see the benefits this book provides for newbie authors, and why I’ve given this book and Ms. Murphy 5 STARS. show less