Poltergeist

Greywalker, Book 2

By: Kat Richardson

Narrated by: Mia Barron

This second novel in the acclaimed Greywalker series finds PI Blaine Harper investigating a chilling case as Halloween approaches. After university researchers create an artificial poltergeist, the team leader suspects someone is faking the phenomena. When a student is murdered, Blaine is asked to investigate. Stepping into the spirit world, she realizes the haunting may be very real. But that doesn't necessarily mean a ghost did the killing.©2006 Kathleen Richardson (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"A good addition to fantasy and mystery collections ..." ( Library Journal)

Meh

It’s getting better I guess. Honestly, I feel myself not really paying attention and it just runs in the background while I sleep or work out. I’m willing to give this series only ONE more chance.

Harper powers up

Loves the second in the series. Harper powers up on the Grey world as Will works in London. She has a reputation for being a good PI but also that she can handle the strange. Now she is being asked to debunk a poltergeist. What starts off as a easy task quickly morphs into a scary situation with ghosts and spirits abound. Even though she wants nothing to do with the vampires she can’t say no when it matters. I love Quinton.

Great story...horrible narrator

This story has wonderful potential however the narrator is really, really bad. She over enunciates, speaks too slowly at some points and just distracts from the story in general. You can hardly tell the characters apart in some cases.

Harper and the Grey

I liked this book better than the first one. Harper has started to understand the grey a little bit better, and she can actually use it to help her when interviewing people. I saw some people comment that Harper had gained greater knowledge of the grey between books with no explanation. That is true, but it only seems natural since this book picks up quite a bit after the first one ended.

My only problem with this series is still the oddness of the "Grey." I'm still not sure I like what Kat Richardson has created, but it is definitely different.

I still prefer the Dresden Files, but I do like this series better in one aspect. The Dresden Files stopped being quite as much a detective novel as an urban-fantasy novel. Where the greywalker series is still very much a detective novel.

Good Follow Up

I read the first book in the Greywalker series some time ago, and I remember I had very lukewarm feelings about it overall. I ran across the second book in the series and decided to give it a try. I am glad I did. I greatly enjoyed the second much more. I love a good P.I. mystery story and adding in the paranormal is an intriguing bonus. Plus, Harper is a great pov character. I am still a bit confused about how the otherworldly Grey works but so is Harper so I think the author did that on purpose. I love that Harper is a competent detective and does the best she can for her clients. The mystery in this book was interesting and well thought out. I greatly look forward to the next one.

My struggles with this series continue

I’d like to start this review off by first saying that I’m not 100% sure whether it’s the narration or the story that’s making me consistently rate this series 3 stars, so you might want to take my thoughts with a grain of salt until I figure that one out. Anyway, I think that I enjoyed this installment slightly less than its predecessor on account of all the psycho babble & lengthy experiment explanations. I felt like I was back in college listening to a professor drone on about a subject I couldn’t have cared less about. Kat Richardson’s approach to the paranormal seems to be largely academic in nature, and I’m not convinced that that writing style is well-suited for the Urban Fantasy genre.

One of the aspects that I enjoyed the most about GREYWALKER was Ben and Mara’s supe 101 sessions with Harper, yet they seem to have almost completely vanished in this installment. I’m not sure how much time has elapsed between novels—I may have missed it in the earlier chapters—but it can’t be more than a couple of months, and I found that Blaine’s grasp of her newfound abilities was far too advanced for book 2. She’s also suddenly full-out dating Will, and in a long distance relationship no less, after only a few weeks (?). Again, I’m not clear on the time frame, but it just felt off to me. I had to double-check to make sure that POLTERGEIST was indeed the second installment in this series.

I enjoyed the whodunit murder mystery even though I did find that it was a little too predictable because the suspect pool was restricted to the experiment participants. I also liked learning some of the tricks on the trade when Richardson explores how certain illusions are created; it’s clear that a lot of research went into this novel. Quinton is probably one of my favourite characters to date, and I was satisfied with the role he played in this story as well as Phoebe Mason’s. She’s a new addition, and I look forward to reconnecting with her in future installments. Will on the other hand… I honestly don’t see his appeal, and hope that Harper dumps his butt ASAP.

The narration was somewhat improved when compared to the previous audiobook. I thought that Mia Barron’s Jamaican accent was well-done, and her ‘baby’ voice wasn’t half-bad either, although too much of it would have definitely given me a headache. But to be fair, any 2 year old talking in my ear nonstop would, so that means that her performance was authentic. Barron’s portrayal of the vampire characters was still too over-the-top for my tastes, especially where Carlos was concerned; he came across as more Count Dracula than evil undead master.

In short, my struggles with this series continue, and if something doesn’t start to click soon, I may be calling it quits. POLTERGEIST felt more like a crime novel with paranormal elements mixed in than it did an Urban Fantasy which might be the crux of my problems with Harper Blaine.

Better than the first, much room for improvement

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

no. The story has weakness in it and there are inconsistencies in the storyline. Conversation is strained and many times not realistic in content or delivery.

Would you be willing to try another book from Kat Richardson? Why or why not?

yes, since there has been improvement from the first.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The Narrator has a long way to go to bring animation to some of the characters. Sometimes the mysterious/dangerous character sounds dull and boring.

Was Poltergeist worth the listening time?

It helped pass the time while driving 600 miles. That was about it

Just Doesn't Keep My Attention

Would you try another book from Kat Richardson and/or Mia Barron?

I have to since I bought the entire Greywalker series last Halloween sale.

What was most disappointing about Kat Richardson’s story?

It just doesn't flow well and feels dull.

Which scene was your favorite?

When a random character talks, she curses about every little thing.

Was Poltergeist worth the listening time?

No, but I played video games while I listened so I can actually do something I like during the time.

Any additional comments?

-The narrator did a great job accept she kept mis-pronouncing a name (Solis).

-The first book seemed outdated, but this 2nd book in the series seems more up to date with the times.

-The author has a very large vocabulary to pull from and she seems to know a lot about everything as if she did major research while writing this book.

-The story however was missing something and rather boring.

-If you like detective stuff than this may be the book for you.-However for me this book was too slow and non eventful.

Great story

Poltergeist is another great Greywalker novel that moves the story of Harper Blaine forward. I enjoyed it so much that I listened to it twice.
Mia Barron's performance is adequate. She reads female characters amazingly well, the character of Maura really came to life for me, but several of the male characters sounded whiny and inauthentic.

Characters too whiney or overly dramatic.

I love the story, and the reader is quite articulate but see review title above.