• Grave Dance

  • Alex Craft Series, Book 2
  • By: Kalayna Price
  • Narrated by: Emily Durante
  • Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (957 ratings)

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Grave Dance  By  cover art

Grave Dance

By: Kalayna Price
Narrated by: Emily Durante
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Publisher's summary

After a month spent recovering from a vicious fight with a sorcerer, grave witch Alex Craft is ready to get back to solving murders by raising the dead. With her love life in turmoil, thanks to the disappearance of Fae Investigation Bureau agent Falin Andrews and a shocking "L" word confession from Death himself, Alex is eager for the distractions of work. But her new case turns out to be a deadly challenge.

The police hire Alex to consult on a particularly strange investigation in the nature preserve south of Nekros City. The strange part: There are no corpses, only fragments of them. A serial killer is potentially on the loose, and Alex has no way to raise a shade without a body, so she’ll have to rely on the magic of others to find leads. But as she begins investigating, a creature born of the darkest magic comes after her. Someone very powerful wants to make sure the only thing she finds is a dead end - her own.

Investigate another paranormal case with Alex Craft.
©2011 Kalayna Price (P)2011 Tantor

What listeners say about Grave Dance

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Looking for more in the 3rd book

After a very good start in the first book Grave Witch I was expecting a lot. I have to say it did not quite measure up do that. That is not to say this is a boring book. It's not.
It was just not as fun as the first book.

Feet with missing bodies as well as ghosts, the plethora of interesting fay characters and politics should make this book more exciting and fun, however I found they muddy the story progress and made me loose focus. I also don't like the heroes(men in Alex's life) and that also distracts me. Haven't we have too much of "I am a special woman with mysterious/unique/strong powers and all the gorgeous men/fay/vampire/were love me" At least we have death as in grim leaper in the mix, which I haven't read in a while since Wizard in the Grove series

Anyway, I hope the story picks up more in the 3rd book!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent continuation of this story.

This is the second book in the Alex Craft series and it was even better than the first book. The third book, Grave Memory, is already out. The fourth book, Grave Visions, is expected to release in August 2013.

I listened to this on audiobook again and it was a very well done audiobook. The narrator does an excellent job narrating the different character voices and portrays character emotion well. Definitely a series I will keep listening to.

Alex is called to a scene by the police to investigate a case of left feet. Yep, someone is finding a whole bunch of left feet and Alex senses dark magic attached to them. As Alex starts to investigate this dark magic someone starts to come after her. They are sending evil constructs to attack her and those she cares about. She must figure out this dark magic before it’s too late.

This was an excellent continuation of this series. This book shifts from just dealing with Alex's grave magic to exploring Alex's connection with Fey. As with the last book there is a contained investigation that solved in this book and also a larger story that continues developing from the first book.

I really am enjoying how complex, creative, and interesting this world is. A lot of new excellent characters are added to the story. Additionally both Falin and Death get a lot of page space and we learn more background on both of them. Alex also learns more about her past.

Alex is a fun and complex character to read about. She keeps learning new and interesting things about both her fey and grave powers; yet she is human too. She still needs to eat and sleep to keep functioning. She has a dark sense of humor, which I enjoy.

I am not a huge fan of love triangles, but I can make an exception for Death and Falin. Both of these male leads are just so darn interesting. We learn a lot more about Falin in this book and he is a complex character indeed. Death is still mostly a mystery though, while we learn a bit more about him, most of Death’s character is still shrouded in shadow.

I also enjoy that Alex has a price to pay for using her magic. This reminds me a bit of Devon Monk’s Allie Beckstrom series and I love how having to pay a cost for magic balances out a character’s power.

The main investigation tied up nicely. The book is well written and easy to read. The whole story is very engaging and well-paced; never boring but never frantic either.

Overall I enjoyed this second book even more than Grave Witch. The world is complex and interesting, as are the characters. There are so many things to learn about and read about in this world, I was just absolutely sucked into the story. Highly recommended to fans of urban fantasy; especially to those who enjoy reading about the Fey.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Highly Entertaining. Hard to Put Down.

You know you have issues when your back up is a six pound dog and Death's minions.

High off her 15 minutes of fame after raising a shade on tv, business is booming at Tongues for the Dead. Unfortunately for Alexis Craft it seems like everyone wants a piece of her. The Nekros PD and independent fey want Alex to find a killer, the Winter Queen and Shadow King are trying to recruit her, mortal magical skimmers want to use her, while Death and Falin are trying to woo her.

Alexis Craft is up to her neck in.... Feet? Well, no one said her job was uninteresting. Alex is on the case of a serial murderer with a serious right foot fetish. Because only finding feet wasn't weird enough, they all had to be left feet. Unfortunately Craft can't raise a shade from foot alone, and any attempt Alex and her buddies at the NPD have made to find the bodies has yielded nothing. Literally. Like the feet only ever existed without an entire body. Of course this is only one of Alex's on going problems. It seems the Blood Moon ritual has awoken her Fey Soul. Craft is now finding it increasingly more difficult to lie, she is also developing a very annoying intolerance to iron, and her powers as well seem to be growing. Alex can now see across multiple plans of reality at once. This new ability not only makes her a hot commodity, it also puts her life in danger. But it's not like homicidal attempts are anything new for Alex. Especially when an abnormally high number of imaginary magical creatures keep trying to kill her. If the bad guys don't succeed her would be lovers might. Falin Andrews reappears after being MIA for a month, and the love triangle heats up with a little deathly drama as Mr. Muerte shows his interest and tries to keep the Queen's Bloodied Hands off Alexis.

Alex is going to have put her dancing shoes on to tango with the fey as she journeys into Fairy. To save her friends and herself she'll have to be quick witted and clever, while solving a few murder mysteries in the process, and finding the killers along the way.

Wow. Kalayna Price has really raised the bar in Grave Dance. The second installment of the gritty urban fantasy was packed with intricate storylines that keep you guessing until the end. Just when I thought Price had established her heroine she added layers to Alex's abilities and identity to create an even richer character. I really like how everything came together, as well as hints to future complications. Price planted a few plot points involving family, and lovers that I am looking forward to reading about. Grave Dance wasn't as fast paced as Grave Witch but there were a lot of action scenes. Alex's love life is still slow building and light compared to everything else, but what little of it there was, definitely leaves you wanting more.

Fans of the Fey genre will love this installment, since Grave Dance shifts the witchcraft focus to a predominantly more fairy one. But don't despair if your like me and like the witchy aspect, there's still plenty witch in Alex Craft. Overall this is a great sequel, another page turning edition that will leave you pining for the next edition.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Little too supernatural, not enough urban...

Well. I liked the first book much better than this one. I bought the first 3 books when they were all on sale, and - after this book - I am not sure I even want to bother with book 3. It isn't bad, however, it is just way too supernatural. I expect an urban fantasy to be set in the real world (hence the urban fantasy label), not be about a myriad of different supernatural beings and activities. I can put up with a supernatural creature or two, but once it gets into the silly realm I lose interest.

The 3-way romantic angst was, well, it also was okay I guess, but not really very believable. It probably doesn't help that I don't really believe the main character has real feelings about either of them, these emotions just come into play when they are required as a plot device, but if she really were smitten with one or both of them, these feelings would exist outside of when she needed a "connection" in order for them to save her. Yes, they did a lot of saving of her... she didn't really seem competent enough to save herself most of the time, so I don't know where the strong female lead from book 1 went.

Anyway, it is a supernatural-ized version of book one, with some romantic angst added as an afterthought (no sex though). I might not read the next book in the series, even though I already own it.

The narration is good. There was no sex or gore and I don't recall any swearing.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

This story is even better than the first. Alex Craft has interesting friends. I look forward to the third of the series. Good narrator.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Another addition of a great character

Continued focus around Alex Craft, her strange form of magic, grave magic. a strange love triangle between 3 unique humans (ish). Alex has a habit of getting herself into trouble, or trouble finding her, be it in work, love, general life, and it takes all of her and usually her friends skill and courage to get her out of it, and usually just by the skin of her teeth. Book two reveals more about Alex, the extra characters that surround her, introducing the reader / listener to more of the world the story is set in.

The only negative thing I can say about this and its something I run into with a lot of sequels, its the constant repeat of basic information from the previous book. its basically there as a refresher or to give a reader who didn't read the first one background. Since I tend to read series back to back it annoys me, but over all does not affect the book.

The Narrator is excellent voice for Alex Craft and defines the other characters and their emotions well.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My kind of series

I read the first of this series, and listened to this one. Have to say, I like this series either way. Although, with listening to it, I found my ears hurting, as I didn't want to give up til the book was done.
I like Alex, she's not a perfect heroine with all the answers, but seems to be making the right moves, until the book unfolds and you see where one good deed causes a whole lot of trouble in this world and faerie.
I like the men in her life too, but where it will go with either of them, is a mystery, but you can see a door slightly ajar, that can swing either way, or remain as is, which is the best for now. At any rate, the stories are interesting, with the right amount of mystery, action, romance, and supernatural happenings.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Okay Series

Respectable 2nd book for this series. I like lots of action & on a scale of 1 to 10 this rated a 4 on the action scale. That said it has an okay storyline. The main character has grave magic which allows her to raise shades & to see death. The plot drags a little in a few scenes but overall it was worth a credit. I'll listen to the next book in the series at some point after I get through several others on my list. The narrator is okay. Not distracting but doesn't really add anything to the listen. Others have rated this series as 4/5 but I just don't get that.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

absolutely fantastic series!

Grave Dance was everything I hoped and more! absolutely captivating world and characters. My only wish is that Alex could find the kind of man she deserves that could return her love completely.

I do love Falin and Death but Akex deserves so much more.

I love the character growth and I can't wait for more! I am so glad I found this series and I highly recommend it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just Dancing Along

Yet again, this series has been showing me a good time! I kind of miss the ghost/spirit/ mystery-solving aspect of this particular volume, but I also greatly enjoy learning more about the different realms and Faerie. I'm really excited to see what's going to happen next in the series.

I guess that the only thing that took me out of this fun experience was that some of the plot points and events in this novel don't get covered or explained after the fact (they'll probably be explained in later novels, but it seemed like a lot of little things added up--I guess what I'm saying is that there a good deal of tiny, loose ends). Oh, and maybe some more backstory on the big baddy(ies) of the book would have been nice.

Otherwise, I have books 3 and 4 in my library just ready to be listened to.

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