Grave Witch

Alex Craft Series, Book 1

By: Kalayna Price

Narrated by: Emily Durante

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Not even death can save her now. As a grave witch, Alex Craft can speak to the dead---she's even on good terms with Death himself. As a consultant for the police, she's seen a lot of dark magic, but nothing has prepared her for her latest case. When she's raising a "shade" involved in a high-profile murder, it attacks her, and then someone makes an attempt on her life. Someone really doesn't want her to know what the dead have to say, and she'll have to work with mysterious homicide detective Falin Andrews to figure out why.

©2010 Kalayna Proce (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[A] captivating series debut." ( Publishers Weekly)

Urban fantasy with a twist

Alex Craft is a grave witch--a witch able to summon the shades of the dead and question them--in an alternate present where magic and the Fae returned to the world about seventy years ago. One of the cascading effects of this change is that now there are more states in the USA, and Alex lives in one of them, Nekros.

Another effect is that there's an anti-Fae, anti-witches political party, the Humans First party. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Nekros are members of the Humans First party.

Lt. Governor Kane is Alex's father, a deeply buried secret neither of them wants revealed. It all gets very awkward when Governor Coleman turns up dead, and Alex notices something very, very peculiar about his body.

She's about to experience the worst week or so of her life, while she struggles to unravel a dark plot that endangers everyone she cares about, and even her estranged father and sister.

One of her friends is Death. Along the way she meets a ghost named Roy, who has his own reasons for wanting to stop the plot. Her landlord and friend, Caleb, is Fae, She also has human friends--Tamara, the coroner; Holly, a prosecutor; John, a police detective.

And then there's Falin Andrews, a police detective who just transferred into the department from some unspecified someplace else, who has been handed the case of investigating the Governor's death, and who may be friend or foe.

Alex has a lot of secrets to dig through. The obvious ones are who is behind the plot, and what the purpose of the plot is. Where did Falin Andrews come from and what are his real intentions?

There are Alex's own secrets.

There are also the family secrets that Alex doesn't even suspect yet.

It's a nicely intricate story, and Price put some real thought into the background without letting background overwhelm the story. The magic in this world has rules, and a price for using it. Also, to many fantasies that postulate such a big change in the world, treat it as something that would leave the rest of the world unchanged, no political or practical repercussions. Ms. Price hasn't done that; she's given some thought to how it would change the world.

This is a good, solid story, with interesting characters and an interesting world. Recommended.

I bought this book.

Good story

This was well written. I hope the next book has more magic and action. Here we go Part 2

My first read was great

This is my first book by Kalayna Price. I thought she did a great job with her story and the characters. She made the story suspenseful, thrilling and kept my attention from beginning to end. I felt like I knew the characters based on her description and her build of them. Her description of the people, places and things was in enough depth to not be boring and to not be overwhelming. I enjoyed this book and will be getting the next one soon.

Decent Story

Would you try another book from Kalayna Price and/or Emily Durante?

I would read another book by Kalayna Price, but I am not sure about listening to another book narrated by Emily Durante. She wasn't a bad narrator, just not my favorite and I didn't think her voice was right for the main character.

Would you recommend Grave Witch to your friends? Why or why not?

Most likely. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Discovery of Witches and books like that.

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

I didn't care for the performance as a whole.

Was Grave Witch worth the listening time?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I liked the story, but wish that the world building had occurred a little earlier. It wasn't until halfway through or so that I really understood how the world was set up and it had been something that I was wondering about the entire time.

Fun and easy 'read'...

I found myself laughing out loud at times and not wanting to put this one down. It was lighter than some in this genre but still very firmly within the expectations.

Great Start

I liked this book I gave it a 4. It was light listening and you didn't need to be too deep into it to know what was going on. I will definitely be listening to the next one.

Good story but....

Yall really need to get another narrator to be the voice of Alex. This one was slow & so monotonal I kept adjusting the speed so I wouldn't get bored.

is this a spin off of another series?

I'm wondering if this was a spin off series because many times in the book I felt like I was wandering into the middle of a conversation that I missed the beginning of. I also felt like the character development was a little choppy but if this is a spin off then that would explain everything. I enjoyed the premise of the book and hope to read more.

Light UF that is fun, but tropey

Grave Witch is the first book of the urban fantasy series featuring Alex Craft, who is, indeed, a grave witch with magical abilities is closely tied to the dead. What I like most about the book is that Alex is not a tough girl, like so many urban fantasy characters. She is unable to stifle her magical nature, so she makes the best of it by carving a niche for herself as a detective who retrieves information from the dead. She is not trying to be heroic, just helpful. However, in this book, trouble seems to find her.

The book has a light tone, with slight humor, that makes it a quick and easy read. The plot is well-paced with good action intermingled between discovery scenes. The characters are interesting, if a tad bit on the shallow side, but not badly drawn for the start to a series.

My favorite character has to be Death. He has this cool aura of mystery about him, implying deeper layers, yet the author does not reveal much about him. He is one of those characters that is distinctive, but whose purpose seems to be to help move the plot forward.

It is an enjoyable read, but I am forced to limit my rating to three stars due to the author falling into the annoying trope trap. First, there is the start of another silly love triangle. Gag. Then, there the heroine rushes heedlessly into danger despite having other options. Alex is not quite as stupid as some UF heroines, but she does make her share of poor choices.

Regardless, there is just enough here to hold my interest. I look forward to the next book and hope that the series will mature as it continues.

horrible narrator

story seemed interesting but the narrator was awful, she sounded like a robot. didn't finish it. I returned it and will get the book to read myself.