Spells for the Dead

Soulwood, Book 5

By: Faith Hunter

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 16 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Nell Ingram faces a dark magic with no known origin in the newest pulse-pounding paranormal procedural in the New York Times best-selling Soulwood series. 

Nell is a rookie PsyLED agent, using the powers she can channel from deep within the earth to solve paranormal crimes. Together with her team, she's taken on the direst magic and the most twisted foes. But she'll need to tap into every ounce of power she has for her newest case. 

Nell is called to the Tennessee mansion of a country music star and finds a disturbing scene - dead bodies rapidly decaying before everyone's eyes. The witch on her team, T. Laine, has never seen magic that can steal life forces like this. PsyLED needs to find this lethal killer fast. But when a paranormal-hating FBI agent tries to derail the investigation and the dark magics begin to spiral out of control, they find themselves under attack from all sides.

©2020 Faith Hunter (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

Just Perfect

I'm just a mediocre fan of the author's famous Yellowrock series which means I read them but may not preorder or get them on Audible. Her Soulwood series however has a special place in my heart. It is imaginative and full of adventure but isn't plagued with the over abundance of political vampire machinations which drives Yellowrock despite it being set in the same world.

This installment continues the Soulwood saga with plenty of adventure, mystery and heart. It may be the best Soulwood novel to date. The story is jam-packed with both battles and revelations, teamwork and romance. We get to know much more about the characters. In the spirit of a fair review I usually list a novel's main shortcoming. In this case there really is nothing to list. As long as you've read the preceding novels in the series this story and prose should satisfy. Yes, I think Faith Hunter has written the perfect Soulwood book while still leaving plenty of space for more adventures. I certainly hope there's more to come.

The solid performance of Ms. Hvam, the narrator, compliments the story and blends with her earlier narration of the series while lending believability to the protagonist's emotional and physical maturation within the series. I enjoyed listening to this book.

Absolutely amazing book with an Amazing narrator!

Spells for the Dead id book five in the Soulwood series and it does not disappoint!! The narrator is amazing and truly brings this book to life.

Nell has evolved so much throughout this series and has truly come into her in. She stretches the limits of her oaowers in ways she never thought possible and so many things about her nature come to light.

I love The Green Knight and the complicated relationship it has with Nell has as she learns to understand this sentient tree created by her power. I love how Soulwood seems to grow more and more powerful with Nell and she has learned to connect with it even when away.

The world and character development is off the chart as this team becomes a tight knit unit built on genuine trust and love.

Absolutely brilliant writing and I can hardly wait for the next installment. Also the book is absolutely amazing and it's a must have if you love a good read! I have both read the book and listened to the audio twice and hands down this is the best one yet... and Occam oh my what a catch for Nell he is the perfect man/catman for her and I just love their relationship and the devotion they have for each other.

I love you to the full moon and back

I've followed this series and look forward to it, but this is probably the last for me. The majority of the reviewers love this story, so it's most likely me getting burnt-out on a series. So if you love the series, don't let me discourage you. I'll just share my gripes, to explain my 3 stars.
The "death and decay" mystery was a boring one, not creating much action to the story, people just dying and turning to goo. Nell sinking her hands into the ground to solve problems, doesn't excite me at all, not like a good sword or were-cat fight. I could have screamed with Ocam's sappiness and "I love you to the full moon and back". Ugh, enough already.
The church group always annoys me, I was hoping the author would phase them out, but looks like we're just moving them more to the focus of this series, so time for me to move on.
I still love Jane, so hopefully that series will remain tough.

Not my favorite but still good

I miss Jane Yellowrock. I enjoy still being able to peek into this world but it's not as satisfying as the other stories. I also find her powers hard to follow.

Need a sleep aid?

I give this rating with a heavy heart. But Spells For The Dead deserves it. This book is so extremely boring. Slow. And Uninteresting. 💤😴There is no action, no love, no drama, or suspense.

Nell came from a background where she and another woman were sleeping with the same man inside the same house... but she cant handle pictures of a threesome. Really? She was a complete prude in this story and it just added to my frustration with such a slow story.

We get a rehash of one of Nells sister growing leaves and the church folk freaking out. Are we gonna get this same story everytime one of them comes of age?

least favorite

I've loved these stories so far but this one was my least favorite. in the previous books there was a lot more character building for the rest of the team. They also had more of an ensemble feel to them, like the whole team contributed to the case. But not with this one, Nell made every single breakthrough in the case despite still basically being a rookie. Maybe it was trying to add two new character to the cast Firewind and Nell's older sister, just didn't leave enough room for the team to shine. The separation of Nell's Sister and Brother-in-law felt very sudden since the last we heard of him, he'd supported the Ingrams in the change in Church leadership and loved his wife immensely.

Loved it.

This story was well worth waiting for. The further development of the superb characters, along with a great imaginative story line, was a pleasure to read. I only hope there are more in the series!!!

Law and Order

Wow this was like a episode of law and order supernatural edition the twist after twist and The Who’s and who’s and even more twists but it easy to follow along and yeah there was quit of a bit of fuller here and there :(

so worth the wait

I love all of Faith Hunters series. The soulwood series is my newest love. Kristen Hvam is a true jewel .This book series is worth the listen.

Horrifying, action-packed suspense

What fun to watch Nell evolve into an effective agent, despite what she has had to overcome to do so. Her oldest sister’s character has also developed in this book. Upline supervisor Ayatas’ personality is revealed a bit, giving readers some history, which makes him seem a little less stiff. Great book altogether.

Love it!

This series it amazing and this book is the best. It is absolutely phenomenal !!!

love this series.

this spin of is one of my favourite series out there at the moment. and this installment is entirely inkeeping with the rest of the books. Worth a listen or read any time.

Excellent!

Another fantastic book in this series with Nell Unit 18!and the Nicholson family... we learn more about fire wind and this book warmed me in my soul ... a must read

Absolutely love these series

I Can't put any of this authors book series down.
Can't recommend them enough!
I hope there will be more books in this universe. I love how they are all connected!

Nells' magical growings on resume in style....

I came late to Jane Yellowrocks adventures which must have been just the right time becsuse I just couldn't stop reading them. Then Soulwood and Nell just more fabulous writing and this book is my 1st ever on Audible and I was very happy with the experience. Spells....is a natural continuation and deeper character exploration with more descriptive passages of Nell using her powerful magics. Overall the book for me exceeded my expectations. My paperback copy of course joins Janes and Nells other books on my bookshelf.

Just keeps getting better.

Fantastic instalment in the Soulwood series. Once again Kristine Hvam knocks it out of the park, The main characters are still so likeable and continue to grow as their stories progress. Even the vampire tree develops and becomes a sympathetic figure in the plot. As always Mud is hilarious, Occam is 'wonderful', and Unit 18 is as cohesive and united as ever. I adore the Jane Yellowrock Series (even have a Jane/Beast tattoo), but Nell is fast catching up with the Vampire Hunter. Hope to see more of Esther and Firewind in the next book.

Plant lady

Although this is great story, Faith Hunter seems to like using 30 words when 3 or 4 would be better!
She apparently believes that her readers can not remember a description from the paragraph before, so gives another full length explanation. If she is payed by the word count , she is tripling her fee. But I am feeling very tired from this. So I will no longer by be purchasing any more books of hers.

Really enjoyed listening to this one

Narration is top notch as always.

The story had me hooked from the start and the different ways the investigation took with its supernatural element was cleverly done.

Exciting, action packed

Great book series I love the love story so sweet and chased there no TMI which I think some other book series have and I route for them every book and definitely can’t wait for what’s going to happen next. The mystery is always interesting and exciting. Well worth a read or listen to.

Another good book from Faith Hunter

Always enjoy Faith Hunter's books. Keeps you enthralled to the end. Looking forward to the next book.