Greywalker (Greywalker, #1)

May 02, 2013 Clouds - (¿head-in-the?) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy, reviewed, fantasy-stand-alone, read-in-2012

Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my FINISHING THE SERIES! list.

I loves me a good series! But I'm terrible for starting a new series before finishing my last - so this reading list is all about trying to close out those series I've got on the go.

2.5 rounded up to 3 because my wife and my mothe...more

Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my FINISHING THE SERIES! list.

I loves me a good series! But I'm terrible for starting a new series before finishing my last - so this reading list is all about trying to close out those series I've got on the go.

2.5 rounded up to 3 because my wife and my mother-in-law both love it (and they might use tea-spoons to pop out my eyes if I give it a 2).

It’s a solid urban-fantasy effort with a good, strong female private detective (Harper Blaine) for a lead. She lives in Seattle, has a pet ferret, and is generally a likeable broad. The fantasy element is OK, but I didn’t find it inspiring – Harper got killed by a client, and although the medics brought her back she can now see ‘the grey’. The grey includes ghosties, vamps, warewolves, etc – the usual bunch. It also includes misty visions of the world beyond death, or some-such. Good for atmosphere, bit vague for specifics.

It was a fun and easy read, very much a scene setter for the series. Lots of effort put into grounding the story in Seattle (rather than generic American city as some UF is) – lots of resistance on Harper’s part to accepting her new role as a ‘greywalker’, which kind of emphasises that this is a nice, normal gal who’s doing her best to muddle through this otherworldly madness. Obviously the real fantasy hoodoo can’t kick-off until she’s accepted and embraced her ghostly powers. I’ve been told this aspect picks up in books two and three of the series, which makes sense.

There was one specific thing that annoyed me. People are revived by medics every day. What is it about Harper that makes her special? Why does she become a greywalker, and the next guy to get revived just get brain damage? It was all a bit wishy-washy and coincidental to keep my disbelief suspended.

Maybe I’ve just been spoilt by coming in at the top end of the UF market? Compared to Dresden, Castor, Grant and Swift... Blaine is too much the UF ‘girl next door’. I’ve no doubt there’s more substance there if you get to know her – but in a crowded genre, Greywalker doesn’t make a strong enough first impression.

Having said that – I will continue to read the series because my wife already owns them – but they’re certainly not top of my wish-list...(less)

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Aug 10, 2012 Kelly Maybedog Hawkins rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: what-modern-fantasy

2.5 stars rounded up to three because it's Seattle and you know it's Seattle even though it's only a small area of Seattle. I can say Seattle a few more times if you'd like. :)

This series has a lot of potential. I think this is a good start but it's still rough. Something about the book was off and I can't tell you exactly what. For one thing, even though this was published in 2006, it felt more like it was written in 1995, specifically around technology. (She's a PI but uses a pager and doesn't...more 2.5 stars rounded up to three because it's Seattle and you know it's Seattle even though it's only a small area of Seattle. I can say Seattle a few more times if you'd like. :)

This series has a lot of potential. I think this is a good start but it's still rough. Something about the book was off and I can't tell you exactly what. For one thing, even though this was published in 2006, it felt more like it was written in 1995, specifically around technology. (She's a PI but uses a pager and doesn't have a cell phone? And her printer uses fanfold paper so it can't be more sophisticated than a bubblejet.) She also refers to the Bon Marche which went out of business in 2005. I know it takes some time for a book to go from draft to published but the buyout by Macy's was well known for quite awhile before it happened.)

The explanations for and descriptions of the paranormal in this world are way too convoluted, long, and mostly unnecessary. The action is all too similar and a couple of loose ends were never tied up. I think she tried too hard at first to make Seattle feel real. She didn't get anything really wrong but it didn't feel right to me as a native either so I wasn't surprised to find she moved here later in life. Her descriptions of Pioneer Square were really good, though also a little off, like she drove through it a couple of times rather than being personally familiar with it. (I used to work down there and FYI, although the Frontier Room is as awesome as she describes, it's in Belltown not Pioneer Square.)

Harper is a strong woman but quite stubborn and not that bright. She's pretty cowardly in many parts, too reckless in others but amazingly rational in one scene when she realizes she shouldn't confront the men breaking into her office. She accepts the paranormal too quickly but it takes her too long to acknowledge what has happened to her. She doesn't want to accept it so she fights to avoid her powers even when it's obvious even to her that ignorance is going to get her killed. Ostrich-->sand.

I wanted more variety in the action, especially with her taking an active role rather than having things happen to her. In fact, in one extremely important sequence she spends most of the time just watching and then tries to run when she's needed. (Another reviewer pointed out that this scene was unintentionally comical genius. I agree that it wasn't meant to be but was.

But in her world, men and women were equals without gender stereotyped roles. The love interest is a great guy and it's just a part of the story; she's not constantly pining and fantasizing. Nor is she worried about clothes and makeup all the time although just about every one of plethora of characters in the novel are tall and thin/skinny/slender/anorexic except for three really annoying jerks. This is Seattle. We usually are more worried about whether someone looks like they are healthy and a good hiker or biker than whether they're tall and skinny. Think outdoorsy, organic-eating coffee drinking REI types rather than rail-thin models. It's a stereotype, true, but a pretty accurate one for the types of people in the parts of town in which everything in the story happens. I think it's her California transplant showing.

I definitely feel there are characters who have potential to be quite interesting in future books. The story itself was good and though I figured the mystery out much before all was revealed, the plot was still all right. I do plan to read the next one. Some day.

(less)

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Feb 28, 2011 Maja rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, audiobooks, i-see-dead-people, dark-urban-fantasy

It's very hard to write a helpful review of Graywalker. It simply didn’t leave any kind of impression on me – good or bad. The first half was far more interesting than the second. It had the tone of a hardboiled detective novel and it was quite refreshing, so I was more than a little disappointed when it all went straight to hell in the other half.
Harper Blaine is a good, strong character, but some of her choices weren’t quite clear to me, and the love story (well, lust story, to be precise) wa...more

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Feb 23, 2010 Robin K added it

Greywalker is a spooky book. A true alternative reality is created by Kat Richardson in this novel. The book is literally filled with ghosts, smoke and mirrors. The main character Harper was a mystery for me the entire book. You do not get much background on her and all of the supporting cast are as new to Harper as they are to the reader. Though interesting it did made the book a bit harder to follow. Many of the characters were developed enough by the end of the book to give me a good feel of...more

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Jan 22, 2009 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, modern-earth

I picked this up after reading the short story by Kat Richardson in Mean Streets, which also featured Ms. Blaine. First off, it's nice to see a female paranormal detective character whose actual cases seem to have more weight than her love life. Normally there seems to be a strict gender divide in these things -- men like Harry Dresden and John Taylor occasionally have girlfriends and occasionally have horrible luck with women*, but generally that's not a major focus of the books' attention. Fem...more I picked this up after reading the short story by Kat Richardson in Mean Streets, which also featured Ms. Blaine. First off, it's nice to see a female paranormal detective character whose actual cases seem to have more weight than her love life. Normally there seems to be a strict gender divide in these things -- men like Harry Dresden and John Taylor occasionally have girlfriends and occasionally have horrible luck with women*, but generally that's not a major focus of the books' attention. Female urban-fantasy detective-types, like Vickie Nelson or Jill Kismet, tend to meet some hottie on a case in their first book and then most of the time the two are in the same room we switch modes so quickly I can hear the brakes squeal. And Vickie and Jill are the ones I remember because they weren't as bad as many. It seems like Men are from Noir and Women are from Romance.

* Few main characters seem to be gay or bisexual in these books. The only exception I can think of is Lilith Saintcrow's Dante Valentine, who had a female lover in the past and a male lover in the present. Even then, the gay relationship ended Badly. But, that has nothing to do with anything, unless you count the fact I spent ten pages thinking Harper was male in Mean Streets, well past a date with a guy.

I didn't notice this with Harper, in that she strikes up a date with an auctioneer she meets in passing, notes that she wants to keep things low-key until the case she's working on ends, and the book makes it clear that he's not True Love, or even that Harper is going to meet some guy and do the mode switch like that. (I have a soft spot for some romance, but boy am I picky about it.)

Anyway, to actually talk about the plot and not vent about My Thoughts on Romance, after an accident, Harper develops the ability to see into the supernatural world and manipulate it. She thinks she's going crazy until a sympathetic doctor steers her towards some friends that specialize in weird stuff.

On the job side, Harper takes a job to track down a missing college student, and locate an old piece of furniture for an elderly man. It was nice to see the cases weave together, in that there was no plot-related reason to think they were connected, but Harper uses information from both to connect them. It also gave a better sense of 'this person has a real job', and doesn't just get weird cases dumped on her doorstep one at a time by the Paranormal Fairy. (I think that Storm Front did that too, only the cases were actually connected.)

One of the flaws is that I think the book tried to push Harper's powers as 'too much, too soon'. There are a lot of info-dumpy things from Harper's teachers, and thanks to some Trouble Harper gets into, she gets a boost to her powers (with unknown side-effects). I'd rather see her powers, and Harper's initial skepticism towards them, develop a bit more slowly. The book also introduced a lot of supernatural beasties at once.

The ferret scenes were also adorable, in that Chaos acted like a ferret, and not some kind of fuzzy prop. I have a soft spot for animals, and my sister owned a ferret for years when we were kids. (less)

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May 15, 2013 Callista rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Jim Butcher and/or Caitlin Kittredge

Shelves: urban-fantasy, kick-six-heroines, magic-slingers, vampires-after-all

Overall, a pretty good book. Richardson definitely knows her way around a well-crafted sentence and a well-imagined world. But definitely, progressively, weird and dark.
I like Harper for the most part; she's complex and not a cliche. Aspects of the story reminded me of the Harry Dresden novels, although Harper is not nearly the smart-alec Harry is. A little more humour would've been nice. Harper is the first character I've ever seen with a pet ferret, and that added a few moments of much-needed...more

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Nov 01, 2009 Chichipio rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: greywalker, urban-fantasy

Towards the end, it redeemed itself a little, so it's maybe a 2.5.

I liked the premise and the plot wasn't bad at all. I usually complain when characters are made to make stupid decisions just to advance the plot. Especially because most of those times the characters are super cool and I hate to see them acting like idiots for the plot's sake. I prefer the story forcing itself on the characters and see them react to it. I love when a writer does such a job that no matter how clever the character...more

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Lilli Perspice I actually checked the publishing date (2006) because of the whole pager/cell phone thing. I personally don't have one, but what business-minded perso...more
Nov 18, 2011 10:19pm

Chichipio Hey, thanks for the comment. Since you have a similar opinion about this one, I thought you would like to know that, slowly but surely, Richardson gre...more
updated Nov 19, 2011 04:00pm

Lilli Perspice Chichipio wrote: "Hey, thanks for the comment. Since you have a similar opinion about this one, I thought you would like to know that, slowly but sure...more
Nov 20, 2011 08:28pm

Feb 04, 2011 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampire

2nd read-thru: Read below for my original take. I re-read this book to remind myself as I prepare to read the books in the series I haven't yet. I enjoyed this book as much the second time so know that it's worth reading at least once if I like it more than once :)

1st read-thru: This book starts off pretty brutal, but don't judge the rest of the book by this. Her ability comes about from her 2 minute clinical death (and revival). We don't truly understand what's happening, however, because she d...more

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Oct 29, 2007 Schnaucl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, library, read_2007, urban_fantasy, later_purchased, october, series

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the protagonist. I wasn't really sure of her age. Usually in urban fantasy books like this one the protagonist is early to mid twenties but I think Harper may have been more in her thirties. That, or she doesn't have a problem with dating people much older than she is who she believes to have a teenage son.

I really liked all of the second tier characters. They were fun, interesting, and seemed to have some depth.

I do have a few concerns though. First, I'm a l...more I really enjoyed this book. I liked the protagonist. I wasn't really sure of her age. Usually in urban fantasy books like this one the protagonist is early to mid twenties but I think Harper may have been more in her thirties. That, or she doesn't have a problem with dating people much older than she is who she believes to have a teenage son.

I really liked all of the second tier characters. They were fun, interesting, and seemed to have some depth.

I do have a few concerns though. First, I'm a little tired of the protagonist having to be just a little more special than everyone else. She's not only supernatural herself, she's the extra special kind. But all the other urban fantasy books are doing it so it's not fair to single out Kat Richardson.

I did wonder more than once if this was a manuscript that had been worked on for several years and not updated. There were a couple of minor but glaring things. Most people would not use a "floppy disk" to transport programs these days, they'd use a USB Flash drive. Hell, some computers don't even have floppy drives anymore. There was one other general thing, which escapes me, it may have been a reference to videotapes rather than DVDs.

I'm from the Seattle area so there were a few irritating things there, too. Safeco Field was named in June of 1998 but is only referred to as "the new baseball stadium" in the book (twice). I'm not sure she really gets the feeling of the place either. If it weren't for a couple of landmarks I wouldn't have known it's Seattle. Yeah, there's a lot of coffee being drunk, but no mention of Starbucks, SBC or Tully's. And at one point she mentions the city continuing to get rich off sin, which I don't get. Maybe if you're talking heroine use, but she was talking about strip clubs and I dare you to try and get a strip club started around here. There was an illegal ten year moratorium on them that just ended and they're still fighting about it in court. It says in her bio that she's a recent transplant from CA and I think maybe she just hasn't plugged into the culture all the way yet.

Still it really was quite an enjoyable read and I'll definitely read the rest of the series(less)

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Nov 22, 2008 Taters rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: magical-realism

Supernatural fiction is on the rise. Unfortunately in literature, a rising tide lifts all boats, even those of less than stellar construction.

Greywalker is an ok premise with faulty execution. The pacing is off, the story jumps around like a 9 year old on a sugar high. And it's set in Seattle - which would ordinarily be great, except that even as someone who lives in Seattle, I can tell you that this is one vast injoke of locations and happenings that people outside Seattle won't enjoy.

Characte...more

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Sep 16, 2009 Meredith rated it 2 of 5 stars

Whenever I travel, I like to pick up books I don't have to put much emotional effort into to enjoy - for some reason, this usually means I find myself reading books about hardboiled female PIs whose investigations bring them smack-dab into a paranormal mess of some kind or another, and that is exactly what this book is. It's refreshing because the main character is a bad-ass not because of any particular special powers she might possess but because she's tenacious and experienced at the PI game,...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Jenn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: abandoned

I am having a tough time reading this. I feel like I'm stuck in a school course I thought I'd love but it's all lecture, lecture, lecture.

I get that Harper is new to the woo-woo world but I find that it's so slow and draggy as she figures things out. It's like everything I've read is back story only it's not - it's the current story. And it's slow. So slow.

I find the two mysteries: the missing organ (wow...that sounds pretty dirty in my head) and the missing college kid aren't really worth the w...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Francesandlynne rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review was originally posted at http://francesandlynne.wordpress.com/...

“You! You are so lucky you’re dead.”
Harper Blaine, Greywalker by Kat Richardson

Greywalker by Kat Richardson opens with Harper Blaine, a private-investigator in a small town, being beaten by one of her clients. The beating Harper receives is so bad that she dies for two minutes before paramedics bring her back to life. When Harper comes to she is different. She now sees dead people, who live in a parallel World called th...more This review was originally posted at http://francesandlynne.wordpress.com/...

“You! You are so lucky you’re dead.”
Harper Blaine, Greywalker by Kat Richardson

Greywalker by Kat Richardson opens with Harper Blaine, a private-investigator in a small town, being beaten by one of her clients. The beating Harper receives is so bad that she dies for two minutes before paramedics bring her back to life. When Harper comes to she is different. She now sees dead people, who live in a parallel World called the Grey. Harper can see the ghosts of dead people when they emerge into our World from the Grey, and she can enter the Grey (hence her title of Greywalker). The problem is there aren’t just the ghosts of dead people in the Grey. There are also creatures that want to hurt her. Harper is pulled head first into the supernatural world (including ghosts, vampires, witches and necromancers) while trying to fight against her ability to enter the Grey.

I thought Greywalker was okay. My main issue with the book was Harper’s reaction to becoming a Greywalker. I understood when she resisted and complained at first, and that made her seem human. Although she can now interact with the Grey, she is not stronger or faster than the average person and so is unprepared and unable to defend herself from the creatures in the Grey. My problem was that this never changed throughout the whole book. Harper never embraced her gift and just moped and moaned. The constant focus on how she hated her new found gift, and how much it tires her out etc… slowed the pace of the book. I know that Greywalker is a series and that Harper may well accept her new ability in subsequent books, but I don’t know whether I will continue reading the series after the amount of complaining. I wanted to grab hold of Harper and shake her and say, “Get on with it.” Her witch friend was so supportive, and yet Harper never let her help her properly. It just ended up with the witch repeatedly soothing Harper. Sigh. I was hoping for a stronger female character, like in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series or in The Harper Connelly Mysteries. Both of these books have a kind of detective role, and a mystery to solve, just like Greywalker, but they are much better female lead protagonists.

The detective mysteries were interesting. Harper is trying to solve two cases at once. She is trying to locate a missing person (who happens to now be a Vampire), and an old family heirloom (the client turns out to be very dangerous). These cases are filled with the supernatural, and Harper finds herself not only communicating with ghosts and witches, but also Vampires. The Vampires in this book intrigued me. Vampires exist in both the real World and the Grey simultaneously. They are also traditional Vampires in that they drink human blood, can’t go out in the sunlight, have no reflection in reflective surfaces and have to sleep on the dirt from their graves. One of the Vampires is also necromancer. This element of the story is interesting, and I am now interested to read other books with a stronger necromancer theme.

Overall, the book was just lacking in action. I didn’t feel as though I was racing to find out what happened, and I wouldn’t have minded if I hadn’t finished the book. I don’t know whether I will continue reading the series. I am interested to understand the Grey at little more because the descriptions in Greywalker don’t give a very clear picture, despite being detailed. I am also intrigued to know what Harper could do in the Grey. I am leaning towards trying book two, but I think if that isn’t significantly better, I will definitely give up altogether.

Final Verdict: It’s not a showstopper. If you don’t have anything else to read, then give this a whirl.(less)

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Mar 19, 2013 Blood Rose Books rated it 2 of 5 stars

In the first novel in her Greywalker series, Kat Richardson explores the world of the Grey, where everything that goes bump in the night and more reside.

Harper Blaine is a private investigator and that role may sound sexier than it is, Harper knows that the main part of her job is a lot o research and paper shuffling but she loves her job. Every once in awhile though her job will take her into the world to arrest or track down a bad guy. This is how Harper ended up in the hospital and some broke...more In the first novel in her Greywalker series, Kat Richardson explores the world of the Grey, where everything that goes bump in the night and more reside.

Harper Blaine is a private investigator and that role may sound sexier than it is, Harper knows that the main part of her job is a lot o research and paper shuffling but she loves her job. Every once in awhile though her job will take her into the world to arrest or track down a bad guy. This is how Harper ended up in the hospital and some broken bones and bruised skin is not all that happened to her, she actually died for two minutes and that death has caused her to come back as a Greywalker. Able to cross over into the grey and with this new curse (as Harper sees it), she feels she is no longer in control of some of the aspects in her life as she is unwilling to give herself over to the Grey. As Harper struggles to come to terms with being a Greywalker, she finds that she is being drawn into the Grey world, whether she likes it or not and she is going to have to concur her fear soon if she has any hope of surviving.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. I really loved the premise and idea around the Grey (I mean something new in the paranormal genre is awesome), I also really like Harper as a main character and her struggles to comprehend a world and new abilities (or curse) that she never would have dreamed of; however, I found this book painfully slow and forcing myself to read it (it basically became a chore).

I think that Richardson just took things too slowly with all aspects of the plot. The novel starts off with a bang with the assault on Harper, but then the book drastically slows down after that. Part of this was to be expected while Harper tries to figure out what is wrong with her, and how much the assault really affected and changed her, but it just seemed like it was a never-ending process. I am not saying that Harper should just accept things right away, actually opposite to that, but I think that Richardson needed to pair the slow process of Harper developing her "powers", with more action and fast moving pace within in her two ongoing investigations. Needless to say, everything was just overall slow and I felt more often than not that I just wanted to stop reading this book and move onto something better (but I did stick it out, just took awhile to read). If you need a book to grab your attention right away then I do not think this is a book for you. While the first few pages are action packed as Harper attempts to get away from her attacker, the next 150 pages are fairly slow and at times it was a struggle for me to pick the book up to read it. Within the last 50 pages the book does attempt to redeem itself but in 350 page book only the last 50 are fast moving, I do not think it will hold too many readers' attention.

I was super excited to read about the Grey, a different world that exist inside our own, where all the things of the paranormal reside and that some are able to cross over into our world and some are not. When Richardson would describe the grey I was actually able to picture it on more of a grey scale look to it and you were able to feel that it was a darker place for darker being. It was the Grey and the Greywalker aspect that originally attracted me to this book. I think as the series progresses more and Harper becomes more comfortable with what she is there will be more and more interaction with the Grey and what that world is like. I think Richardson did a good job of keeping the reader interested in this aspect but just showing a peek into that world.

I really liked Harper as a character, I think that the reader gets a real sense of her struggle, her fear of the Grey and everything that it stands for, but at the same time willing to risk her life to help others out; now that is the stuff of a true heroine.

I was excited that Richardson wanted to introduce something new into the paranormal genre but overall this book fell below my expectations. It has an interesting idea but I felt like I just kept waiting for something interesting to happen with the characters, the plot, the Grey anything really and with all this waiting reading this book became more of a chore. I really don't know if I will pick up the next book in the series, this book had such promise, right now i'm just disappointed that Richardson could not follow through.

Cheers!!!(less)

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Feb 04, 2013 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I keep telling myself that I'm not allowed to start another series until I finish some of the ones I already have on the go. And yet whenever I visit a library and see the first book of a series on the shelf, I cannot walk away and leave it there. Some power compels me to sign it out. Sometimes it works out well and I'm introduced to a series that I really enjoy, as in the case of Rachel Caine's Working Stiff. Other times, I kind of wish I'd been able to leave it on the shelf.

Greywalker by Kat R...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Carly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: detective-noir, fantasy, urban-fantasy

In a genre increasingly oversaturated with vampires, werewolves, and intrepid female PIs, I think Richardson still manages to bring a significant amount of novelty to her story. Harper Blaine is a standard PI when one of her clients, in a bout of irritation, shoves her down the elevator. Although clinically dead for two minutes, Harper is soon revived and back to work--and that's when things start getting strange. After her (extremely) near-death experience, Harper has developed the ability to s...more In a genre increasingly oversaturated with vampires, werewolves, and intrepid female PIs, I think Richardson still manages to bring a significant amount of novelty to her story. Harper Blaine is a standard PI when one of her clients, in a bout of irritation, shoves her down the elevator. Although clinically dead for two minutes, Harper is soon revived and back to work--and that's when things start getting strange. After her (extremely) near-death experience, Harper has developed the ability to see into the Grey, the purgatory-like world in between reality and the afterlife where vampires, ghosts, and various creepy critters lurk. Unfortunately for Harper, the creatures of the Grey have the ability to see her as well. Soon, she has elicited attention from vampires, ghosts, and more, and not just on the streets--they want to hire her. Harper is soon embroiled in two separate cases: one regarding a mysterious missing antique and another regarding a missing boy and reluctant vampire.

Greywalker is a quite good debut, but if you're just interested in sampling Richardson's work, it might be worth skipping over to Poltergeist, the second in the series. Greywalker treads very, very familiar ground for the genre. We have the unsuspecting female PI (who, by the way, appears to be incredibly incompetent at her job) sucked into the supernatural. We've got the handsome older man who distracts a rather significant portion of the book, a cadre of evil vampires, and a child who has to be saved. The book also spends quite a lot of time on Harper blindly trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Richardson's world is relatively unique in that there isn't a talking head (or talking skull, or dead loghyr, or whatever) available to give details on the rules of the world. Instead, we have the (superficial stereotyped) Irish witch Mara, who can give only educated guesses. For me, this actually became a problem in later books as well as this one. I never really got the feeling that Richardson had fully thought out her world, and this impression was strengthened by the rather significant amount of retconning that occurs by book 3. I'm not really sure Richardson has the pacing down to write a thriller; I listened to this on audio and kept zoning off during the action scenes, which is never a good sign. However, there are some fantastically original things about this world, and the ghost aspect is a new angle. Again, the next book in the series, Poltergeist, focuses on the ghost aspect and is written more as a whodunnit, a style which I think suits Richardson much better.

So should you try Greywalker? If you're looking for an original spin on the standard urban fantasy tropes or a female-protagonist urban fantasy with a lot more action and a lot less romance, then the series (either this or Poltergeist) is worth taking a look at. If you're a purist and like to start at the beginning of the series, then put this on your to-read list.(less)

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Dec 16, 2012 Madbabs rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: dnf

When I'm a third of the way into the book, and starting to wonder if I'll be able to slog through it - then I know it's time to move on to something else on my VERY long "short" list. This book doesn't deserve the time it will take me to finish, when so many better ones are calling to me to get around to them.

It's really too bad. I thought this series sounded great. Interesting premise, and set in my lovely hometown. But absolutely nothing made me care. At all. The early experiences crossing ove...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Book: Greywalker
Author: Kat Richardson

Premise:Recovering from a near-fatal accident, Seattle Private Investigator Harper Blaine develops the ability to move through the Grey: the realm of ghosts, vampires, witches, and magic that exists between our world and the next. Harper wants her life to return to normal, but when her clients turn out to be paranormal, the reluctant Greywalker is drawn into the affairs of ambitious vampires and angry ghosts. As her cases converge, Harper uncovers a plot tha...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Martina Urbanová rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 10, 2012 Meep rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-paranormal

Unlike the familiar heroine in the genre, Harper appears older (it's not stated) and we're spared wisecracks and fashion. On the downside of that, we also don't learn anything about her except that she was attacked, died for two minutes, has shoulder length hair, lives alone and owns a ferret. She doesn't appear to have any friends or family and though there's a detective she trusts we don't meet him or learn why. It makes her harder to relate too, so while I enjoyed the book I don't have a burn...more Unlike the familiar heroine in the genre, Harper appears older (it's not stated) and we're spared wisecracks and fashion. On the downside of that, we also don't learn anything about her except that she was attacked, died for two minutes, has shoulder length hair, lives alone and owns a ferret. She doesn't appear to have any friends or family and though there's a detective she trusts we don't meet him or learn why. It makes her harder to relate too, so while I enjoyed the book I don't have a burning need to read on.

The Grey is an interesting concept but complicated, it's explained in part by the quirky side-kicks who I found annoying. They live on the edge of the grey and can't travel within it yet act as experts. (view spoiler) I felt they were too obviously a bit of comedy relief as the feel of the book is quite heavy and it's lacking in dialogue. The title is Greywalker and the world created here is very grey, it could do with a splash of colour and life to it.

The romantic interest is a bust, at first he seems vaguely interesting with a possible gift of his own but then he's dismissed. They meet up again because she needs info and their dating is all offscreen (view spoiler)

Harper seems to run away from things a lot, then happen to be in the right place for other things. Towards the end she suddenly shows great machiavellian reasoning we've had no reason to think her capable of. The vampires are interesting all with their own motivations.

It's all quite sinister. Lots of factors that could be interesting but somehow lacking a spark, I never felt any great emotion from (and therefore for) the characters.(less)

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Sep 04, 2012 Colleen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Harper Blaine is a private investigator who suffered an actual-death experience of being beaten by a petty criminal to the point that the EMTs had to pull her back to life before she got to the hospital. That return to life left her able to see the "Grey" world of spirits and supernatural energy. She is neither happy nor accepting of this new talent. Two customers - whose cases did not do that annoying plot device of creepy intersection - gave her enough information to solve a magical problem th...more Harper Blaine is a private investigator who suffered an actual-death experience of being beaten by a petty criminal to the point that the EMTs had to pull her back to life before she got to the hospital. That return to life left her able to see the "Grey" world of spirits and supernatural energy. She is neither happy nor accepting of this new talent. Two customers - whose cases did not do that annoying plot device of creepy intersection - gave her enough information to solve a magical problem that she stumbled on during one of her investigations.

The book reads like a first novel. About 150 pages into it, I was bored with the lack of plot movement and ready to go read something else. The only thing that kept me going was an enjoyment of the characters. The storyline picked back up, but still was very staccato and erratic. At one point, we hear all about Harper's coffee routine, but in another, an unncessary mention of a dinner date with a friend is covered in half a sentence.

I have to give compliments to Ms. Richardson for including little human things like flirting and dating, a cranky toddler, and a cute pet as repeated life details while ensuring that those thickeners neither cause nor turn anything in the plot. Ok, the toddler keeps someone from joining the big fight scene at the end, but that could have been accomplished in a lot of ways. The characters are diverse, the two main women are smart, talented, and interesting on their own. The two love-interest type guys are both nice, quirky, and completely separate entities from Harper. She goes out with them, but does not leech onto them or let them solve the problem for her.

So my end verdict is that Greywalker was enjoyable and interesting, and has potential to evolve into a good series. I don't know how fast I'll go pick up the next one (I think there are four or five now), but I wouldn't turn it down if someone offered it as a gift.

I picked it up because it keeps coming up on my searches. I recommend it to fans of October Daye, Harry Dresdon, and, in a mental-emotional way, the characters Sookie Stackhouse and Sunshine.(less)

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Jul 20, 2012 Duesterwald-Online rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romantasy

Inhalt:
Harper Blaine ist eine Privatdetektivin, die ihren Beruf liebt. Doch eines Tages wird sie von einem wütenden Klienten überfallen und zusammengeschlagen.

Als sie im Krankenhaus wieder aufwacht, ist sie zuerst froh, am Leben zu sein, doch als sie anfängt, unheimliche Bewegungen und Schatten wahrzunehmen, beginnt sie sich Sorgen zu machen. Als sie erneut den Arzt aufsucht, teilt dieser ihr mit, dass sie zwei Minuten lang tot war, und diese Zeit scheint wohl etwas in ihr geändert zu haben.

Hi...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Dave Miller rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not a big urban fantasy reader, having been turned off by my experience with the progression the Anita Blake novels took, but I got my hands on the Greywalker audio book, and decided to give it a try.

I appreciated the fact that the protagonist is self-sufficient and gutsy, and enjoyed the world-building, which really does revolve around a theory of the paranormal that seems to be created from whole cloth. It's a bit fuzzy around the edges, but I'd expect it to get filled in if I decide to co...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Sandra rated it 5 of 5 stars

I may be a wee bit prejudiced by the fact that these books are set in my home area, but mostly it's just nice to have the words evoke an instant and accurate background for the action. That said...

I loved this book. I order many of my books online (yes, paper books). When I find a series that looks promising or comes recommended by someone who shares my tastes (looking at many of you, lol), I order the first one or two to give them a test run. Powell's ships quickly, has everything except perhap...more

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May 10, 2012 Sara rated it 2 of 5 stars

Interesting premise, but the story line is disjointed and confusing in places. I could tell that the author had a line of how she wanted the story to progress, but the transitions were rough and the character motivations unclear. I wanted to know more about the Grey, and how it worked,
and what she was able to see and do in it.

I like the character of Harper, but wanted more development. I enjoyed Quinton as well, and his mysteriousness was interesting. When the characters worked together, there...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I went into this expecting a Charles DeLint style urban fantasy, but by the end it turned into a decent vampire novel. By virtue of flatlining for a couple of minutes, Harper Blaine gains the ability to see and travel through "the Grey", a borderland between life and death. This gives her the ability to see ghosts and vampires, even when they don't want her to perceive them. She also unwillingly acquires other powers, but doesn't get much opportunity to explore them during the course of the nove...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Christal rated it 2 of 5 stars

A great idea by a very subpar author. Harper Blaine is a smalltime PI, who apparently likes the idea of a gun but is so unprofessional she doesn't even carry it with easy access to, which winds up leading to her death for about a minute or so after getting the crap kicked out of her on one of her assignments.

This leads to her being able to walk into the 'Grey,' the misty world that exists between our world and the next and in which all the weird denizens of the world walk such as ghosts, vamps,...more A great idea by a very subpar author. Harper Blaine is a smalltime PI, who apparently likes the idea of a gun but is so unprofessional she doesn't even carry it with easy access to, which winds up leading to her death for about a minute or so after getting the crap kicked out of her on one of her assignments.

This leads to her being able to walk into the 'Grey,' the misty world that exists between our world and the next and in which all the weird denizens of the world walk such as ghosts, vamps, necromancers, witches, and I am sure demons will pop up later. Harper is a 'greywalker,' one who can see into that world and travel through it, manipulate the mist a bit, and get the crap kicked out of her by every other chapter.

First assignments in her debut novel? Oh, just strategizing against evil older than dirt vamps who have nothing better to do than act like anne rice wannabe vamps and locating an organ on the nexus of all evil that she uses the vamps to help destroy. The organ was very The Haunting with Liam Nesson in it. Yeah pretty much sums it up, cheese and all.

I think the author has some good ideas with this 'greywalker' and the 'grey' itself. Also some interesting ideas on vamps as well, when they aren't acting all campy. But overall the language is very stilted and monotone. The first 200 pages you get hardly any description, its just wham bam thank you maam this is what is happening. No transition, no fleshing out, it was like watching someone who can't act suddenly get thrown on tv and has to read from cue cards... and everyone groaning as they bomb out terribly. The last 90 pages (maybe a little less) you finally see it pick up and you get a much better picture of whats going on, esp the end action scene where the organ and a vamp are destroyed. Either that was the only scene the author could vividly picture in her mind, or someone helped to ghost write it because it was originally just too awful.

The all too eager couple with a ::cue rolling of the eyes:: Irish witch with red hair who goes in and out of an Irish accent in her speech, and the crazy college professor who is lovable yet honorable and a complete klutz were pretty much the epitome of annoyance as they didn't seem real at all. Though she at least let the witch me kickass, so she had some power to her. Also I found it very hard to believe that in this world things like vampires and witches are commonplace but it's very hard to believe in anything like a ghost. Puh-Leaze. If you are going to accept the paranormal then accept it, if not then write in the fact that its a whole new world she never knew about and is having a hard time accepting it all. You can't half ass this.

Will not be continuing the series. (less)

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Feb 27, 2012 Siew Ee rated it 2 of 5 stars

There are many good things about this first book in the Greywalker series – interesting premise of the Grey where two worlds overlap, a strong female protagonist who can kick ass and take care of herself and a fast-paced, action-packed story from the start.

There were also a few things that did not work for me. Firstly, there were too many agendas with different players and events running parallel to each other. Although the various plotlines tied up nicely at the end, it did not make for comfor...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Harper is a private investigator. Though that sounds a lot more glamorous than it is for the small time Seattle PI. At least until one of her clients tries to kill her and her injuries do cause her to die – at least for a little while. And when she came back, she could see things she never imagined existed.

Now able to see an experience the Grey, she is faced with a world where ghosts, vampires and witches all demand her attention – and her client list has certainly become both more interesting a...more Harper is a private investigator. Though that sounds a lot more glamorous than it is for the small time Seattle PI. At least until one of her clients tries to kill her and her injuries do cause her to die – at least for a little while. And when she came back, she could see things she never imagined existed.

Now able to see an experience the Grey, she is faced with a world where ghosts, vampires and witches all demand her attention – and her client list has certainly become both more interesting and much much more frightening. Faced with a vampire coup, a lost vampire child trying to find his way in the world without a mentor, and a mysterious client seeking a haunted artefact; Harper has to investigate in ways she never had before – and finds her skills as a detective and a Greywalker in much demand.

Of course, this very much results in her being thrown in at the deep end – and she must learn to swim even while desperately refusing to see the water.

This book was a lot more unique than I imagined – the mystical private detective/cop has, of course been done done and done again – but I’m continually surprised by how much it can be done differently. Harper’s abilities as a Greywalker still remain very much undefined and somewhat ambiguous – at this stage her powers are probably best described as super senses as much as anything else. This makes the mystical much more a focus of Harper’s adaption to the world she’s seeing

And that world is strange indeed. I still have a lot more questions than I have answers and this book has done a great job of introducing a world but not giving too much away – hinting at vast diversity without feeling the need to enumerate every creature and spell. We have vampires and revenants and witches and ghosts all inter-twined in different ways – and even these simple labels rarely encapsulated the full power and variety of each being. We saw at least 3 or 4 vampires that had vastly different abilities and numerous hints to magic and powers for all these forces that point to a lot more to come. To say nothing of the vast and complex nature of the Grey as well. Is it completely unique? No, but there’s a lot of fascinating twists on old concepts here.

While the plot starts slow it quickly interweaves 2-3 mysteries together. I was actually irritated that we had too much going on competing with each other, but then they came together to be connected and feed off one another. It was nicely done, just as I was getting lost and irritated, we then had one storyline fed by all three tributaries. I liked it, I was impressed, it was a great piece of writing.

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Jan 05, 2012 Homewood Public Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal, fantasy

Harper Blaine, private investigator, died while working a case. She was dead for about two minutes before the paramedics resusitated her. Now she's seeing things - shadows and figures with glowing eyes, doorways made of fog, glowing edges around people and buildings. Her doctor refers her to a unique couple, who inform Harper that she is a "Greywalker," someone who can consciously walk in and out of the realm between life and the afterlife. Her vision has also been affected, as she can see the t...more

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Greywalker (Greywalker #1)

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