Review: Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy

Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you like urban fantasy, this will do the trick. The main character, Joanne Walker, is tough with faults making her human enough to believe. She pulls from Native American shamanism and mythology to get the spirit world jobs done.

I got a little annoyed with how often she was getting injured in what seemed like hot temper issues or emotions flying. But it was in character with the auto mechanic of the police department. The female cop is not being respected enough to get a beat. Suddenly the shaman in her starts waking, and all hell breaks loose as she tried to solve a string of murders.

It was a good read, and I may read others in the series sometime.

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Review: Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was fortunate to find the audio version on Overdrive through my library. I enjoyed what my friend, Cheryl said about the book.

The narrator, Anna Fields, seems to have a raspy voice that is a little offputting at first. Then that voice becomes the healer. She can act out the other characters in a believable way.

The story is a little hard to follow at first. One wonders what tribe or group of people this person is from. When you give up trying to identify, the story feels more natural.

Since I read at night before bed, I was worried I’d have snake dreams. But not a one. Yet, it is a warning to watch for. There are snakes all through the book if you have a bit of phobia.

Like Cheryl, I wanted more from this story. Much of the action feels vague to me, and I felt lost. I love the little girl and wished there was more of the healer and her adopted daughter. But I guess that wasn’t the mission of this book. It was more about the healer and her travels.

It is worth the read. I may try it again sometime.

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Review: Seized: The Pipe Woman Chronicles by Lynne Cantwell

Seized: The Pipe Woman Chronicles by Lynne Cantwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, can you tell it is NaNoWriMo time? Here, yet again, is something that isn’t me working on my novel. Yeah, let’s read and review someone else’s novel while we figure out how to write again.

Basically, this has been by bedtime book. I’ve been reading it in the Omnibus but decided that I need to review each book separately and will review the whole series when finished with the Omnibus.

In this first book, Seized, we learn about the main character, Naomi, her life as a mediator, her handsome fiancé, and her sudden being taken over by a goddess, White Buffalo Calf Pipe Woman, during a sweat bath with her “Woo woo” (translation: New Age) best friend, Shannon. I believe peyote was involved. But soon Naomi and friends are sent out on a quest to save the world. Yeah, a lot to put on one person and her friends.

There is a lot of old-world Pagan/Norse mythology, a couple Native American tribal religions and the Judeo/Christian theologies. Thought-provoking fiction to say the least.

There are scenes of action and moments of philosophy. But best of all, for a first book in the series, no cliff-hangers.

This book is free on Amazon. Well worth the price! I am well into book two so I am trying to remember book one. I hate it when I do that. Let’s blame NaNo, shall we? Enjoy!

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