First Grave on the Right is a great read that will have you
laughing from the very first page. Darynda Jones has wonderfully witty dialogue
which really makes her characters come to life, and some of her one liners and
shorter conversations reminded me of Joss Whedon.
As this story is told through Charley’s point of view much
of its charm comes from her voice. Charley Davidson is funny, sarcastic, and a
little ADD. She can be tactless at times but is overall endearing. As The Grim
Reaper and an Albuquerque Police Department consultant Charley Davidson uses
her ability to see the dead to solve murders. She treats the ghosts she sees
like any other client, with honesty and humor even though appearing to talk to
thin air gets her a few odd looks. Charley, however, could care less, she’s
confident enough with who she is not to be bothered by what others think about
her.
Charley is a little reckless in her decisions. She thinks
she’s unbeatable, maybe indestructible, and she’s always making light of bad
situations. But, that’s her way of dealing with what’s going on around her.
She’s always putting the mission first, even above her own life, and she looks
out for those around her. Her relationships with her family and co-workers as
well as with her clients, dead and alive are believable and deep. And, her
history and relationship with Reyes is fascinating and steamy. For me this book
had just the right about of steam and sex to be a great adult paranormal
romance without being erotic or sharing unnecessary details.
Reyes is a mystery, and as we learn more about him we find
out that he is really what this book is about. The more Charley learns about
Reyes the more she comes to learn about herself and what she is. Reyes is the
ultimate bad boy; dark, more than a little scary at times, but despite
everything he does and everything you learn about him you want to help him
redeem himself.
I greatly enjoyed this book and plan to continue reading
this series, however as always I have my pet peeves. While this book was witty
it was also a little cliché at times. Phrases like ‘cloak-and-dagger’, and the
suggestion of trying out handcuffs were a little overdone, even though I
understand that kind of vocabulary is just part of Charley’s personality. Also,
there are a lot of pop culture references, which can be fun but I felt like
there were more than necessary. And, everything from Charley’s car to her
breasts has a name. Sometimes it’s cute, but other times it got annoying,
altogether though even the cheesy parts are all part of Charley’s charm.
The only other part I had a hard time with was that Charley has
had a lot of bad stuff happen to her. Maybe had the author eased me into all
these different events a little slower they would not have bothered me so much
but pretty early in the book and all in the same paragraph she mentions almost
getting kidnapped by a sex offender, nearly getting run down by someone’s car,
and being stalked. Although I will say by the end of the book this didn’t
bother me as much as they were explained.
Overall I give this book 5 stars and highly recommend it to
anyone looking for a paranormal romance.
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