Phantom Evil by Heather Graham

Title: Phantom Evil
Author: Heather Graham
Series: #1 in the Krewe of Hunters series
Genre: Romantic Suspense (with paranormal undertones)
Publisher: Mira (March 27, 2011)
Source: Library eBook
Rating: ☕☕☕

Synopsis: A secret government unit, a group of renegade paranormal investigators... and a murder no one else can crack.
Though haunted by the recent deaths of two teammates, Jackson Crow knows that the living commit the most heinous crimes.
A police officer utilizing her paranormal intuition, Angela Hawkins already has her hands full of mystery and bloodshed.
But one assignment calls to them too strongly to resist. In a historic mansion in New Orleans French Quarter, a senator's wife falls to her death. Most think she jumped; some say she was pushed. And yet others believe she was beckoned by the ghostly spirits inhabiting the house — once the site of a serial killer's grisly work.
In this seemingly unsolvable case, only one thing is certain: whether supernatural or all too human, crimes of passion will cast Jackson and Angela into danger of losing their lives... and their immortal souls.

My Thoughts: Another Heather Graham book that had great potential but got mucked up while bringing the romance into the book to become an average read.

The Good: The backdrop of NOLA and the setting of a historical mansion, a new murder interwoven with that of a century old serial killer's terrifying reign on the area all coupled with paranormal elements had me glued to my kindle. The introduction of all the Krewe team and their quirks/abilities was interesting and will keep me coming back to the Krewe Hunters series.

The Bad: Angela and Jackson's romance. Just bad. It was so forced. It felt unnatural. At one point, Angela and Jackson had just met, yet were drawn together, of course, and she kissed him on the check in a "friendly" way to show her appreciation. Now, take into mind Jackson is essentially Angela's boss. They've known each other for a few short hours and she kissed him. Granted, it was on the check but still. I've known my boss for over 11 years and even though I really like him and respect him and his opinion  I would Never. Kiss. Him. Also the ending felt a bit rushed and I was left feeling there should have been more.

In a Nutshell: A decent start to a new series even though the concept isn't a new one and definitely one that Graham has done repeatedly. I'll continue with the series because I overall enjoyed reading this book.

Nightwalker by Heather Graham

Synopsis courtesy of Shelfari....

Jessy Sparhawk has seen firsthand how gambling can ruin people's lives. But one night, desperate for money, she places the bet that will change her life forever. Just as she's collecting her winnings, a man stumbles through the crowd, a knife protruding from his back, and crashes into her, pinning her to the craps table. Hired to investigate the murder, private detective Dillon Wolf finds himself fascinated by the gorgeous redhead who'd been trapped beneath the victim—and by the single word the dying man had whispered in her ear. Indigo. What neither of them realizes is that the nightmare is only just beginning. Because bodyguard Tanner Green may have been killed by that knife, but his angry ghost isn't going anywhere—not without vengeance. Now, literally caught between the living and the dead, Dillon and Jessy have no choice but to forge ahead together. Their investigation will take them from the glitz of the Vegas strip into the dealings of casino magnate Emil Landon, the man who signs both their paychecks, and out into the desert to a ghost town called Indigo, where past and present come together in a search for gold. Years ago, blood was shed on that very ground, and now it looks as if history is about to repeat itself, with the living and the dead facing off for possession of a fortune, and Dillon and Jessy fighting not only to stay alive but for the chance to build a future.




My Thoughts....
I read this book only a couple of days ago and honestly have no strong opinions on it at all. I did think that the character development was much better than the first Graham book I read (The Last Noel) and the romance aspect better. However the romance itself seemed more about sex than...well romance. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy reading about it, I did. I just wished there were more Awwww moments that make my romantic soul sigh.
 
I think that the strongest point of this book was the suspense. The mystery of the Paiute land gold spanned well over a century into modern date Las Vegas. That rumored gold killed a handful of men in the 1800s and the talk of it in Las Vegas 100 years later ended up killing more.
 
Another strong point was the woo woo paranormal in the form of people who see ghosts. I really liked this part but since my biggest genre crush right now is wrapped up in fangs, fur and witches hats this isn't so surprising. What was really fascinating is that this subject (ghost seers aka Nightwalkers) was prominent in the Indian history that Graham wrote about. There were several different people with Native American ancestry (not all from Paiute but others as well) and the Nightwalker  legends were common among them all.
 
So, I have to admit it was the ghosties that I really liked best. Kind of a Sixth Sense take, once you find out why the ghost is there, the Nightwalker can then help them so they can go towards the light. The spur wearing ghost Ringo added the right touch of history and comic relief to the story.
 
I also liked that Jessy's grandfather Timothy, although an aged Native American, talked liked everyone else. There was no stilted Me Tonto talk which I really appreciated. I just read a book last month that also had Native Americans in it that had the characters talking stiltedly and it drove me nuts. Timothy did refer to Jessy formally as Granddaughter and never really by her given name but his passages flowed just as well as the ones by the teenager of Jessy's best friend.
 
What I didn't like was that Jessy all of a sudden started seeing ghosts. Having never seen them before (not even as a child that she blocked out because it was too traumatic) all of a sudden seeing them really freaked her out (would me too) but the why of it was never explained. She did meet others just like her but none of them talked about their first experience either so it was as if suddenly on the 4th day of the 6th month in her 25th year she was targeted to see ghosts and *poof* she does. {I made up the age of Jessy...I can't say for certain if she was actually 25 years, 6 months and 4 days old or not but just go with me on it...OK?}
 
Overall I would say that this was an enjoyable book and I will definitely read more of Heather Graham's books in the future. 4 Stars.