Walking Dead, by C.E. Murphy (Walker Papers #4)

Description:

For once, Joanne Walker's not out to save the world. She's come to terms with the host of shamanic powers she's been given, her job as a police detective has been relatively calm, and she's got a love life for the first time in memory. Not bad for a woman who started out the year mostly dead.

But it's Halloween, and the undead have just crashed Joanne's party.

Now, with her mentor Coyote still missing, she has to figure out how to break the spell that has let the ghosts, zombies and even the Wild Hunt come back. Unfortunately, there's no shamanic handbook explaining how to deal with the walking dead. And if they have anything to say about it which they do no one's getting out of there alive.

My Review:

Let me preface my review by saying that I really like CE Murphy. I like her heroines, and her references to pop culture, and the vivid worlds she creates. But I don't really like this book that much. Why? Because there were so many vague references to the earlier novels that I felt like I was reading in the dark.

The novel begins with JoAnne at a Halloween party. As I began reading I kept feeling side-swiped by the characters, there were many references made to their history, and not a clue given to the reader. In spite of having read all of the novels, I couldn't place half of the characters introduced in the first three chapters. And my confusion continued throughout the entire novel. Murphy doesn't give the reader a quick recap of what happened in the last novel, or even try to bring them up to speed on general background. In case they (like me) have issues with remembering history or are simply picking this book up before reading its predecessors, well then they are shit outta luck. This is the area that I felt the most severe disappointment. As much as I like Murphy, when I can't follow what is going on because I can't remember anyone's back story the novel really becomes unlikable, almost un-readable. And since she makes a lot of vague references to moments in past novels, I kept feeling like I was missing half of the puzzle.

I also have some issues with the protagonist, Officer JoAnne Walker. I seem to recall her doing a lot of self-exploring and learning in the last novel, but she seems sort of shallow in this one. The last book was all about JoAnne learning to accept the gift of her shamanic powers. This one was really aimless. There really wasn't a lot of self improvement or enlightenment. She finally acknowledges her giant, ridiculously obvious crush on her boss, Morrison. A crush which all readers had seen coming since book 1. She also realizes that she has great friends. Well that is great, but she doesn't think through how to embrace them, or utilize them to the best of their ability.

I also really disliked the seemingly on the fly, out of nowhere plot. There was a lot of running around without a lot of planning or good reason. She goes to the cemetery and randomly runs into the Wild Hunt (who's background with JoAnne isn't explained and is really confusing), and she runs into Suzie (reiterate what I said about the Wild Hunt), and so on and so forth.

There is also a lot made of a decision that JoAnne made at the end of the last novel. What decision? Well you don't get that seminal information until about 5/8 into the book. Once you do remember, (or are informed), that she took a job as detective instead of following a relationship with Morrison, you can see how this is a big decision. JoAnne finally becomes a real police officer, instead of a beat cop or mechanic (as she was in books two and one, respectively). She is also paired with Detective Billy Holliday, a man who can speak to ghosts. Holliday is married to Melinda, a witch who we were introduced to last novel. They both have important roles in this novel. Will you remember all of their history? No. Are you given a refresher? No, not really.

Another slight beef I have with this novel is that it lacks a lot of my favorite character Garry, the senior citizen cab driver who charmed me so much in the first novel. His is really the only other character that was ever truly flushed out by Murphy, and his lack of presence in this novel leaves it feeling sort of empty.

Now for the main plot of the novel: the dead are rising on Halloween and will somehow kill Joanie, and could possibly pose a threat to all of Seattle. This plot was a little bit weak, and considering how the character development was a bit anemic, the interactions and dialogue somewhat insubstantial and overall flow of the novel stagnant in areas and really just disconnected, I would be remiss if I gave this one more than a 2.5 out of 5.

Overall I feel like I would probably find greater enjoyment if I took the time to re-read the entire series. In light of that, I may just skip the next Walker Papers book. I'm not sure I have the time to re-read the entire series every time a new book is available. Perhaps I will wait until the series concludes, and then take it back up.