Vanished, by Kat Richardson (Greywalker #4)

Description:

Harper Blaine was your average small-time P.I. until she died—for two minutes. Now Harper is a Greywalker—walking the line between the living world and the paranormal realm. And she’s discovering that her new abilities are landing her in all sorts of “strange cases.”

But for Harper, her own case may prove the most difficult to solve. Why did she—as opposed to others with near-death experiences—become a Greywalker? When Harper digs into her own past, she unearths some unpleasant truths about her father’s early death as well as a mysterious puzzle. Forced by some very demanding vampires to take on an investigation in London, she soon discovers her present troubles in England are entangled with her dark past back in Seattle—and her ultimate destiny as a Greywalker.

My Review:


Harper Blaine is an intriguing and engaging heroine.  Although parts of the plot move a little quickly overall Richardson does a commendable job pulling the reader into the story.  

 Because I left off on this review, and don't clearly remember the book after half a year I will post the review from Deborah Hern of CA reviews, with some of my own remembrances spliced in.  This review is on pointe:


"As a Greywalker, Harper Blaine can move between the normal and paranormal worlds. She’s even starting to get some control over the whole process. Then she hears from an ex. That’s never easy, but especially difficult when that ex happens to be dead, and contacting you by phone from the other side. From what Harper knows about the way things work, there has to be something very important attached to his appearance. She travels from Seattle to Los Angeles to the site of his death in an attempt to contact him. He tells her that it’s time for her to learn exactly what she is; and that she needs to look at the past.

A big part of her past is right there in Los Angeles. Her father committed suicide in his office when she was a child. His office building is still there, and Harper manages to get inside and find the approximate location of her father’s violent death. Instead of finding her father – or a time-loop phantom of him – she finds a sort of cosmic hole. That sort of thing doesn’t happen by accident. Her mother still has her father’s old journals, giving Harper a window into what seems like madness.

But her investigation of her past is cut short when Edward, the leader of Seattle’s vampire community, sends her on an urgent trip to London. It seems his people there have cut off all contact. Harper agrees to go partly because of a nightmare she’s had about Will, her most recent ex. Edward seemed to be mostly worried about his assets. But things in London are so much worse than he ever imagined.

In London we meet Marsden, a mysterious man who saves Harper and Michael, (Will's brother).  turns out (Spoiler) Marsden is a Greywalker, like Harper!  Marsden is a gruff character who's history is shady.  When he was a young man, he tore out his eyes to try and remove his ability to see the dead.  However it becomes clear to the reader that Marsden will be a fountain of information for Harper, who is trying to learn what it is to be a Greywalker.

While in London we also learn of the asetem a group of vampires that are trying to wrest the control of underground London from Edward's control.  It is clear that the leader of the asetem has plans for Harper, just as he had for her father.  This connection to her past is interesting and obviously laid out for more investigation later in the series.  The leader of the asetem has also saved and transported Alice, a vampire that we though Harper had killed in a fire in Seattle, to London to bring her into the fold.  Alice caries a real torch for Harper, and goes out of her way to try and kill her.  This is where Michael and Will come in.  Will is kidnapped by the asetem to lure Harper into their lair.  With the help of Marsden, Harper and Michael are able to rescue Will, although they receive some trouble for their pain.  After the rescue, which takes Harper, Will, Michael and Marsden through levels of time, Harper realizes she must return to Seattle to face down the vampire who anchored her to the grey in the first novel and she must learn what his plans are for her and how they are connected to her father's "suicide".

For those new to this series (GREYWALKER, POLTERGEIST, UNDERGROUND) the author sketches in the salient details. For those who have been reading the series since the start – and I recommend it – there are some very interesting scenes here, involving Harper’s past. These revelations are balanced nicely with a healthy dose of action and some interesting new characters. While this novel is relatively self-contained, the author leaves it open-ended, and it’s clear that there’s more to come. This series has only improved over time, and I look forward to the next installment."