Review: Spectre

Spectre by Phaedra Weldon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy Reading Level: Adult

Disclosure: I received the final book in this series, as well as the short story omnibus, from the author in exchange for an honest review. I purchased these earlier books for myself, but am happy to provide an honest review for them as well, as long as I’m reading them.

Synopsis: Zoë Martinique has the extraordinary ability to travel outside her body at will. When she is drawn into an investigation of a series of bizarre murders, in which the victims are missing body parts, Zoë hopes to help her boyfriend, Atlanta homicide detective Daniel Frasier, stop the killer – one she’s sure is from the darkest levels of the astral plane – without letting him find out about her special abilities.

Then danger strikes close to home when Zoë’s mother disappears, and Zoë must use all the powers at her command to save her – even though Zoë knows that, in doing so, she may make herself into something no longer entirely human.

My Thoughts: This is the second full-length novel in this series, following Wraith. One thing I forgot to mention in my previous review – at one point, Zoë is musing to herself about how Atlanta is such a green city, and I had to scratch my head. Because the greenest city I’ve ever been in was Portland, OR and Atlanta doesn’t even come close. Now, admittedly, I haven’t spent much time in the core – when I go into ATL, I usually stay around the periphery, or go up to Roswell, and have only been to Buckhead once (although I need to go there and see the statue someday), but I remember driving into Portland from the ‘burbs – trees, trees, trees, with a few houses tucked up in there, and you go through a tunnel and poof there’s the city – but it’s full of little parks, everywhere. Including this tiny little park that is basically a tree. I’m not sure why they call that single tree a park, but there you go – that’s just Portland. They’re quirky that way. Anyway, that’s a bit of a tangent, I suppose, so I’ll get back to the review.

Interestingly enough, Dags’ last name changes to McKinty in this book, whereas it was McConnell in Out of the Dark. I mean, I know SPRITE’s acronym changes slightly every time it’s used, and that’s deliberate, but someone’s last name? Hmmmm. Also, I’m not quite sure, but I had it in my head that Zoë was 29 in the first book, whereas she’s 27 in this one. Speaking of Dags; maybe Zoë thinks Daniel is all that, but I think Dags is the perfect man for her, since she seems so focused on men.

Anyway, in this book, things get really dark, really fast. Many of Zoë’s ties to other people are broken – it remains to be seen whether they will be irretrievably so – in this book. I felt very badly for her by the end of the book, wondering where things will go from here. You know, I like adventure in an Urban Fantasy just as much as the next person, but just once I’d like to read a series that isn’t quite so much doom and gloom, a series that maintains a bit of lightness, for a bit longer than just the first book. It seems as though there is this... need to push things as far and as fast as they can be pushed, and personally, I’m getting a bit tired of it. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book – nor does it mean I’ll stop reading Urban Fantasy – it just means, if any authors are reading this, can you please lighten up a bit? Please? Just for me?

Anyway, I still have three books and three short stories to go to finish this series, but will be back to my editing on Monday, so it’s likely this set of reviews will run over into next weekend. Be continue to watch for my reviews in your favorite location – Goodreads, Shelfari, Amazon or my blog – and you’ll eventually see as much of it as I have reviewed! Next up, book 3, Phantasm. Thanks for reading!



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