Robin Murphy (2)

I love how the opening of this book puts you right into Marie’s world. There is a bit of back story to catch up on, but it flows really well within the story. Right away you are introduced to the SIPS team and find out about Marie’s Psychic gifts. Each of the SIPS characters is colorful, an infectious eclectic mix of personalities and strengths. You quickly become attached to them. Though a paranormal thriller, I think it is heavy on the paranormal and light on the thriller. The mystery has a strong basis and the story is well written. It is missing some of the suspense and red herrings usually found in the genre. It is almost as if the suspense is just a backdrop for the paranormal and romantic aspects of the story to shine. This was a terrific introduction to the series and quite an entertaining read

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (mehr)

Book 3 in the SIPS series is an enigma to me. Of course I enjoyed hanging out with the team once again. They are fun bunch, like old friends. The story veered from the usual formula, which wouldn’t be necessarily be a bad thing, except that it was kind of muddled. It seems like that author wrote herself into a corner with her carryover from book two and no idea how to move past it. Though it was handled fairly well, to me, it just didn’t have a place in Kelly’s story. The main story about Kelly, was fantastic and I really think she should have her own book or even a series of books because she, along with Nick Lowry, has great potential as a character. It just seems the SIPS team was wholly unneeded for this mystery, except in the most peripheral ways and could have gone home after their own investigation was finished.

Once again the team’s paranormal investigation, the reason for the visit to Washington, was top notch with lots of details and information for the arm chair paranormal investigator to enjoy and, despite the sad turn of events, it is fun seeing Marie’s talents expand and the relationships among the team grow stronger. There is plenty here for SIPS fans to enjoy.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (mehr)

I read this book via an Amazon KINDLE Unlimited download.

Besides being the rather voracious book reviewer, I am, I also happen to be an author with three books under my belt under two names. But getting to this point had been somewhat of a rather intimidating experience, at least for the first time I had to navigate the course in seeing my manuscript published, holding the book in my hands as I inhaled the invigorating aroma of the fresh ink on its print page.

The path leading to becoming published can at times be rather confusing if not overly complicated, and those who are willing to undertake this journey need to have some guidance in this matter. Ms. Murphy, in writing this book, desires to educate her readers in fulfilling this dream.

As with most things, the information which needs to be communicated regarding this matter cannot be simply dumped in front of someone and expect them to be able to understand everything on their own. The information needs to be spoon-fed in dosages which will be proven to be useful by the individuals receiving it; which is what this book does with the realistic, practical and comprehensible manner in which it has been written.

But, the author doesn’t stop here, she continues by providing useful information regarding what happens and needs to be done, once a book has seen the light of day. This includes the unending process of marketing/promoting the book on the multitude of available media sites, which includes creating the items to be used in this process, such as book trailers for YouTube, and elsewhere. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, which is why Ms. Murphy has included pictures, illustrations, diagrams, etc to get her information across.

Having already traveled this path to book publication on my own, I can see the benefits this book provides for newbie authors, and why I’ve given this book and Ms. Murphy 5 STARS.… (mehr)

This is the 4rd book in the SIPS Team book series. I’ve previously reviewed the 2nd story, Secret of the Big Easy. As you can see, I’ve missed books one and three, but they can be read as standalones.

I’ve always been fascinated with the paranormal since I’ve had my own encounters, and working with a research team would be awesome, though scary. This time, Marie has a vision of headless bodies, while she’s preparing for her wedding. Then, Cory gets a call about a headless body found on their own island of Folly. Normally, Marie gets visited from the other side by the victims, but this time a young girl named Isabella gets involved as she’s seeing a headless ghost. And her mother and brother think there’s something mentally wrong with her.

As more headless bodies show up, the pressure is on to find out who they are, their connection to each other , and who is killing them. Marie also has to train Isabella in her newfound psychic abilities, and then they find themselves on the hunt for Captain Kidd’s buried treasure.

As in the 2nd book I read, I was really hoping to enjoy the story. The plot has a lot going for it, but it’s the writing that throws me off. Robin has improved, but she still hasn’t learned to get into the people and their emotions. The characters are still so one dimensional. If I were facing a headless ghost, my heart would be racing, and fear would be making sweat trickle down my spine. But no, we don’t see any of that.

And the person that ended up being the villain? The only reason I didn’t guess that person, is I didn’t really see him/her in the story. They were such a bland character, I totally overlooked him/her. As with the 2nd book, it’s entertaining, but average. I give it 3 skulls.… (mehr)