Every so often I do enjoy a paranormal tale. I'm kind of burned out on vampires and werewolves though, and that's fine because Griffin Shaw is not either of those. He's an angel. Oh, not a “real” angel but a lower-caste human soul whose job it is to help the recently deceased adjust to their new status. To help them get over the trauma of their death so that they can move on. It's a job that means Griff is there when they die. He experiences their death with them and immediately picks up the pieces. Griff was a PI once, he's used to handholding a client.
But his next assignment, Katherine Craig, a particularly beautiful woman in the prime of her life, turns out to be too much for him. Her affinity for vintage style reminds him of his former life, like his wife used to look, and Griff can't watch her die. So he interferes, and now, like the old “Final Destination” franchise, everything around the corner is poised to kill Katherine and correct the balance of fate. Griff has a lot on his plate, but he's used to several cases at a time, so why not juggle more? Like his own murder. Yeah, now that's a great place to start.
I enjoyed this one better than I thought that I would. I enjoyed the writing. I thought it was very balanced between both perspectives and I could tell the author really dug deep to get into both Griff's and Kit's point of view. That said, it's a series, so you know upfront that we don't get all the answers and everything is not tied up in a bow. And I wasn't really fond of the other angels, the real ones. But maybe there's just room being left for development in other books. ( )

OMG, Vicki is one of the best writers I've read. Could not put it down! ( )

I was on the fence about this book for a while. It took me some time to get into it and to figure out where things were going. But fascination with one of the principle characters, Griffin Shaw, really motivated me to continue. I couldn't much relate to Kit (the other protagonist) or to the Rockabilly lifestyle, but they were still fun to read about nonetheless. I thought the ways the author handled things like fate and the afterlife were unique enough while sticking to the more standard tropes in the genre. Ultimately I found myself tearing through the pages of the book and was glad that I had stuck to it. The sequel to this book is now on my wish list! ( )

ok - semi likable characters - lots of sub-culture - synthetic mythos - fairly consistent though - some adult situations but kept fairly non-graphic ( )

After Grif died, he became an angel tasked with shepherding newly killed souls to the afterlife. But a moment of mercy threatens the angels' secrecy, and as punishment Grif is forced to become human again. He can return to his celestial form only after he watches Katherine Craig die. But Grif finds her imminent death intolerable, and is clearly going to try to circumvent fate. I don't know--I only got 14% of the way into it. I just didn't care about Grif or the oh-so-beautiful Katherine. The writing is fine, but it didn't pull me in. ( )