Story Rating: 4.5 stars
Audio Rating: 4.75 stars
Narrator: Greg Boudreaux
Length: 8 hours, 6 minutes
Audiobook Buy Links: Amazon/Audible | iBooks
Book Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks
After the events of several months ago, Wes Cooper has changed. His magic has increased, and he doesn’t now why. But he’s keeping it to himself, fearing what Hudson and the rest of his friends will think. But Wes has no idea what the ramifications are from his new abilities.
Wes isn’t the only one keeping secrets, and even though Wes and Hudson are more in love than they’ve ever been, things are somewhat strained between them. Especially when it comes to Wes wanting to take on jobs for their PI firm that have a distinct paranormal bent. But Wes won’t let Hudson’s feelings stop him from helping others.
With Wes being able to see more ghosts than he ever has before, and otherworldly demons making appearances at inopportune times and places, Wes has his hands full and the threat increases exponentially. Now Wes will have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the city, and more importantly, his friends who are his family.
I dig the Not Dead Yet series completely. Burke has some serious talent with worldbuilding, and add to that reunited lovers and a found family, and I’m totally sold. In this second installment, we see the bonds between the characters grow and strengthen. But also the odds are stacked even higher against them and the perils even more dangerous.
I loved the way this book built so solidly on the first. It’s a nice continuation of the characters’ journeys and building suspense while upping the stakes. While everything seems to be more solid between Wes and Hudson, there are forces trying to tear them apart. There was a really nice balance between internal and external conflict here, and Burke does an outstanding job of weaving them together.
I really appreciated the suspense and mystery element in this story. There are two different plots going on, and they eventually come together in a spectacular way. It’s fraught with tension, but the author also gives us moments of downtime so that we can recover. The pacing with this book is really top notch, and it elevated things for me.
Greg Boudreaux performs this book excellently. The characters each have a unique voice and it shows through with every intonation. There’s a lot going on emotionally in this book, in varying degrees, and with different characters. Boudreaux manages to convey that so well that I felt it in my gut. Especially the final chapter. But at every turn, I was right there with the characters, and the narration was so well done that I could practically see it playing in my head along with the audio. I know I would have enjoyed this book had I just been reading it, but listening to it has given it an extra level for me.
This series is an easy recommendation. I can’t wait for the final installment. And if you’re looking for well-drawn characters, excellent world building, and nice plots, then I highly recommend you pick this book, and this series, up.
