The first book in what I assume is meant to be a new series, by the author of the most excellent Southern Vampire books. I enjoyed this book – it was a page turner – but found it disappointing in comparison to the other series; I didn’t like these characters anywhere NEAR as much as I love Sookie, and so many other great Southern Vampire characters.

After being struck by lightning as a teenager, our heroine, Harper, has the unusual ability to “sense” the location of dead bodies, and can also intuit the cause of death. When she and her brother are called in to a small southern town to try and find a missing woman, they get caught up in a big mystery.

The mystery was interesting enough, but I just didn’t warm up to either of the main characters. Tolliver (the brother) seemed a bit too aloof, and Harper is too angsty – as she goes about her business (which is, admittedly, an unusual one), just about everyone is overtly rude and suspicious to/of her (and not just the criminals who are trying to stop her finding out their secrets). As soon as someone found out who she is and what she does, they treated her like crap. Over and over again. It got a bit much for me after a while. Sure, Sookie has her problems (and this is one of the things I most love about her character), but I think Harris took it too far with Harper, who is barely functional, what with one thing and another. I found it depressing.

Even though I enjoyed this in some ways, I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to read any more in this series. 7/10

2.2006
3/5 Stars
New series about Harper Connelly who has the ability – courtesy of a lightning strike – to find the dead. She and her brother – her business manager – end up in Sarne, Arkansas in a lot of trouble. While the premise is interesting, the characters are boring compared to Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse books.