Author: Tate Hallaway

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Release date: August 2012

Pages: 308

ISBN-10: 0425247791

ISBN-13: 978-0425247792

Rating:  

DESCRIPTION:

Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment…

When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off.

After working up the courage to report the missing body, Alex is transferred to the mysterious Precinct 13 where she discovers that her new co-workers—including a cute technomage named Jack—are paranormals just like her. Now, Alex is being encouraged to use her ability to speak to the dead to solve crimes. And despite being in the middle of nowhere, Hughes County sure does have a lot of paranormal activity…

Review:

I purchased this book because the blurb caught my attention. I wanted something unique, a little different. I got it with this book. Unfortunately, it was not quite what I was expecting. The story was a little light on the plot for an urban fantasy. The job as a corner sounded fascinating, but there were only a few scenes that lived up to the hype.

The characters are where the story takes place. Their uniqueness kept me reading. The story itself wasn’t bad, but there was no weight in the mystery.  Maybe it was the way Alex Connor’s narrated the story, I’m not sure. The plot didn’t feel fleshed out enough. There was a randomness to it, an abruptness that didn’t let me sink into the characters’ lives the way I normally do with urban fantasies.  

What I did like was the characters from the living tattoo, fairies, witches, mages, dragons and so much more. I loved the paranormal vibe to the book. If you like ‘light’ urban fantasy, you would like Precinct 13.