Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway
paperback, 320 pages
Expected publication: August 7th, 2012 by Berkley Trade
Source: Publisher
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…
First of all, lets get the genre label cleared up. My copy of the book is labeled as a paranormal romance, but I can tell you that this reads much more like an urban fantasy. The one thing (for me) that differentiates the two is paranormal romance has sex. Well, more descriptions of it anyway. And while we know that there IS sex in the book we see none of it. For me that's a good thing, I like UF better than PNR. However, there is romance and I assure you, you'll do plenty of swooning! And this opens it up to the younger readers. I would say this is entirely appropriate for mature YA readers (my opinion).
Okay, so have you read Tate Hallaway yet? I love her Garnet Lacey books (though I still need to read the last one) but they are a little bit extreme. I mean, her books teeter on the edge of a little too much, like not realistic feeling anymore, or slightly ridiculous. I still liked them, but I'm pointing this out because this series doesn't seem to teeter quite on the ridiculous. While it's chock full of supernatural beings of every type, it all felt kind of real. And there was funny thrown in without going over the top and touching ridiculous.
So the thing is... I loved this book! First of all, Alex is a great character! It took a bit to warm up to her (like a chapter or two) but then I saw her awesome personality come out and I adored her. She's kick ass and not at all shy. She's been in the dark about the supernatural until a dead body walks out of her morgue. Suddenly she realizes that she really did know more than she thought. She's introduced to Precinct 13, which deals in all manner of supernatural and it's like she's suddenly found her home, her true self and her passion. And she's good at it. She loves it almost right away. It's like she's waited her whole life for it to happen. And while this book has a lot to do with her learning about it and accepting it, it really didn't slow down for her learning or explanations. There was nothing heavy about this book at all. It was constant action and moved along without going too fast and leaving us behind.
Then comes Valentine and well, I can't even say anything about this dude, other than you want to know his secret. Trust me, you do. And you'll love it!
This is one phenomenal world. I loved each new thing that came into play. I was stunned by how creative the author managed to be in a world that's inundated with UF books and supernatural beings. Not everyone can pull off such a big magical feat, but Tate Hallaway did it, this book rocked my socks!
Disclosure: I received a copy for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.
Giveaway:
I realized that I ended up with two copies. As my finished copy is damaged from shipping I am giving away my ARC. This is a solid yellow cover (well, with the title and stuff) so isn't pretty or anything. But the inside is the same (or close to it!)
You must be 16 or older to enter.
Open only to addresses in the US.
Ends 8/6/12
Fill out the rafflecopter.
