First Grave On The Right (Charley Davidson, Bk 1)
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Helpful Score: 1
This book is full of quick-snap comebacks and snarky humor, set in the desert Southwest. I loved the quick wit, the murder mystery, and the Hispanic culture and words tossed in. Being familiar with Charley Davidsons chosen city of Albuquerque, I could clearly see her acting as a portal to the dead (Go towards the light!) in the heat shimmer of the day. I so very much wanted a hot green chile breakfast burrito to go with this book. An independent strong woman with her share of friends and supportive family, she also has terrors both in the past and potentially right in front of her.
Her whole life, The Bad has watched over her, protecting her in his flowing cloak and death-dealing sword. However, only she can see him. Of course, suddenly slumping corpses following in her wake has caused for some interesting family discussions with her cop family. Add to that a mysterious entity that interrupts her shower, calling her a nick name only one other being (Reyes Alexander Pharaoh) has ever used, bringing to the forefront memories of a messed up event from her teen years. This book was off to a good start, grabbing my attention straight off and then hauling me around for the rest of it.
The adult romance and sexual tension between Charley and Reyes was exciting and added yet one more thing for Charley to try to track down in the midst of her triple homicide investigation. Deadly handsome and off the radar, Charley feels a great need to track him down, especially since he keeps appearing in a almost-ghostly way to give her waking wet dreams.
Still, with all that goodness, at the end I was a little conflicted. There were parts I so greatly enjoyed, but then parts that quirked my eyebrow in a negative way. First, there is objectification of woman, mostly the main character Charley. And mostly it is Charley doing the objectification. Large breasted, 125 points, a 9 out of 10 on the beauty scale this is the description of Charley by herself. The book is smattered with compliments on her feminine anatomy and propositions by most of the men. So, sometimes I felt this added to the atmosphere I mean she works mostly with men and also a woman should feel free to express her own sexuality. But sometimes I felt it stayed too much on the objectification, especially after the love word got pulled out of the closet.
The second point deals with the main love interest of the book. I know messed up stuff happens in life and we sometimes choose to move past that and keep the people involved in that messed up stuff in our lives. Still, I think if the author through Charley had acknowledged the effed up nature of this relationship, I could have swallowed it better. OK, so here is the SPOILER ALERT: Charley meets Reyes when she is 14 or 15 and he is 17 or 18. Hes just taken a nasty beating and she threatens to call the cops (to defend him from further beatings). He desperately wants her to leave, so he threatens her with rape. He then gropes her breasts and her sex, making sure she is paying attention to his threat. She promises to leave and he lets her go. OK, messed up things happen. But then fast forward like 10+ years, and for the rest of the book he is the main sex attraction. Um.arent we going to talk about whether or not he has a violent (sexual?) streak? END SPOILER. So, yeah, without having a few paragraphs or a chapter for those two to acknowledge their assault & battery beginning, I had a hard time rooting for Reyes and for their potential coupling.
All that aside, it was a quick fun read, complete with a car named Misery, a best friend, neighbor, and secretary all in one Cookie, and evil step-mother and step-sister. Of course there are also other handsome men, such as investigator Garrett complete with intense eyes and a questioning attitude when it comes to Charleys ability to chat with the dead. Also, Charley gets hit, a lot, in this book and this, and the resultant bruises, show that she is human, can be damaged, and does need the support of her friends and family.
Her whole life, The Bad has watched over her, protecting her in his flowing cloak and death-dealing sword. However, only she can see him. Of course, suddenly slumping corpses following in her wake has caused for some interesting family discussions with her cop family. Add to that a mysterious entity that interrupts her shower, calling her a nick name only one other being (Reyes Alexander Pharaoh) has ever used, bringing to the forefront memories of a messed up event from her teen years. This book was off to a good start, grabbing my attention straight off and then hauling me around for the rest of it.
The adult romance and sexual tension between Charley and Reyes was exciting and added yet one more thing for Charley to try to track down in the midst of her triple homicide investigation. Deadly handsome and off the radar, Charley feels a great need to track him down, especially since he keeps appearing in a almost-ghostly way to give her waking wet dreams.
Still, with all that goodness, at the end I was a little conflicted. There were parts I so greatly enjoyed, but then parts that quirked my eyebrow in a negative way. First, there is objectification of woman, mostly the main character Charley. And mostly it is Charley doing the objectification. Large breasted, 125 points, a 9 out of 10 on the beauty scale this is the description of Charley by herself. The book is smattered with compliments on her feminine anatomy and propositions by most of the men. So, sometimes I felt this added to the atmosphere I mean she works mostly with men and also a woman should feel free to express her own sexuality. But sometimes I felt it stayed too much on the objectification, especially after the love word got pulled out of the closet.
The second point deals with the main love interest of the book. I know messed up stuff happens in life and we sometimes choose to move past that and keep the people involved in that messed up stuff in our lives. Still, I think if the author through Charley had acknowledged the effed up nature of this relationship, I could have swallowed it better. OK, so here is the SPOILER ALERT: Charley meets Reyes when she is 14 or 15 and he is 17 or 18. Hes just taken a nasty beating and she threatens to call the cops (to defend him from further beatings). He desperately wants her to leave, so he threatens her with rape. He then gropes her breasts and her sex, making sure she is paying attention to his threat. She promises to leave and he lets her go. OK, messed up things happen. But then fast forward like 10+ years, and for the rest of the book he is the main sex attraction. Um.arent we going to talk about whether or not he has a violent (sexual?) streak? END SPOILER. So, yeah, without having a few paragraphs or a chapter for those two to acknowledge their assault & battery beginning, I had a hard time rooting for Reyes and for their potential coupling.
All that aside, it was a quick fun read, complete with a car named Misery, a best friend, neighbor, and secretary all in one Cookie, and evil step-mother and step-sister. Of course there are also other handsome men, such as investigator Garrett complete with intense eyes and a questioning attitude when it comes to Charleys ability to chat with the dead. Also, Charley gets hit, a lot, in this book and this, and the resultant bruises, show that she is human, can be damaged, and does need the support of her friends and family.
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