Tuesday, May 9, 2017

CBR9 #5 Borgin Keep by Ron Ripley

I've read the entire Berkeley Street series, as well as the Haunted series, and I think this was definitely one of the better offerings. This time, former Marine Shane and his slowly growing band of willing (and unwilling) ghost hunting allies face their biggest challenge yet. While the ghosts of Borgin Keep are both very dangerous and very evil, Shane also must keep one step ahead of The Watchers, a ruthless and powerful organization who find him to be a threat to their shadowy goals.

As always, for me the best part are the characters. Shane and his ghost-hunting partner Frank (a former soldier/former monk) are joined once again by police detective Marie LaFontaine, who is a very tough woman determined to avenge a dead friend. I'm not as fond of Shane's girlfriend Courtney, but I understand her uses as far as character development.

The plot moves along quickly, and I found this book a little better fleshed out than a few of the previous ones in the series -- while I enjoyed Lake Nutaq and Slater Mill, I also found them just the slightest bit procedural. Borgin Keep has raised the stakes for Shane and for his friends. 

I also enjoyed, as usual, the epilogue chapters which give some details about the history of the ghosts in house. Since my favorite part of most ghost stories are the researching bits wherein the heroes find out who the ghosts are and what motivates them, these bonus chapters are a real treat.
This is a great read, but definitely requires reading the rest of the series in order to understand it.

CBR14 #1 - Revenge Body by Rachel Wiley

Cannonball Read #14. Hope springs eternal, I guess.  I have to say that Rachel Wiley is probably my favorite living poet. I've been a fa...