Even though I have not read book one, entitled The Safe House, it really wasn't a problem in following The Condolence Screener. Kaplan did a great job of filling in the necessary plot holes without four chapters of backstory we often get in book two of a series. So, even though I had a few questions going in about our main character, Marissa, and some of the other players, they were answered well-enough, quick-enough, that it didn't take away from the story.
Basically, Marissa, who used to be a cop, now works as a condolence screener, reading messages for the dearly departed before they are posted to a message board online. What an interesting job--I'm a bit jealous. She soon discovers a homeless man who has been posting messages from the dead to the living, which takes her on a dangerous journey in an attempt to free a kidnapped woman. I won't give you anymore information about said woman at this point because Kaplan did something incredibly clever with the plot here, and I want you to discover it for yourself. It really was one of those "What? Shut up!" moments for me.
We also have a witch on our hands, and it becomes quite clear early on she is somehow linked to Marissa. Though I don't quite buy where this portion of the story ends up, it wasn't so unbelievable that it made me slam the book (okay--flip through the pages rapidly on my device) and put it down forever. I am sure that the events towards the end of the story involving Marissa and the witch are all part of the framing for book three.
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| Not this kinda witch, but you get the idea! |
In my opinion, Kaplan is a good storyteller whose writing hasn't quite caught up to her yet; it will. There are times when things seems a little rushed or I was confused about how we got from Point A to Point N--already. There were some grammatical errors, as there almost always seem to be, and a few sentences that a decent editor could have fixed up--I don't think there was an editor from what I can tell. There should have been. Editors make writers even better, you know.
I liked the book, and I recommend it to anyone who likes supernatural mysteries. It's not really horror in that no one really gets chopped up or has a ghoul jump out of the closet. But parts of it are creepy, and it is definitely dark.
One thing did bother me a little bit though, I have to admit. When I went to look at the reviews for The Safe House (I like to read other reviews just to see if I'm totally out of line, even though it doesn't change what I write in the end) and I noticed this interesting review by Emily Kaplan. Hmmm.... If this review is authored by the person I think it is, why is this necessary??? If it's a good book, we'll let you know. (I'd recommend reviewing Amazon's review policies and possibly taking this down if it doesn't meet them. And, needless to say, I don't think it does.)
If you'd like to start with The Safe House, you can buy it for 99 cents right here. If you'd like to skip ahead like I inadvertently did, The Condolence Screener is also available for just 99 cents here. These are bargains, my friends. Kaplan's writing is worth more than 99 cents (if she does say so herself) and I don't expect her to stay in this price level for long. You can read my 4 star review here.
By the way, I like to go back and see how the books I have reviewed are doing for a few weeks afterwards, and I've noticed a spike in reviews for some of them after I publish my review. I'm wondering if this is a coincidence. If you happen to give a book a try after you see it here, would you mind letting me know? I know how many people click on my reviews; it would be nice to see how many people go on to read the books I recommend.
Until next time, keep reading!
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