Greywalker (Greywalker Series #1)

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Kat Richardson's debut novel -- equal parts urban fantasy and supernatural whodunit -- introduces Harper Blaine, a Seattle-based private investigator whose life is turned upside down when an assault leaves her clinically dead for almost two minutes. When she is brought back to life, she realizes that she can see otherworldly entities not visible to the normal world. Still coming to grips with her newfound abilities but forced to return to her job, Blaine accepts two very different cases: one involving the disappearance of a college student, the other revolving around the retrieval of a missing heirloom. Both undertakings, however, have strong supernatural underpinnings; the missing student turns out to be a newly created vampire who was forcibly brought over by a psychopathic bloodsucker, and the wayward artifact is actually a paranormal time bomb. Blaine is forced to utilize her singular ability to travel through the Grey (the realm between the physical and spiritual worlds) to bring both cases to non-apocalyptic conclusions. But how can a fledgling Greywalker go up against an insanely powerful sociopathic vampire and his undead minions and hope to survive?

Free of the base gimmickry and thematic clichés that plague many genre-hybrid novels, Richardson's narrative unfolds in a voice that is clear, clean, clever, and confident. The release of Greywalker places her firmly in the stratosphere with top-rate genre-blending storytellers like Jim Butcher, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Charlaine Harris. Here is a brilliant start to what should be a long-lived and wildly entertaining series. Paul Goat Allen

From Barnes & Noble's Heart to Heart
Kat Richardson makes a strong debut with this urban noir mystery/fantasy tinged with romance. It features Harper Blaine, whose two minutes of death has changed her life. Oh, she's still a P.I. in Seattle, but now she has places to go, vampires to see. As a consequence of her mini death, Harper has become a Greywalker, one who can navigate the borderland between the normal world and the world of vampires. Her practice has gone weird, too. Two seemingly normal cases -- finding a missing son and recovering a family heirloom -- have supernatural aspects. The missing son turns out to be a vampire, living in a car in Pioneer Square. The heirloom turns out to have a malevolent power. Harper picks up a new support team, including an attractive auctioneer who's crazy about her. Harper ends up taking on Seattle's fiercest bloodsucker and resolving her own identity crisis in the process. Fans of Charlaine Harris will want to pick this up. Ginger Curwen

Publishers Weekly

PI Harper Blaine sees a strange shift in clientele in Richardson's dizzy urban fantasy debut. After being dead for two minutes as a result of a clobbering by an angry perp, Harper discovers icky side effects complicate her Seattle life in unexpected ways she sees ghosts and attracts otherworldly business as she pops in and out of a shadowy overlapping world. Harper seeks the assistance of Ben Danziger, self-proclaimed "ghost guy" and linguistics professor, and his wife, Mara, a witty Irish witch. They educate Harper on the Grey, "a place between our world and the next." Harper tries to maintain a normal life, dating a sexy antiques expert while battling wits with Seattle's vampire king, but being a Greywalker means she can only "pass for human." Fast-paced fun, this first novel will captivate fans of Charmed, Buffy and Charlaine Harris (Definitely Dead). (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

KLIATT

Harper is a young private investigator who received the wrong end of an angry client—and was technically dead for two minutes. When she revives, she starts seeing grey matter, which she discovers is from the afterlife. Likewise, her clientele list starts to reflect that same "reality." A mother wants to find her son, and Harper discovers him sleeping in a car trunk because he is a vampire. A spirit is trying to find an antique piece of furniture, which gives him power. Harper encounters a necromancer, a witch, and several ghosts. But she really doesn't like being able to see the afterlife, especially when each crossing to the other side is physically painful. This nuanced ghost story is a clever addition to the literature, and sure to engage teen readers (and the cover is great!). Characters are well developed, and the plot twists are suspenseful.

Library Journal

Recovering from a brutal assault that had left her clinically dead for two minutes, private investigator Harper Blaine finds her perceptions have changed. Now she sees people that others can't and often struggles against a grayish mist that seems to permeate her world. A friendly couple with experience in the paranormal explain to her that she is a Greywalker, someone with the ability to cross between the living and the ghostly worlds. Suddenly, her life-and her business-grow a lot more interesting and much more dangerous. Richardson's first novel features a genuinely likable and independent heroine with a unique view of reality. Following in the tradition of Tanya Huff and Jim Butcher, this is a strong addition to the growing body of urban fantasy mysteries. A good selection for most fantasy collections. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Contemporary fantasy meets urban noir in Richardson's intriguing debut. Following a savage assault, PI Harper Blaine lies clinically dead for two minutes. When she recovers, her perception of Seattle will never be the same. Along with mundane reality, she sees blowing grey mist and people who aren't solid. Fearing for her sanity, she consults university professor Mara Danziger, who claims to be a witch. Mara tells confused, disbelieving Harper that the grey mist is the paranormal dimension, occupied by ghosts, monsters and other unspeakable things. Harper's head injury has turned her into a "greywalker" who can not only perceive the grey but touch and enter it-if she has the skill and the courage. Mara's resident ghost, Albert, isn't too scary, but both of Harper's current cases take alarming paranormal twists. Missing college kid Cameron Shadley has been transformed into a vampire. Cameron's problem, aside from his overprotective mother, is that the vampire who bit him didn't bother to provide the requisite survival skills. Harper's other client, the sinister Grigori Sergeyev, manages to phone her office even when the phone line is down. Sergeyev wants her to recover a missing heirloom that, it transpires, is a focus of terrible necromantic power. Love interest Will Novak, an auctioneer, suspects his boss is ripping him off. And electronics whiz and fix-it guy Quinton, whom Harper consults after her office is broken into, clearly knows more than he's telling. To solve both cases, Harper may be forced to combine them-as well as learn how to survive inside the grey itself. Well-produced, pleasingly peopled, with a strong narrative and plenty of provocative plot lines: a superb beginning tothe series that's unquestionably in the offing.