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Thunderbird Falls (Walker Papers Series #2) by C. E. Murphy — book cover

Thunderbird Falls (Walker Papers Series #2)

by C. E. Murphy
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Overview

It's the end of the world…

Again.

For all the bodies she's encountering, you'd think beat cop Joanne Walker works in Homicide. But no, Joanne's a reluctant shaman who last saved mankind three months ago—surely she deserves more of a break! Yet, incredibly, "Armageddon, Take Two" is mere days away.

There's not a minute to waste.

Yet when her spirit guide inexplicably disappears, Joanne needs help from other sources. Especially after she accidentally unleashes Lower World demons on Seattle. Damn. With the mother of all showdowns gathering force, it's the worst possible moment for Joanne to realize she should have learned more about controlling her powers. Or to discover she's being lied to…

Synopsis

It's the end of the world…

Again.

For all the bodies she's encountering, you'd think beat cop Joanne Walker works in Homicide. But no, Joanne's a reluctant shaman who last saved mankind three months ago—surely she deserves more of a break! Yet, incredibly, "Armageddon, Take Two" is mere days away.

There's not a minute to waste.

Yet when her spirit guide inexplicably disappears, Joanne needs help from other sources. Especially after she accidentally unleashes Lower World demons on Seattle. Damn. With the mother of all showdowns gathering force, it's the worst possible moment for Joanne to realize she should have learned more about controlling her powers. Or to discover she's being lied to…

Publishers Weekly

Joanne Walker, a likable young Seattle beat cop, continues to learn the ropes of her even more dangerous job as a shaman in Murphy's spirited second urban fantasy (after 2005's Urban Shaman). After a fencing lesson at the university, Joanne stumbles on the body of Cassandra Tucker, a 20-year-old junior, in the showers. The autopsy report states that Cassandra's death was due to a heart condition, but Joanne suspects otherwise. In her role as shaman, Joanne investigates "the Dead Zone," a place between life and death, while her earthside sleuthing leads to a coven that in recognition of her special abilities invites her to take Cassandra's place in opening a passage between worlds for Virissong, an ancient Native American spirit who's expected to end a local heat wave and global warming. Unfortunately, if not surprisingly, Joanne discovers after several nightmarish and somewhat bloated magical misadventures that Virissong is one nasty lying serpent. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, C. E. Murphy

Though C.E. (Catie) Murphy lives in Alaska, she has never watched a single episode of Northern Exposure or helped a film crew simulate terrorist attacks on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. She has, though, been forced to convince people that she neither lives in an igloo, rides a polar bear, nor has a penguin for a pet. She's married to a chef, has two small cats, and a large dog who is afraid of everything.

According to one source, Catie began her writing career when she ran away from home at age five to write copy for the circus that'd come to town. You would think she'd remember this, but her own earliest memory regarding writing is from age six, when she submitted three poems to a school publication. The teacher producing the magazine selected (inevitably) the one she thought was by far the worst, but also told her — a six-year-old kid — to keep writing.

It's likely she would have, anyway, but she took the advice to heart. And a good thing, too: far more people after that (some of them famous authors!) told her to do anything other than write, if she possibly could.

It turns out she couldn't.

Her hobbies include swimming, walking, traveling, drawing and moose-wrestling.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Carlos Castañeda meets Ruth Rendell in the second installment of C. E. Murphy's Walker Papers saga, Thunderbird Falls. The sequel to 2005's Urban Shaman pits beat cop and reluctant shaman Joanne Walker (real name Siobhan Walkingstick) against her deadliest foe yet: an ancient serpentine spirit bent on crossing over into modern-day Seattle -- not to order an iced mocha latte from Starbucks but to take over the world!

Just a few months after meeting the Native American trickster god Coyote and grudgingly agreeing to become a shaman -- it was either that or death! -- Walker is still coming to grips with her paranormal abilities. But when she discovers the body of a dead woman in a University of Washington shower room, she's thrust into a potentially apocalyptic adventure that revolves around a good-hearted coven trying to raise a seemingly benevolent spirit from the netherworld. But as the rituals intensify, Walker realizes that the 3,000-year-old entity isn't exactly on a mission of peace…

An intriguing blend of Native American mythology, spiritual fantasy, and mystery, Murphy's Walker Papers novels should appeal to fans of other comparable supernatural detective sagas like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and David and Aimée Thurlo's Lee Nez chronicles. Additionally, genre fans of Native American-powered series like the Charlie Moon mysteries by James D. Doss and Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee novels should find this fast-paced and relatively lighthearted saga well worth reading. Paul Goat Allen

Publishers Weekly

Joanne Walker, a likable young Seattle beat cop, continues to learn the ropes of her even more dangerous job as a shaman in Murphy's spirited second urban fantasy (after 2005's Urban Shaman). After a fencing lesson at the university, Joanne stumbles on the body of Cassandra Tucker, a 20-year-old junior, in the showers. The autopsy report states that Cassandra's death was due to a heart condition, but Joanne suspects otherwise. In her role as shaman, Joanne investigates "the Dead Zone," a place between life and death, while her earthside sleuthing leads to a coven that in recognition of her special abilities invites her to take Cassandra's place in opening a passage between worlds for Virissong, an ancient Native American spirit who's expected to end a local heat wave and global warming. Unfortunately, if not surprisingly, Joanne discovers after several nightmarish and somewhat bloated magical misadventures that Virissong is one nasty lying serpent. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In this sequel to Urban Shaman, Seattle beat cop and reluctant shaman Joanne Walker attempts to use her shamanic gifts to discover more about the murder of a young woman. Instead, she finds herself drawn into a group of practicing witches hoping to save the world by restoring an ancient being from the spirit world. Meanwhile, the city is in the middle of an uncharacteristic heat wave, protesters are assailing a global warming symposium, and Walker's best friend and mentor suffers a life-threatening episode that draws her away from both her real-world and spirit-world responsibilities. Murphy's second novel provides another look at a policewoman whose "beat" entails more than meets the eye and whose relationship to her past makes her leery of the power she's been given. Fans of Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" novels and the works of urban fantasists Charles de Lint and Tanya Huff should enjoy this fantasy/mystery's cosmic elements. A good choice for most libraries. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Book Details

Published
June 1, 2009
Publisher
Luna
Pages
416
Format
Mass Market Paperback
ISBN
9780373803033

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