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 agosurely 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.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewCarlos 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