Grave Ransom (Alex Craft, #5)

by Kalayna Price

In the thrilling new novel from USA Today bestselling author Kalayna Price, Alex Craft comes face-to-face with the walking dead….
 
Grave witch Alex Craft is no stranger to the dead talking. She raises shades, works with ghosts, and is dating Death himself. But the dead walking? That’s not supposed to happen. And yet reanimated corpses are committing crimes across Nekros City.
 
Alex’s investigation leads her deep into a web of sinister magic. When Briar Darque of the Magical Crimes Investigation Bureau gets involved, Alex finds herself with an unexpected ally of sorts. But as the dead continue to rise and wreak havoc on the living, can she get to the soul of the matter in time?

• ISBN10: 0451416589
• ISBN13: 9780451416582
• Publish Date: 4 July 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Ace Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451416582

Reviews

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I was very excited to get a new book in the Alex Craft series. I’ve really enjoyed this series from the beginning. It was a little hard to get into this one. It has been a while since I read the previous book, so I didn’t really remember what happened in that story. But it didn’t take that long and I was deep into this book and I had all the information that I needed to enjoy this story.

This one starts off with Alex out to a lunch with a friend when she feels the dead near back. It is strange when the “dead” that she is feeling is walking by her. She gets up to follow him. Come to find out, it is a dead body with a soul in it. She accidently pulls the soul out of the body, only to find out that the soul didn’t belong with that body, but someone else entirely. Turns out that this isn’t the only time it happens.

This was a fun story with a lot of great investigative work as Alex and Briar try to solve this case. I really enjoyed the investigative part of this story. The romance part of the story really annoyed me. The complications between Alex and Death are starting to make me not enjoy their relationship. Death is just making things really hard on Alex. I’m just over it.

I know I didn’t go into the investigative part of the story very much, but I really feel like you need to experience it for yourself. I don’t want to give anything away. I really love Alex. I love this world that Kalayna Price has created. The secondary characters in this series are great. I love them all. I’m not a huge fan of the romance, but that’s okay. I do have a feeling that something will change with the next book (I’m not give more details than that). I’m excited for the next book. I hope I don’t have to wait too long.

Narration
I continue to love Emily Durante’s narration of this series. I think the voices she chose for each character fits them well. There isn’t a voice that stands out. Not a lot of accents or odd voices, but she just does a great job with the narration. A solid performance with great pacing and tones.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[MurderByDeath]

This series is one of those outliers that I continue to really like even though I can easily point out several ... I don't want to call them flaws, so let's just call them weaknesses.  But I love the characters and the setting, so even when things don't work, or the author makes decisions I don't necessarily like, I still enjoy the story.   Grave Ransom is about zombies, as luck would have it (Halloween Bingo square!), and I generally feel petty meh about zombies, but for Alex and her friends, I could deal with zombies.  It also helped that these sentient zombies, not the BRAINS! eating type (although there were plenty of those at the end).  One particularly wrenching scene in the middle of the book where one vicim comes to terms with his situation added a bit of depth to what otherwise might have been a simple paranormal killing spree.   But I have to say I didn't much care for the ending; Price is playing tin soldiers with Alex's love life, and the plot itself didn't feel quite tied up enough to satisfy me; I'd have liked to have known how the 'bad guys' met; I was left with questions after their dastardly plot was revealed and they didn't all get answered.   In spite of that, I had a great time reading the book; these are always fun and never a chore to pick up; I hope the author continues to bring Alex and her friends to the page for some time to come.

[Quirky Cat]

Grave Ransom is the (greatly anticipated) fifth book in the Alex Craft series. It’s only been a year and a half since Grave Visions released, but I’m sure I’m not the only one that felt like it was longer than that (impatience can do that to a person). Despite the (not so) long wait and resulting build-up Grave Ransom without a shadow of a doubt held up to my levels of expectations, which is such a relief!



Warnings first: This should shock absolutely no one, but there are (gasp!) corpses in this book. The details about the level of decay get somewhat graphic at times. I found that to be particularly true in regards to the animals found during one scene (perhaps just because I’m an animal lover? That and the surprise factor). There is also a reanimated child corpse at one point, so just be prepared.
I’ll admit right away that this series has always been a favorite of mine; in particular because I love it when a fantasy series includes consequences for using specific types of magic. Ironically, I’m also a bit of a snob when it comes to books about fae, but Price nails it and meets my standards and then some, so I can’t complain!
Alex Craft is dealing with a lot of new firsts in this book, such as her first time seeing a ghost riding an already dead body. That’s a whole new level of weird and gross, even for her. This mystery quickly pulls her into the middle, grabbing at her from all directions. Investigating along with her is a woman named Briar, part of the Magical Crimes Investigation Bureau (try saying that ten times fast). Falin and Death also become involved, mostly due to their concern for Alex (who admittedly has a knack for getting herself into dangerous situations without even trying).
On top of the mysterious necromancer running around the city, quite a lot is happening in this novel; some subtle, some less so. Everyone has moved into Alex’s new castle that resides in a folded space behind their house, which is a bit odd to think about, but also as far as the fae goes isn’t entirely that surprising either. Why is this relevant? Alex is both significantly safer and harder to reach (both good and bad) when in her new home.
I’m really enjoying watching Alex come to terms with her recently exposed heritage, while simultaneously learning how to handle the changes. Such as suddenly not being able to lie or having to balance out debts in response to a simple “thank you.” Her navigation of this new set of rules is both fascinating and oddly human (which is ironic, considering the cause).
As if learning how to be part fae wasn’t enough, Alex is also trying to gain some control over her plainweaving abilities. Which is easier said than done. In an attempt to not destroy everything, she (wisely) has chosen to try and limit this power; mostly just using it to look across rather than actually cross or pull over. She does make exceptions of course, a fact that has a direct result on how things end in this book.
One of the relationships changed, and for the sake of the story (since it happens at the very end) I won’t say who or what, as I feel it’s important to read it through. I do feel the change was inevitable, though I’ll admit that I don’t know what the next step or response will be. I am curious to see what happens though.
I just finished Grave Ransom last night, but I’m already anxious for book six (not sure if it has a name yet?) to release. Which is the sign of a good book - well, as long as it doesn’t end in a cliffhanger that is – which don’t worry, Grave Ransom doesn’t.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks