Grave Ransom (Alex Craft, #5)

by Kalayna Price

[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.