Bitten by Books
Every Breath You Take, the excellent third installment in the enjoyable Jensen Murphy, Ghost for Hire series, finds our intrepid heroine and her friends up to their typical ghostly good deeds-haunting a human guilty of murder until she confesses. After accomplishing her task, Jensen receives a visit from Amanda Lee, her human psychic friend/cohort, who reports that a ghost-hunting team has shown up in the forest, and their topic of interest-Jensen. Since Jensen’s ultimate fate remains a mystery to the world-at-large, as her body was never found, Amanda Lee suggests that she, in her role as consultant to the ghost-hunter group, feed them a fabricated story to distract them.
This idea sounds good to Jensen, as she does not wish her murder to become exploited for entertainment, but also because it means they will be able to concentrate on tracking down Jensen’s killer, the “dark spirit” hell-bent on scaring her, and hurting her friends in the process. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned or hoped for on either front, as it turns out at least one of the ghost-hunters appears to be genuine, and Jensen’s murderer takes to spooking her with visions of women resembling her at various ages. Adding to the mix her confused feelings over human Gavin, from her first case in book one, as well as her mercurial attitude towards the mysterious spirit/being who masquerades as her former boyfriend, Dean, Jensen has a lot to contend with and attempt to make sense of.
This time out Green ups the stakes for both Jensen and her ghost pals, who now get both attacked and haunted by the dark spirit. After it having stolen a bit of essence from two of Jensen’s friends in the previous book, resulting in a couple of ill effects, all of the ghosts now realize the enormity of what they face in the spirit of Jensen’s killer. The author further develops her unique premise of a ghost society, “Boo World,” comprised of distinctive and endearing characters no less real even given their limitations. As before, a thread of humor runs throughout the narrative, usually concerning the interactions of ghosts from different eras, which keeps the tone upbeat in spite of some of the events.
Every Breath You Take and the series as a whole should appeal to fans of both urban fantasy and paranormal romance. This reviewer looks forward to whatever Jensen and Company find themselves involved in next.
Book Stats:
- Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Roc (April 7, 2015)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0451417011
- ISBN-13: 978-0451417015
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Books in the Jensen Murphy series in the order they should be read:
Only the Good Die Young
Another One Bites the Dust
Every Breath You Take
Review Overview
Overall Rating
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Summary : This time out Green ups the stakes for both Jensen and her ghost pals, who now get both attacked and haunted by the dark spirit. After it having stolen a bit of essence from two of Jensen’s friends in the previous book, resulting in a couple of ill effects, all of the ghosts now realize the enormity of what they face in the spirit of Jensen’s killer. The author further develops her unique premise of a ghost society, “Boo World,” comprised of distinctive and endearing characters no less real even given their limitations. As before, a thread of humor runs throughout the narrative, usually concerning the interactions of ghosts from different eras, which keeps the tone upbeat in spite of some of the events.
