Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Haunted by Kay Hooper Published by Berkley on September 2, 2014
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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When Deacon James’s younger sister Melanie calls him, terrified, he goes to her aid in the small Georgia town of Sociable. What he finds is a scared young woman in the grip of what she insists is a paranormal nightmare—and murder. Two local men have been killed under mysterious circumstances. And Melanie is the prime suspect.
Trinity Nichols left a high-stress job for quiet, small-town life. But news of the murders has left her—and the town—on edge, especially when there is nothing remotely ordinary about how the men died. And her investigation is yielding more than she bargained for, including a group of strangers who have descended on Sociable, some with abilities Trinity finds hard to believe, and agendas she refuses to trust. For some reason, they know a lot more than they should about what’s happening in town. And what’s happening is growing stranger by the minute.
Now Trinity, Deacon, and this odd band of FBI agents must work together to solve a series of disturbances so incredible that Trinity, and the town of Sociable, will be changed forever. She just isn’t certain who—or what—will be left standing when it’s all over.
ICYMI is a post from my early days of blogging at Yummy Men & KickAss Chicks. You can see the original review here.
Kick Ass Chick – Hollis Templeton, Trinity Nichols
I saw this available from one of the publishers and was thrilled to sign up for it immediately. Haunted is the fifteenth book in Kay Hooper’s Bishop / Special Crimes Unit series. The first twelve books were all 5 star reads for me. The last two were 3 and 4 stars. I always thought of them as mysteries but they are also romances with paranormal aspects and my favorite kind – mind stuff like telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, mediums, precognition and so forth. I love this which is why witches and magic top my supernatural list.
The series is a whole bunch of trilogies, at least by title. The first 3 were Shadows, the next 3 were Evil, then Fear, then Blood. The last 3 books do not share a title word but all start with H. The books have all been what I call paranormal romance, with a couple coming together as they solve or survive a mystery. Haunted barely touches on romance; there is very little of it in this story. Since I prefer some romance and some humor, which neither is present, it’s not my favorite installment.
The SCU unit of the FBI that comes to work in this town to find a suspected serial killer are people already well known to me as I have read the other 14 books previous. I would say this is a series where it really helps to read the books and read them in order, even though each book is a separate case and usually a separate romance.
I like these characters but it would have been much harder to connect to them if I didn’t already know and care about them. I’m not sure I could with just this book. Some characters, also well-known to me, are utilized briefly or only mentioned, and would not be effective or understood without the previous books.
Trinity is a new, main character in this story and I like her a lot. I thought she might even get a romance here. If that had happened, I think it would be a better book. Or perhaps, if there had been one for her friend Melanie. I guess without the romance, I found this book to be less and atypical to the series.
I read Haunted in less than 24 hours and I enjoyed it. I think if you are already knowledgeable about the characters, it is a good read. If not, it would not be the place to start, when the first 12 books are 5 star amazing reads. I hope if the series continues beyond this, it is more true to its roots.
About Kay Hooper
ay Hooper was born in California, in an air force base hospital since her father was stationed there at the time. The family moved back to North Carolina shortly afterward, so she was raised and went to school there.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay’s personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay’s sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay’s desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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You remind me that I never went back and read some of the earlier books in this series and I think I have this one on the shelf. 🙂
I’ve really enjoyed this series. The newest one is pretty good. The first 15 were stellar.
This definitely sounds like a series best read it order. I used to read Hooper’s books years ago, but it’s been ages since I last read anything by her. I am glad you enjoyed this one.
I’ve enjoyed them all. It’s the mind skills / paranormal aspect which is really well handled.
I used to read all of these in order but for some reason stopped reading them. I really liked them. Maybe they cost more than I wanted to spend at the time, I don’t know. I really don’t think I got as far as this one though. I’m like you, I want at least a hint of a possible romance coming.
I’m sure I got them all at the library and either paperbacks or hardcovers, until the more recent ones.
I looked, I read through book 10. The next one(11)was about a cult which I dislike so I probably stopped at ten.
Unfortunately, there are lots of cult or cult-like stories out there these days with misogyny, or racists or religious zealots. Or all of those in one cult.