URBAN SHAMAN

Author: C.E. Murphy ISBN: 0373802234 6/2005 MYSTICAL MYSTERY Publisher: LUNA
Setting: Present - Seattle and a few mysterious otherworld places

Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt. No worries. No pressure. Nevermind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams. And if all that's not bad enough, in the three years Joanne's been a cop, she's never seen a dead body -- but she's just come across her second in three days. It's been a bitch of a week. And it isn't over yet.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Wow! Sometimes debut authors just come out swinging! URBAN SHAMAN is the best debut I have come across since Morag Mckendrick Pippin blasted onto the scene with BLOOD MOON OVER BENGAL. Since that last title was my pick for the best book I read in 2004, that is giving URBAN SHAMAN quite a compliment.

The characters are all done splendidly, every one of them, but Joanne Walker is an absolutely fabulous heroine. Jo is blessed—or cursed—with untapped Native American powers, with a little Celtic magic sprinkled in. That's quite a mix of legends, but the author pulls off the story and Joanne's attitude and persona, flawlessly. She is all business, but not unfeeling, has plenty of baggage, and definitely is someone you don't want to underestimate. Given that she has to deal with a power hungry Celtic God, his murdering half-God son, and a Wild Hunt of ghostly creatures, I'd say she is perfect.

The story itself is a bit eclectic, and at times, difficult to follow, but it is still wildly entertaining and wraps up nicely in the end. Some of you may end up guessing parts of the mystery here and there, but you will never regret taking the ride
anyway. It's magnificently descriptive—luminous even—and truly stands apart from anything you may have read about Native and Irish culture. There is otherworldly travel, self-healing, myths, and lots and lots of Sci-Fi action.

If you are in a reading slump and cannot find a book that is truly exceptional in every way, even when you get lost a bit, you have to read URBAN SHAMAN. The writing, the characters, the entire concept is phenomenal. I surely hope the next book is as outstanding. I will be waiting for it.

Shannon Johnson