Early Review: Grave Ransom by Kalayna Price

Grave Ransom by Kalayna Price

Alex Craft #5

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 Alex get to the soul of the matter in time?

GRAVE RANSOM had it's strengths and weaknesses, but the plot is where this one really shines. The whole concept of dead but alive people walking around, but NOT zombie or ghouls was really fascinating to me. The stakes are incredibly high in this one as aside from Alex, and the other few grave witches, no one would ever know these people are actually dead. It made for the perfect batch of thieves for the villain and I really loved watching all the twists and turns in GRAVE RANSOM unfurl. I won't spoil things too much, but suffice it to say this one doesn't head quite where you'd expect!

Now onto the not so strong parts. I have to admit considering the wait in-between books in this series, the overall lack of character development and momentum in this GRAVE RANSOM was a bit of a let down. Like I mentioned, the plot was incredibly enjoyable and kept me more than entertained, but the character department just left things a little to be desired. Don't get me wrong, Alex and crew are all fully fleshed and real characters, but their progression, particular Alex and her relationship with Death seemed stagnant at best. I just prefer at least some focus on characters and their progression in a series, but alas this one was fully plot focused rather than character driven. It's just a personal preference.

Overall, character momentum issues aside, I very much enjoyed this latest installment in the Alex Craft series. These characters and world hold a special place for me, and I can't wait to see more in the future!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Previous Books:
     1. Grave Witch
     2. Grave Dance
     3. Grave Memory
     4. Grave Visions