Yet Another Ghost Story

[rxelyn]

 

Karen Chance's Touch the Dark is another one of those typical urban fantasy books that you see alongside Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, Rachel Caine's Weather Warden, etc. It's nothing mind blowing, but it's still pretty interesting, in the sense that we have the main character Cassie, being raised by her enemies, thrown right from the start into the dark side, she is more understanding of the monsters then other similar characters.

The plot is pretty decent, but the writing could be improved upon. Nothing wrong with grammer or such, just the style. Some parts of the story didn't flow very smoothly, the writing was too choppy in the sense that the scenes didn't have proper transitions... which made it quite hard to follow properly.

Cassie Palmer is able to see ghosts as well as glimpses of the past/fpresent/future. Her talent makes her very useful to Antonio, a money grubbing vampire who makes use of her visions to earn more money. Knowing Antonio's role in her parents' death, Cassie runs away and hides, for a few years, until now, her past has caught up with her.

She's dragged into a 'confrontation' in which she starts to gain even more powers, from travelling in time to possessing people. Which makes her even more powerful than Anita Blake. *sarcastic tone* at least Anita Blake takes about 2-3 books before she starts gaining new powers...

The characters are basically not used properly, even the 'twist' in story was silly... and they all seem very cliched. I mean, even the sex scene was boring... and sort of unnecessary. I mean, look at Cassie, who seems to be freaking out over the stupid stuff, she doesn't even channel the 'fuck you, I'm in charge' attitude that Anita Blake has. While I know that comparisons are unfair, but it is hard not to draw such parallels when writers keep rehashing the same issues in the same genres. I don't expect mind blowing new stuff, but more originality?

Okay... I don't exactly like this series, but I think it'll be quite easy to read as light reading material.