Book Review: The Ravenous Dead by Natasha Hoar

The Ravenous Dead by Natasha Hoar (The Lost Souls #2)

Publisher: Carina Press

Available in ebook only. It releases today July 16th, 2012.

I’ve felt dissapointed by every Urban Fantasy novel I’ve read this year. Could it be that it always involves a female protagonist who is in Law Enforcement and spends most of the novel talking instead of fighting or solving crime? First off, it begins exactly where the first book left off, leaving anyone who hadn’t read the initial book in the series completely flabergaster. Maybe its a pet peeve of mine, but I prefer my sequels to be stand-alone books. The Ravenous Dead felt more like an episode of Supernatural than a full fledge story. It laid heavily on the assumption that you are already a fan of the series and that you are already committed on the characters. The characters themselves don’t develop in this story. They end exactly as they begin. Rachel is a pretty kick-ass heroine, but nothing evolves in her personality. Maybe I’m asking too much from a novella. At less than 30k words, there isn’t much room for development.

Another annoying thing is that Rachel seems to be completely dumb about the world. She is constantly having people explain things that she should already know – in other words, poorly done info dumps by the author. I wish the information was weaved into the narrative instead of her being asked questions and then told the information.

One thing the author does do well is the action scenes. I wish it was the entire novella, because then I’d give it 5 stars. I totally enjoyed that part of the book.

As far as the ending, it left many things unsolved. I really wished that instead of making these books so short and part of a series that the author tied them together into one book. Only read the Ravenous Dead if you have read and loved the first book, The Stubborn Dead.

Characters 3/5

Concept 3/5

Pacing 2/5

Grammar 5/5

Ending 3/5

Summary:

This time the dead are hungry…

Rachel Miller doesn’t just see dead people, she rescues them. As a member of The Order of Rescue Mediums, she spends most of her time helping stubborn spirits move on from the world. But after she learns the details of three brutal murders, she knows the culprit can only be a reaper, an undead monster that relentlessly stalks its victims to feed on their souls.

A reaper once consumed the soul of Rachel’s mentor as she watched frozen in fear. Now, Rachel is in the role of teacher to Kit Elkeles, a rodach just learning to control his wraithlike powers. After Kit and Rachel rescue a half-vampire, they work to protect him while searching for a way to stop the reaper. But when Rachel realizes who the monster is really after—and just what kind of dark magic she’ll need to stop it—will she be able to do what is necessary before it devours one of her friends…or even herself?