Early Review: Raven Calls

Raven Calls (Walker Papers 7)

- CE Murphy

Publisher: Luna

E-Arc courtesy of netgalley and Luna Books

**Warning - may contain apoilers for earlier book**

Suddenly, being bitten by a werewolf is the least of Joanne Walker’s problems. Her personal life in turmoil, her job as a cop over, she’s been called to Ireland by the magic within her. And though Joanne’s skills have grown by leaps and bounds, Ireland’s magic is old and very powerful…
In fact, this is a case of unfinished business. Because the woman Joanne has come to Ireland to rescue is the woman who sacrificed everything for Joanne—the woman who died a year ago. Now, through a slip in time, she’s in thrall to a dark power and Joanne must battle darkness, time and the gods themselves to save her.

Raven Calls starts pretty much the minute after Spirit Dances ends. (Read my review here). At the end of the last book, Joanne Walker was rushing off to Ireland after a vision of a warrior woman who had managed to bind the werewolves – which was handy as Joanne had recently been bitten by a werewolf as well. Joining her on this adventure is Gary, her 74 year old best friend and side-kick, but this time she has left behind the rest of her support in Seattle. There is no Billy, Melinda – Morrison and Coyote only appear in brief cameos. This means there are plenty of new characters most of them female, that are introduced as Joanne and Gary prepare to battle the Master who has been tormenting her since she came into her shaman power a year ago.

Joanne rarely seems to think before acting – as a result a lot of this book is fast-paced followed by periods of explanations of why she did what she did. This also means you can never be sure what will happen next as Joanne rarely seems to think beyond the next issue let alone a big picture. However, she is snarky which is fun and much more emotionally available than she was at the beginning of this series – and there is plenty here that develops her and particularly her relationship to her mother. It also shows how much she’s grown since the start of the series. However, there are a lot of references to events in previous books and even short stories in the series which can be overwhelming if you haven’t read them all – or if it’s been a while. I found it best to just let the references flow over me to focus on the current story. A lot happens within a short space of time and it can be quite breathless trying to figure out what is happening!

It was good to see Joanne and Gary outside of Seattle though and able to explore her Irish heritage. Her Irish family play a small role in the story through her cousin who joins them for a while and the exploration of Irish myths and legends did make the world seem colourful than limiting it to native American myths. Having read most of the previous books I enjoyed catching up with Jo again – but be warned it ends on another tangent that will start the next book rolling! A fast paced and action packed adventure – suited to those who get bored easily but still like intricate adventures.  

Recommended for fans of Karen Chance and Jennifer Estep. 8 out of 10