The Curse of Tenth Grave by Darynda Jones

Publication: June 28th, 2016 by: St. Martin’s Press

Series: Charley Davidson #10

Genres: Adult Fiction, Paranormal, Romance

Format: e-ARC Source: Publisher via Netgalley

My Rating: 3.5 Stars 

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As a Part-time PI and fulltime grim reaper, Charley Davidson has asked a lot of questions throughout her life: Why can I see dead people? Who is the hot supernatural entity following me? How do I get gum out of my sister’s hair before she wakes up? But, “How do I trap not one malevolent god, but three?” was never among them. Until now. And since those gods are on earth to kill her daughter, she has little choice but to track them down, trap them, and cast them from this dimension.

Those are just a few of the questions Charley must answer, and quick. Add to that a homeless girl running for her life, an innocent man who’s been charged with murder, and a pendant made from god glass that has the entire supernatural world in an uproar, and Charley has her hands full. If she can manage to take care of the whole world-destroying-gods thing, we’re saved. If not, well…

There’s just one problem. One of the three stole her heart a very long time ago. Can the Razer, a god of absolute death and destruction, change his omniscient spots, or will his allegiances lie with his brothers?

 

Review

Since starting this series back in January, I’ve managed to read them all fairly quickly. That’s simply because I love the characters, and it’s funny most times. I think I’ve only been slightly peeved by one installment – book 4. And like that installment, this one comes after something traumatic happens. Charley’s answer to dealing with it all? Avoid talking about it with the one person who matters most, her husband. I understand a little of why she was hesitant to talk about what happened in Sleepy Hollow, and everything she learned when her father crossed. But, my God, she just annoyed me here. In fact, Reyes annoyed me here as well. They both keep these secrets from each other, fearing the other’s reaction. The first half of this book I could definitely do without. I was hoping for some character growth with Charley, now the she knows things. Instead, we pretty much get the same Charley, until the end. That epic ending saved this book for me. I was seriously thinking at least 2 stars by that point.

If you think Reyes’ backstory is over, think again. Seriously, he’s upstaged Charley this go ’round. I love all of this history unfolding between gods, demons, and angels. The archangel Michael thinks it’s all about his demands, but Charley is hell bent on making her own rules. Rocket is a key player to this “Defeat Satan” clause. This story just got a whole lot weirder and I really hope that Charley focuses on these revelations. She’s too distracted. I’ve never read about a heroine with ADHD or whatever, so forgive me if I can’t deal with her. She jumps from case to case, doing things that I think are irrelevant. I know she’s human, but in the grand scheme of things, she needs to drop the act before it’s too late. How is being scared to cross planes helping the situation? Beep needs her to step it up.

I could gush for days about Uncle Bob, Osh, Garrett, Cookie, etc…. but I won’t. Know that they are all here and trying to look out for Charley since she can’t seem to do so herself. The only time she did anything meaningful was the end. That was….WOW. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, she shocks me. So does Reyes. And Osh. The gods of Uzan are tricky, and when Charley encounters one that’s taken over a host, he reveals all. I just don’t understand why Charley didn’t remember it when she learned her real name. I’m not saying it’s inconsistent, but I thought that was the whole point of her coming into her powers. She still acts clueless. I know this is supposed to be all humor, but most of the commentary between Charley and other characters just wasn’t funny this time. And Charley’s time in the Peace Corps pops up online, so she has some fanatics following her. Some with not so good intentions, and Charley gets all badass on one in particular. That was awesome. That is what I want more of, not this mundane PI stuff. But…I get it. It’s who she is.

I love this series, so I know not all of them will be 5 star reads. I was just hoping that Charley and Reyes would grow here; which they did in a sense, but not like I hoped. Still, I am very much looking forward to the next one. I didn’t hate this, I just didn’t love it as much as previous installments. Maybe if it was more about angels, gods, and demons – and less about finding out who is trying to kill someone, then I probably would have loved it more. Nevertheless, I want to know what is going on with Uncle Bob so I hope they figure it out in time. *Crosses fingers*

 

Also in this series: First Grave on the Right | Second Grave on the Left / Third Grave Dead Ahead | Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet | Fifth Grave Past the Light / Sixth Grave on the Edge | Seventh Grave and No Body / Eighth Grave After Dark | The Dirt on Ninth Grave