Living with the Dead (Women of the Otherworld) [Hardcover]

With the exception of Haunted, I have rated every Kelley Armstrong book 5 stars. It always saddens me when I can't do that, and unfortuanately this is the case with Living with the dead.

LWTD carries on from Hope's story Personal Demon, don't let the dust jacket fool you into thinking this is Robyn's book, she hardly gets any page time. It supposedly attempts to answer the question, what happens when a human gets thrown into the dark side of the Otherworld?

This is the first time Armstrong uses the third person narrative and we have five different view points to contend with. This means that we are really actually dealing with five different stories as whilst the plots do relate to each other, the different characters all have very separate issues to contend with. This gave the plot a very disjointed feel and it was easy to miss clues relating to the story outlined on the jacket.

This also means that none of the characters are especially developed. The chapters are tiny (usually 2-3 pages) which means that we are jumping around all over the place. It was the first time when reading Armstrong that I had no concept of time passing. I also couldn't remember what had happened to each character by the next instalment of their narrative. This made for a confusing, frustrating read. I couldn't get gripped on the story line, which was sad.

It doesn't help that none of the characters are particularly redeeming either. I'm sure this is because they don't get developed properly, but for example Robyn bored me to tears and seemed to be there just as a plot device, her acceptance of her situation seemed to me unrealistic. This is a shame when you consider that their individual situations are actually interesting. A character like Finn could have a fascinating book as he becomes aware of his own place in the Otherworld. Sadly such things are passed by. Theoretically established characters like Hope were also disappointing, she bore no resemblance to her sparky character in Personal Demon and is so bogged down in relationship issues she is somewhat emotionally unstable, her grasp over her demon also appears to have slipped leaving her irrational at times.

After reading LWTD, I am left confused and unsure what I gained from the book, if anything. Not something Armstrong intended I'm sure. Dedicated fans will gain something from this book as I have done (Karl was real high point) but newcomers will be overwhelmed. Start with Bitten, and hope that in Frostbitten, the next instalment we see a return to form.

I've been a fan of Kelley Armstrong's books for years but I'm sad to say that this book is not her best. It's a good book and I passed an enjoyable evening curled up on the sofa reading this but it doesn't come up to the extremely high standards which she has set in so many of her previous books.

In 'Living with the Dead' Hope Adams (and her boyfriend Karl Marsten) is in L.A. temporarily on assignment for work, but she also there to check up on her friend Robyn Peltier who's husband was killed a few months previously. When one of Robyn's clients is murdered and Robyn becomes the prime suspect after fleeing the scene of the murder, Hope and Karl try to clear her name. Also trying to find Robyn is homicide detective John Findlay (Finn) who happens to be a necromancer. Finn is being helped track Robyn down and solve the murder by the ghost of Robyn's dead husband Damon. (I love this idea - a necromancer solving crimes with the help of a ghost sidekick!)

Robyn, Finn and Damon are interesting characters and good additions to this series, but with so many other characters center stage you never get to know any of them very well. This leads on to my first problem with this book, which is the number of point of views that are used to tell the story (Hope, Robyn, Finn, Adele, Colm). I felt that this made the story a bit too disjointed hopping from one person to another every other chapter. In her earlier books the story is told far more from one or two characters perspectives and you get to know the characters in far more depth. I've not been able to warm to Hope as much as to previous characters and I think it's partially because of the constant switching perspectives that have been used in the books which feature her.

My other problem with this book is the villain of the piece, yes she comes across as ruthless and manipulative and generally nasty but not terribly scary all things considered, and not really big and bad enough to be the major villain in a supernatural story. Maybe this was a conscious decision - that because the main character Robyn is human the supernatural baddies actions have to be scaled down more appropriately to something potentially just an everyday human criminal.

Despite the faults i've mentioned this is a good book and if you're a fan of the series already like me then you will probably enjoy it too. If you haven't read anything by Kelley Armstrong before I'd recommend that you start with Bitten and work your way through the series.

I was so looking forward to reading this, I have really enjoyed all of Kelley's books. But this one I found hard to get into, the plot not that interesting and the charactor boring. I think it is time to get back to the werewolves and witches! Or maybe some vampires? I am glad I read it to keep up with the series. But if you haven't read them all, I wouldn't recommend. Sorry.