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Liked It “This is the second book in the series, and I wasn't able to put down either one. Finishing it felt like finishing a marathon; It's a very intense read.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“I love Murphy's books, because they're fast reads, the characters are believable and flawed, and the women are fairly strong, or at least speak their own minds. But of the Walker Papers books I've read, this one seems the weakest. Second in the series, Joanne Walker still hasn't come to terms with being a Shaman, and it's just making her TSTL (Too Stupid To Live). Despite having fought and barely won against a god in her past, she still refuses to see the signs of another one at work against her, which makes her seem idiotic. Luckily, Murphy redeems herself in the next book, and Joanne starts actually paying attention.”
nutmeag (aka Meagan B) wrote this review Monday, October 5 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Joanne Walker, aka Siobhan Walkingstick, is back in the second installment of The Walker Papers. Unfortunately, the force of her personality and the awesome cast of secondary characters introduced in Urban Shaman and back in this installment isn't quite enough to put Thunderbird Falls on my "must not be missed" list.
Tracy wrote this review Wednesday, August 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
There's good stuff here, most significantly the growing emotional tension between Joanne and Captain Michael Morrison. I swear, I just love every second they're in each other's company. There's real magic sparking between the two of them and it's very patiently and subtly drawn. I adore Gary - and there's a comforting sense of continuity in the faux-familial bond between them. It's nice to see two characters who genuinely adore one another like they do and not have it be in any way romantic. Billy Holliday is back, too, and while not quite as out there as he was in the first book, he's definitely one of the most joyously unique characters I've read in a book in a long time. And I love Joanne's internal monologue. She's sarcastic and self-deprecating and her observations often make me chuckle.
What I DON'T love, though, is that despite the impressive goings on in Urban Shaman and all the challenges Joanne Walker triumphs over there, she seems to have not only stagnated in her shamanic development, she's actually regressed and is back to that annoying "oh no, I don't WANT to be Shaman" whining. It doesn't stop her from using her abilities, it just makes every time she does turn into a paragraph about why she doesn't want to. That got old in the first book. To have it carry over into this one after everything she accomplished previously is tedious. I think there may have been some progress in that regard by the end of Thunderbird Falls, but I'm not sure how much.
Then there's the central plot. Joanne stumbles across a dead body and ends up mixed up in coven with dubious motives and questionable sanity. She loses Coyote in there somewhere, and I have no idea why or how. She sure doesn't seem at all bothered by it, despite the fact that there are things going on around her that point to the fact that her fight against Cerrunos in Urban Shaman threw things severely out of whack in the astral realm and it's bleeding over into this one (or visa versa...not totally clear on that) and she's not got the first clue how to fix it. Seattle is sweltering and drought stricken, nature is out of balance, and it looks like it might be all Joanne's fault. And nothing in any of that is anywhere near as compelling or dangerous as anything in Urban Shaman. Until the last quarter of the book, in fact, there's nothing even alluding to daunting, then the last quarter was a mishmash of big reveals and final showdowns that weren't very clearly written. Not to mention that by that point I can't say I cared that much about it, however it concluded.
I'm going to give Coyote Dreams a try because the parts I did like in this book I liked very, very much. I still think CE Murphy has a unique gift for writing secondary and ancillary characters, and I truly like Joanne when she's not going the "poor me" route. Plus, I've just GOT to see what develops between her and Morrison. I just hope for a cleaner, less meandering, tauter plot.”
“another good supernatural detective book ... yay Murphy!”
Kath S wrote this review Tuesday, July 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This is the second book in the series, and I wasn't able to put down either one. Finishing it felt like finishing a marathon; It's a very intense read. ”
E.B Penman wrote this review Thursday, June 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“An interesting main character, but it seems like every book Joanne gets stabbed by a baddie and has to heal the wound. I think as inventive as the author is in other areas of this series, she could come up with something a little more climatic besides Joanne getting stabbed.”
danae wrote this review Monday, July 7 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is the second book in the Urban Shaman series starring reluctant shaman/police mechanic Joanne Walker. As with several previous series I've read, this suffers from the dreaded "sophomore syndrome". "Thunderbird Falls" is still a fairly decent book, but it drags in places and sadly, her sidekick Gary doesn't have much page time.
bookbabe wrote this review Thursday, January 24 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Joanne is trying to just do her job as a beat cop when she is dragged yet again into the world of the magical. While showering off after a fencing lesson, she discovers the body of Cassie Turner, a member of a local coven. Suspecting murder, Joanne manages to get herself involved with said coven (reluctantly, of course) at the same time that her spirit guide, Coyote, seems to have taken a vacation. Things are about to go from bad to worse in Jo's world.
One of the reasons that this book falters is the lack of Gary-time and the obviousness of the wrong direction Jo is taking. Sorry, but anyone even remotely paying attention while reading this book will figure out quickly that someone is lying to Joanne, and it's pretty obvious who. That left me just wanting to get through the book, as it took out a lot of the mystery from the first book. And let's face it, Gary is such an awesome character that his absence is felt way too much.
On the plus side, Joanne does interact quite a bit more with her boss, Michael Morrison, whom she obviously has some feelings for; also pretty clear is that he has feelings right back. Of course, the two of them are stubborn and unwilling to admit anything, and there is the whole boss/subordinate problem to cope with as well.
I'm currently into the third book and it's going a bit better, so it's worth it to read "Thunderbird Falls". Just don't expect too much out of it, is all I'm saying.
”
“Joanne finds a dead woman's body in the gym shower room. She goes into the astral plane to talk to the dead woman's spirit, if she can find her, but meets Coyote who says it's dangerous there for her.
Ranko wrote this review Saturday, January 19 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
She is almost eaten by a huge serpent/monster.
she meets her teacher on the astral plane, a snake woman. She is upset with Joanne since Joanne has not really been taking her shamanic powers seriously and has not been studying how to use them properly.
Gary, the cab-driver, is back and she has dinner with him.
Joanne's teacher is astonished at how little Joanne actually knows about shamanic practices. She does not even have a spirit totem. When she goes on a spirit quest she ends up getting eaten by a Thunderbird, and has a snake, a raven and a horse offer to help her.
A group of the dead woman's friends ask her for help, and it turns out they form a coven. They want her to become the Mother figure in their coven. She takes part in one ritual and a lot of power is evident.
There's a really fascinating scene involving her on a quest to get aid to help a young boy with cancer and Gary.
There's also a good bit of humor in the book.
The coven's idea is to help a being come across into our reality and use its power to help the world. What they didn't count on was causing an earthquake during one of the preliminary rituals. Joanne also didn't count on a major betrayal.
A great deal of what happens in this book revolves around Joanne's continuing reluctance to accept the powers that she has, and her reluctance to take time to study and learn how to properly use those powers.
”
“Not as good as the first, but i still liked it. It gets Joanne to where she needs to be to start accepting what's going on with her”
irishanam21 wrote this review Thursday, November 29 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The second book in the Walker Chronicles. Joanne Walker, reluctant shaman and reluctant cop, has to deal with more weirdness, this time connected with the mother who abandoned her as a small child. Turns out Mom didn’t just dump her, she left her with Joanne’s father to protect her, but of course, Joanne has issues that need working out, and she needs to learn how to do the shaman thing. And her abilities are getting really weird. And there’s all sorts of weird stuff trying to get loose in the world (some of which does). And she meets up with this group of witches who want to help...or do they? And there are murders that her cop side has to help solve. And her friends get dragged into the danger—all in all, a very good, twisty, interesting read.”
Gail Dayton wrote this review Saturday, September 15 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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