Jaime Lee Moyer
Release Date: 09/17/13
Synopsis:
A dark, romantic fantasy set against the backdrop of San Francisco devastated by the Great Quake
It is the dawn of a new century in San Francisco and Delia Martin is a wealthy young woman whose life appears ideal. But a dark secret colors her life, for Delia’s most loyal companions are ghosts, as she has been gifted (or some would say cursed) with an ability to peer across to the other side.
Since the great quake rocked her city in 1906, Delia has been haunted by an avalanche of the dead clamoring for her help. Delia flees to the other side of the continent, hoping to gain some peace. After several years in New York, Delia believes she is free…until one determined specter appears and she realizes that she must return to the City by the Bay in order to put this tortured soul to rest.
It will not be easy, as the ghost is only one of the many victims of a serial killer who was never caught. A killer who after thirty years is killing again.
And who is now aware of Delia’s existence.
My thoughts on the book:
Delia's Shadow is supposed to be suspenseful and creepy, but it just fell flat for me. The prose is a bit clunky, and I just couldn't feel a sense of urgency regarding the fates of the characters. The characters themselves didn't stand out to me, and the pacing drags. Many parts of the book have too much detail. People who really enjoy ghost stories and dark and twisted torture scenes may love this one, but I just didn't like it at all.
Delia is an okay character, but she doesn't stand out to me. She bores me a lot. I really liked Theodora, the psychic, much better. Unfortunately we learn a lot more about Delia than we do any of the other characters, including Dora. Also, the ghost isn't introduced as anything more than an annoyance for Delia. I never felt that I got to know the ghost, only referred to as Shadow, and I felt that Shadow should have been treated with more respect. I don't know, maybe back then people had no respect for the dead, but treating someone who got killed by a serial killer as an annoyance is a bit insensitive, if you ask me.
Moyer describes the setting very well, and at times I felt as if I was in San Francisco in the early 1900s. She clearly did her research about the area and its history before writing this novel, and I appreciated that. The torture scenes, however, were a bit too graphic for my tastes. I really didn't need all of the detail that went into describing each one. It broke up the pacing of the story, and honestly, it grossed me out. One in depth description with brief following descriptions would have sufficed. The torture scenes really turned me off from the entire novel.
Overall, I'd recommend this to people who lean toward the more macabre type books and to those who love murder mysteries and historic paranormal novels.
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This books seems very interesting, but after reading your review, I'm having second thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI love mysteries and ghosts, but what pulls the story forward, for me, are the characters. However, if I hate the main character, I'll automatically hate the entire book, and it seems I won't like Delia.