Whispers in the Wings
Whispers in the Wings
By Vincent Valentean
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
Here we see the full team in action again. Still recovering from their brush with, now vaporized, drug lord Hector Delgado. In this one the team heads to New York City to figure out what is going on at an old opera house in Manhattan. I’ll be honest I’m about a quarter of the way though and I absolutely love this one. Believe it or not I have not become ragey once, not once which is so unlike me. This is one of those mysteries that you just keep going with. You crave the knowledge about what is going on. You require the next clue.
Now the team is great at research and they, just like all good detectives, seek out leads to follow. One of these leads takes them to the door step of the Great-Granddaughter of who they suspect to be the troublesome murdering entity. At face value she seems nice, intelligent, and eager to find the truth. I’m not sure I’m buying it. I feel like she took the opportunity to embed herself in the investigation. Much like a murderer does in real life investigations all too often. I’m not sure that I’m correct but the geeky, historian persona just seems too good to be true. I mean there has to be a twist right. Perhaps this is that twist and if that is the case I will see her square glasses swiftly inserted into her lying rectum! Jagged lenses a requirement. (Ah there is the rage, I knew it wouldn’t be long but it seems to have kept itself at bay longer than usual…)
Well I was right and she is a real egotistical piece of work. Thinks she is smarter and more clever than everyone else. So if you’re so smart bitch then why were you thinking that those physical consequences of bonding spirits couldn’t happen to you? Stupid piece of garbage. Stupid of the most dangerous kind as she overconfident in her knowledge and abilities. Thinks she is the smartest person in the room. Smart people plan for all eventualities. She may be book smart but the bitch has a lot to learn about the real world and I have a feeling that she’s about to be schooled. Oh and she knows nothing of Kassidy…so much for being a research machine and historical expert. The bitch is also a thief. A thief of the worst variety because she is not stealing material possessions, she is taking peoples souls, their “power” and using it as her own. That’s true evil, especially since she is really so very hubristic which makes her stupid and over confident. Yeah chapter 20 is infuriating. I mean it’s a great look into the character but man do you just want to hold her head underwater until she stops moving. I have a feeling that things are not going to end well for her.
And they didn’t. You ever see “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” when the bad guy choses the wrong Grail…yeah that. I do have to say that the final battle is tense and exciting. I love that Eliza plays a roll. I sort of felt that she would as she attempted to help all along the way. I’m just relieved that one of the twists was not her being a wolf in sheep clothing. She is exactly what you think she is. Now let’s talk about the very end of this book and how badly I would like to remove the political stank from the bathrooms of the restored opera house, along with its skin and my shit don’t stink attitude. Michael and Blackwood, the butt plug governor of California, meet face to face. Dude I hope Michael shoves his threats down his throat and the blow a big hole fighting their way out of his colon. Gives a whole new meaning to “cleanse”. I guess we are just going to have to wait and see little Ghoulies.
Closing thoughts:
This was one of my favorite ones out of the collection thus far. I like that Michael was not constantly doubting himself. The team really came together and each person was able to shine in their roll here. While they are still working out some of the logistics I think this was the smoothest going case they have survived. I’m glad that he is finally seeing the values of having allies to watch your back as there were several times that the ladies saved his proverbial bacon! I understand that many heroes have to have an arch nemesis but why does it have to be a politician. I mean I want some escapism to my fiction not a reflection of the real world. This exact scenario in the real world would not surprise me even a little bit. I won’t expand further on this as that is not what my goal for here is but you can’t deny the possibilities.
There is one thing that I don’t understand and that is the cover of the book. Actually I don’t understand the cover of most of these books. They don’t represent the story in any way. This one is particularly bad. This story takes place in Manhattan. Why are they showing a pole barn at the end of a dirt drive in the middle of nowhere? It just does not make any sense at all. I understand that you can’t judge a book by its cover but it should at least represent the content inside a little bit. Just something that I have been thinking about with the “Riveting Haunted House Mystery Series”. I’ve read a few of the other authors and this seems to be the case on most. It’s just strange.
