Deep Down, by Deborah Coates

[mrissa]

Review copy provided by Tor.

Last year, I thought I had no desire whatsoever for a paranormal romance with ghosts in South Dakota, and I was so wrong, because the book in question was Deborah Coates's Wide Open. So this year when I saw the sequel was coming out, I was excited and squeeful. More paranormal romance with ghosts in South Dakota, oh yay! quoth I, which--trust me--is not a sentence I ever thought would cross my lips non-sarcastically, but the world is full of strange things, and here we are.

People. It was even better. There were ramifications all over the place, stuff coming from character and previous reactions, and I love ramifications. Also the observations of Upper Midwestern/prairie/high plains dialog were so very spot-on that I sometimes just howled. You won't need any special knowledge of the high plains to understand what's going on in these books, but if you have it, they'll be even better.

And while they were initially labeled "paranormal romance," this is one of those cases where genre informs but doesn't constrict or constrain.

More, please.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I have always loved her writing.

[msisolak.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to get my hands on her latest--and if I can't find it locally in the next day or so, I'm going to break down and order it from Amazon.

[okrablossom (from livejournal.com)]

Just toddled off to the library website and requested it. Thank you for the PSA!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

this is one of those cases where genre informs but doesn't constrict or constrain.

I love that phrasing infinitely more than the usual b.s. of "this transcends its genre." (Which we all know is code for "I think its genre sucks, but this one's good, ergo it cannot be part of that set.")

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh good, that's exactly the kind of genre-sneering I was aiming to avoid. Glad it hit the mark.

[laurel]

I'm intrigued.