{"id":8750,"date":"2017-02-17T19:40:53","date_gmt":"2017-02-18T00:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=8750"},"modified":"2024-01-22T19:25:17","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T00:25:17","slug":"the-ghoul-vendetta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8750","title":{"rendered":"The Ghoul Vendetta"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ghoul Vendetta<\/a><\/em> (2017) Lisa Shearin<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I adore this series. It’s so fun and enjoyable–despite all the ghouls and monsters.<\/p>\n

The nephew of a vampire lord is kidnapped at an elite yacht party Mac is attending with Rake (the wealthy goblin businessman and dark mage she’s sort-of dating, but still isn’t sure about.). This is followed by ghouls breaking into secured bank vaults, stealing a select few items, and then eating the guards. Needless to say this is a nightmare for the PR people who are supposed to keep the supernatural world under wraps, and thus the case becomes a priority for SPI.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the leader of the ghouls turns out to be a monster who has been haunting Mac’s partner Ian, which makes things more complicated, since as the only seer for NY SPI, Ian is as much Mac’s bodyguard as partner. Mac has useful skills, but those skills don’t include extreme weapons abilities or defensive abilities.<\/p>\n

I appreciated Ian\u2019s training efforts in that area as well as hand-to-hand combat, but I\u2019d pretty much gotten as good as I was going to get, though I kept trying, and Ian kept teaching.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That last bit is one of the things I adore about Mac and this series. She’s SENSIBLE.<\/p>\n

All that being said, I had a gun, I\u2019d been trained, and I almost had the confidence to use it. Though suddenly, I went from having one target to what SPI\u2019s shooting instructor called a \u201ctarget-rich environment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You didn\u2019t walk into a dark hole in the ground unless you were qualified to handle what you found\u2014 or what found you. Anyone other than a seasoned battle mage would be woefully\u2014 and fatally\u2014 unqualified. <\/p>\n

We got the hell out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the other things I love is the thought that went into the world-building.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d begun her career as a midwife, and had become the first licensed female doctor in the city. Every few decades, she \u201cretired\u201d from one position and took another. She\u2019d been in her mid-twenties when she\u2019d been turned so she didn\u2019t stand out when she went back to school after a \u201cretirement\u201d to catch up on the latest medical advances. She\u2019d learned to glamour and glamour well. As a result, she\u2019d never had problems blending in or with being found out. <\/p>\n

Vivienne Sagadraco had a lot of pull in this town, and one of the ways she used it was getting supernaturals placed in strategic jobs. In addition to supernaturals in the NYPD, there were mages who, like Dr. Van Daal, could place a glamour on a dead supernatural and hold it there until the body was turned over to the family. Or if no one claimed the body, until it was cremated or buried by the city. These mages were in homicide divisions, the medical examiner\u2019s office, and CSI teams.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(T)he Prime Bank was founded by and largely caters to supernaturals. When one has an extended lifespan, it\u2019s less awkward and more convenient to bank where you don\u2019t have to pretend to die every ninety years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As a psychometric, Dr. Tierney got psychic vibes from objects, even furniture, especially antique furniture. As a psychiatrist, he needed to keep his concentration on his patients. That explained why all of his office furniture came from Ikea. He even assembled it himself so that the frustration of the people who had to put it together didn\u2019t sink into the wood and fabric.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those are the little touches that delight me when I come across them in a story. <\/p>\n

Plus, I love bits like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have other agents who are just as qualified\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cName one,\u201d Ian snarled.
\n\u201cEvery senior agent in the bull pen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s perfect.<\/p>\n

Plus, there’s a great scene when they’re in the restricted archives, and she describes the reaction to the archivists to someone touching<\/em> an old document.<\/p>\n

I really love this series and am already waiting impatiently for the next installment.
\nRating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Ace<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ghoul Vendetta (2017) Lisa Shearin I adore this series. It’s so fun and enjoyable–despite all the ghouls and monsters. The nephew of a vampire lord is kidnapped at an elite yacht party Mac is attending with Rake (the wealthy goblin businessman and dark mage she’s sort-of dating, but still isn’t sure about.). This is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,2,48,204,8,42,16],"tags":[694,167,168,313,525],"class_list":["post-8750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-fantasy","category-female","category-good","category-mystery","category-police","category-supernatural","tag-dragons","tag-lisa-shearin","tag-spi-files","tag-vampires","tag-werewolves"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2h8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22163,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22163","url_meta":{"origin":8750,"position":0},"title":"The Ghoul Vendetta, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"August 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ghoul Vendetta (2017) Lisa Shearin narrated by Johanna Parker (SPI Files) My grandma Fraser had always told me I had \u201clittle dog syndrome\u201d\u2014 small size, big attitude, delusions of toughness. I appreciated Ian\u2019s training efforts in that area as well as hand-to-hand combat, but I\u2019d pretty much gotten as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Ghoul Vendetta","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Ghoul-Vendetta-e1511045670983.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6231,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6231","url_meta":{"origin":8750,"position":1},"title":"The Dragon Conspiracy, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Dragon Conspiracy, Audible Version (2015) Lisa Shearin, narrated by Johanna Parker This is another audio book I finished earlier in the fall and forgot to review. The second SPI files book finds Makenna and Ian at a Gala opening at the Met, displaying a collection of rare gems that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"dragon-conspiracy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dragon-conspiracy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5926,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5926","url_meta":{"origin":8750,"position":2},"title":"The Grendel Affair, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"June 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Grendel Affair, Audible version (2013\/2014) Lisa Shearin, narrated by Johanna Parker This is a really fun series. Mac Frasier has moved from her little town in the south to New York City, but instead of making it as a reporter, she's now working for SPI (Supernatural Protection & Investigations)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Grendel-Affair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/The-Grendel-Affair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5078,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5078","url_meta":{"origin":8750,"position":3},"title":"The Dragon Conspiracy","author":"Michelle","date":"January 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Dragon Conspiracy (2015) Lisa Shearin This is the second book of the SPI files, and a fun romp. But is also has a few things that are quite different from other books in this genre. Such as this: Starting a romantic relationship with Ian and having it go bad\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dragon-conspiracy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22193,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22193","url_meta":{"origin":8750,"position":4},"title":"The Phoenix Illusion, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"September 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Phoenix Illusion, Audio Edition (2018) Lisa Shearin narrated by Johanna Parker (SPI Files) I'd forgotten that this story is a bit all over the place. It eventually gets where it's going, but it seemed to wander places solely for Rake to shower Mac with presents. Aside from that tho.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Phoenix Illusion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/The-Phoenix-Illusion.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9670,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9670","url_meta":{"origin":8750,"position":5},"title":"The Brimstone Deception, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"February 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Brimstone Deception, Audio Version (2016) Lisa Shearin narrated by Johanna Parker This is a series that we both listen to on car trips. I generally try to get input as to what Michael wants to listen to (since he's the driver) but generally it's me picking a couple books\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/The-Brimstone-Deception-e1511011219639.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}