Brianna Reviews // Sixth Grave on the by Darynda Jones

Published : 20^th May 2014

Publisher: Piatkus

Format: Paperback

Synopsis:  Sometimes I wrestle my demons. Sometimes we just snuggle.—bumper sticker

Most girls might think twice before getting engaged to someone like Reyes Farrow—but Charley Davidson is not most girls. She’s a paranormal private eye and grim reaper-in-training who’s known to be a bit of a hell-raiser, especially after a few shots of caffeine. Her beloved Reyes may be the only begotten son of evil, but he’s dark and sultry and deeply sexy and everything Charley could hope for. Really. But when the FBI file on Reyes’s childhood happens to land in her lap, she can’t help herself: She opens it...and then the real fun begins. First, Charley finds a naked corpse riding shotgun in her car. Then, a man loses his soul in a card game. Throw in a Deaf boy who sees dead people, a woman running from mobsters, and a very suspicious Reyes, and things can’t get any worse for Charley. Unless, of course, the Twelve Beasts of Hell are unleashed...

Firstly I need to apologise for the fact that I have jumped from the 1^st book (First Grave on the Right) to the 6^th. Real life ambushed me I barely even got time to read; however to catch you up on my thoughts there is a brief summary of my thoughts over the last 4 books (here).

So why did I read this? How could I not, it’s fairly safe to say that this series has bewitched me. Seriously I can’t put them down. There are not many series which I read back to back all the way through (publishing dates permitting since the series isn’t finished), most series I read2-3 back to back at the most before taking a break and reading another book before going back (I’m a very impulsive reader).

Soo… Reyes is acquitted, has moved into the building (having bought the whole thing for Charley) not to mention he has proposed to her! I can’t believe she didn’t answer him straight away, but at the same time I respect her for taking time to consider it, not that she needs to, she knows what she wants. And I love that Reyes is patient and takes it with a sense of humour, I especially like his “it’s a yes/no sort of question” jibes. This book breaks away from the rest slightly as her P.I. Cases start to take more of a back seat in Sixth Grave on the Edge with the overall story arc starting to take the forefront. Which means we get to learn significantly more about Charley and her abilities as a Reaper, with the help of demon who eats souls, we also learn more about hell, and Reyes.

I still have mixed views about Charley, she still annoys me at time and at times her attitude still grates – but if she were perfect, I’d probably hate her for that so, her attitude, immaturity and lack of risk assessment are what make her somewhat realistic, people have flaws.  Reyes is his usual mysterious self. I still wonder about his motives, even though I’m fairly certain he is sincere in his feelings towards Charley, he still seems like he’s hiding too much for reasons he never explains. We are treated to an extract from Reyes’s POV at the end, which does seem to back up his sincerity and how scared he is to loose Charley.

Onto the supporting cast… Cookie, Garret, Amber, Quentin and even Captain Eckert; Cookie was there in her usual role of actually doing most of the investigative work, I can’t really fault her, although I do feel a little bit like we are not seeing the most that she has to offer as a character. Garret is really growing as a character, I’ve always liked him since the start but I think he really started to come into his own in the last book and I’m glad to see that carried on into Sixth Grave on the Edge, he even starts to tolerate Reyes and Osh (our new addition) maybe it’s because he realises that they are on the same side. Agent Carson is back, I like her I hope she makes more appearances in the future.  Captain Eckert opens up about his past and after doing a little blackmail opens up to accepting Charley’s abilities... It makes me wonder if he is about be become more important… it’s amost like the supporting cast are slowly, very slowly being groomed for something…  What I don’t know. Oh and Charley’s dad is up to something… suspicious. And I wish someone would explain who exactly Mr. Wong is… it’s starting to drive me mad with all the comments about how he is really powerful.

 Osh is new… he was introduced as the dealer. He is a soul eating demon… in fact he’s not strictly a demon (I’ll leave the explaining to Mr. Farrow)… and it turns out he was quite famous in Hell as a champion. Luckily for him, Charley and Reyes, Charley strikes a deal so that he only takes the souls of those who deserve it in exchange for him helping her… seems a very one sided deal. I don’t know what to make of him and I’m sorry but I can’t get on board with Darynda’s description, but that’s what I like about books you have a certain amount of freedom in how you picture the characters.

I loved this book, it started to explore the mythology side a bit more, there are some shocking death’s that had me sobbing in the most attractive way and well as one hell of a shocking revelation at the end. I bought the next book immediately with next day delivery…

P.S. I would forgive No man who took out my bedroom wall… just saying, there are lines that should not be crossed… stealing walls is one of them!