Curse of Salem - Paranormal Fiction Review

Goodreads: Curse of Salem (A Bishop/Special Crimes Unit #20) by Kay Hooper

Rating: Not For Me
Source:   Publisher

Description:  The small town of Salem has been quiet for months--or so Bishop and his elite Special Crimes Unit believe. But then Hollis Templeton and Diana Hayes receive a warning in Diana's eerie "gray time" between the world of the living and the realm of the dead that a twisted killer is stalking Salem, bent on destroying in the most bloody and horrifying way possible the five families that founded the town.

The stakes are high, especially for new friends Nellie Cavendish and Finn Deverell, both members of the Five, and this time Bishop and his wife Miranda will lead the team to hunt down a vicious killer and uncover a dark and ancient curse haunting Salem.

Genre: Fiction - Paranormal

Why I Picked This Book:  The blurb reminded me a bit of Heather Graham's Krewe of Hunter series and I thought it might be fun to try another paranormal series.  

My Impression:  This book didn't work for me.  I think my expectations going in where more towards Graham's series which is more of a paranormal add on to the real world.  This book is a bit deeper in the paranormal with people with all kinds of different powers and a different set of orders and rules.  

I'm not sure I gave it a fully fair chance as this is the 20th book in the series and this is the one I'm starting with.  However, while I'm sure I would have understood a bit more about the world and how the characters are connected to each other I don't think this book would have worked for me regardless.  Neither the pacing nor the writing style worked for me.  There are a lot of characters and it felt like the plot jumped around quite a bit.  Suddenly, we would be introduced to a new character who hadn't been mentioned before who had a different set of skills and their own motivations.  With all the head jumping I never felt particularly invested in any of the characters or super interested in what they were doing.  As well, the characters all felt a bit flat and other then name and talent didn't particularly stand out from the others.  I also felt like the story leaned way more towards over explanation without much showing.  Even when the characters were in the middle of a hunt for a killer there was never realy a sense of urgency.

Overall, this book just didn't click for me.  If you are interested I do recommend starting from the beginning as there are a lot of characters and world building in this book.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? I wouldn't read more books from this series as I just don't think it works for me.  I might pick up something else from this author as she does seem to write a lot of suspense which I typically enjoy.

Would I Recommend this Book? I wouldn't but if the blurb does grab you and you read heavier paranormal stories then I do it might work better for you.  If that is the case I do recommend starting from the beginning of this series.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *