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    Grave Dance: An Alex Craft Novel
    Grave Dance: An Alex Craft Novel
    Grave Dance: An Alex Craft Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Grave Dance: An Alex Craft Novel

    Written by Kalayna Price

    Narrated by Emily Durante

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    After a month spent recovering from a vicious fight with a sorcerer, grave witch Alex Craft is ready to get back to solving murders by raising the dead. With her love life in turmoil thanks to the disappearance of Fae Investigation Bureau agent Falin Andrews and a shocking "L" word confession from Death himself, Alex is eager for the distractions of work. But her new case turns out to be a deadly challenge.

    The police hire Alex to consult on a particularly strange investigation in the nature preserve south of Nekros City. The strange part: There are no corpses, only fragments of them. A serial killer is potentially on the loose, and Alex has no way to raise a shade without a body, so she'll have to rely on the magic of others to find leads. But as she begins investigating, a creature born of the darkest magic comes after her. Someone very powerful wants to make sure the only thing she finds is a dead end-her own.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 11, 2011
    ISBN9781452671857
    Grave Dance: An Alex Craft Novel

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    Reviews for Grave Dance

    4/5

    327 ratings23 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is the second book in the series and another great read. This is a great paranormal book and a real page turner. I still love the main character and she is still bad ass.
    • 3/5
      This one has a case of only left feet showing up in the morgue. There isn’t enough of a body for Alex to raise the shade to find out who they are. Several things happen in this book that are direct outcomes of her actions in the previous book. What did surprise me was someone who finds out a part about herself and yet doesn’t bother to educate herself about it and gets her into trouble. Pretty much every character introduced in the previous book is here again except for her sister. She does find out about her mom during the investigation. Falin and Death both want her affection and by the end of the book you can understand why neither is going to work out. I’m interested to see what happens with the Fae and Alex but the potential love story isn’t doing much for me.
    • 4/5
      I think my favorite thing about the Alex Craft series, is just how awesome Kalayna Price makes the world look like. I wish I book marked a place in the book, where Alex is going through a Fae doorway, and (please excuse my not exact quote) she describes it as seeing the world and in one second everything smears like a kid playing in paints not yet dry, and then everything go back but as a new world. Idk, that seems so simple but to me, it was kicka$$. On a side note, the storyline itself, had Alex constantly in danger again, while she tries to solve the case involving several left feet found near a river. Not only that, Alex's grave magic has been changing since the blood moon, she is starting to be more fae like and because of her issues, she's ripping open holes that are spots where all realities have been merged. Alot on her plate? Why yes, not only that, Falin comes back and Alex doesn't know if she can trust him since he is the Winter Queen's Assassin and lover and all. Not to mention, Death told her that he loves her last book.

      Alex is one hell of a bad ass, and I so can't wait for the next book.
    • 4/5
      An entertaining follow up to Grave Witch. Very imaginative. I will definitely be reading the next in the series.
    • 3/5
      Well. I liked the first one much better than this one. I bought the first 3 books when they were all on sale, and after this book, I am not sure I even want to bother with book 3. It isn't bad, however, it is just way too supernatural. I expect an urban fantasy to be set in the real world (hence the urban fantasy label), not be about a myriad of different supernatural beings and activities. The 3-way angst was, well, it was okay I guess, but not really very believable. It probably doesn't help that I don't really believe the main character has real feelings about either of them, these emotions just come into play when they are required as a plot device, but if she really were smitten with one or both of them, these feelings would exist outside of when she needed a "connection" in order for them to save her. Yes, they did a lot of saving of her... she didn't really seem competent enough to save herself most of the time, so I don't know where the strong female lead from book 1 went. Anyway, it is a supernatural-ized version of book one, with some romantic angst added as an afterthought (no sex though). I might not read the next book in the series, even though I already own it.
    • 4/5
      Grave Witch, Alex Craft, just discovered that she’s part Fae at the end of the last book, and she needs to keep that fact a secret not only from the law enforcement agencies she works with, but she doesn’t want other Fae to find out as the Winter Queen would love to have someone who can bend the dimensional planes her as part of her court. Keeping that a secret from the Fae becomes difficult when she helps the police’s attempt to locate a body that would go with the left foot that was found and it becomes obvious to the Fae that she can see through glamour. This story provides a great deal of action as Alex comes under magical attack a number of times as well as danger from those who would like to force her “services.” The “why” of the magical attacks is both surprising and an important aspect for the next story. Then there are the two guys she’s attracted to as well as learning about the Fae and spending time in Faerie.This is the second time I’ve read this book; the first being years ago. I’d forgotten everything that had taken place, so it was like reading a new book for me. I find that I really like Alex and her cast of regulars, the relationships as well as the situations they face, the solutions she comes up with as well as the consequences. The one thing that I could do less with is the constant descriptions of the decay and wasteland Alex sees overlaid on top of her own reality plane whenever she opens herself up to be able to see into the dimensional plane necessary to do her job as a Grave Witch.
    • 4/5
      Excellent read. Different from what I normally choose, but never too too dark or hard-boiled. The author has given Alex a very complicated past talent-wise, so there's a lot of room for future discovery. I'm not normally a fan of love triangles (at ALL) but so far this one has been well-balanced and not at all annoying or frustrating. The author has done an excellent job of keeping me from picking a favourite. But taking this triangle too far forward into future books will prove to annoy me to the point of abandonment. All though, if she chooses to keep both of them, well that could prove to be fun too! Just please don't devolve into 'which one will she choose' silliness.

      The plot of the story was excellent and I was all prepared to accept the "bad guy" in this story - Ms. Price really led me down the garden path - only to be blissfully surprised to find out I was wrong.

      I have the next in the series, Grave Memory and I'm looking forward to cracking it open...
    • 4/5
      I really don't rate Death as a romantic option. We've spent all of no time with him. The sum total of his personality seems to be he's mysterious and Alexis has known him for ages. Falin might have baggage but at least he actually has characteristics.I enjoy this series quite a bit but this love triangle is so weak it continues to stand between me giving the books a 5 star instead of 4. Death is just such a forced and pathetic third point to the love triangle I can't take it seriously.
    • 3/5
      Alex Craft is back and trying to deal with her new powers and her feykin status. When rifts between magic worlds start appearing Alex needs to find out where they are coming from. The book is pretty good but for some reason I just did not enjoy it as much as the first. It seemed a bit scattered with too much going on. But that could just be me. Maybe I was just not in the mood. I find Alex an interesting character and I like the world. I probably should have put it aside and read it later. I am going to read the next in the series because I am still interested to see what will happen.
    • 4/5
      Alex Craft has recovered from the incidents of the first book in the series and the popularity has helped get her business onto a solid and profitable footing. Her love life is less secure though. She hasn't seen Falin Andrews for over a month and he left without a word. Something is going on with Death too that is keeping him away. Alex is also just starting to get used to her new fae powers.When her friend John calls her in on his homicide case, she gets swept into something bigger than a simple murder investigation. The Winter Queen is gathering the unaffiliated fae which means that Alex is on the run. This gets harder because Falin returns. His is the Winter Queen's lover and pet assassin but he doesn't want to turn Alex over to her.Alex's new ability to punch holes in the wall between her world and other worlds makes her a desirable commodity for all of the fae kingdoms. Running from various fae makes it hard to investigate the killer who is leaving only left feet behind. Alex's life gets even more complicated when she learns that she has inherited all of Coleman's fae property including his castle and her best friend Rianna. This story was very exciting and fast-paced. I like the relationship that Alex has with both Falin and Death. I do not know which one she will eventually choose if she ever chooses either. Alex is a strong character who is over her head in the fae world which is tricky to navigate even for those born and raised there. But her strong loyalty to her friends sees her through.I can't wait to read the next book in this series to find out what is next for Alex Craft.
    • 3/5
      I would really like to give this 3 1/2 stars. I did enjoy myself but I didn't feel as compelled to read this one as I had the first. In fact I re-read the first book to re-acquaint myself with the story and read that more quickly the 2nd time than I did this the first time. At times the story seemed disjointed and I'd lose track of what was going on and with whom. I wasn't sure of what the motivations were in a lot of cases and that confusion never got cleared up. To be honest I was also getting a little tired of the constructs getting "bigger and badder", after they figured out how to take care of them (basically immediately) they didn't do much for me.

      Now that I've made it sound like I didn't care for the book at all I have to say that wasn't true. I did enjoy the story quite a bit, it was a fun read and I will keep an eye out for the next book in the series. I think I just enjoy her Dead series (Kita Nekai) more.
    • 5/5
      This is the second book in the Alex Craft series and it was even better than the first book. The third book, Grave Memory, is already out. The fourth book, Grave Visions, is expected to release in August 2013.I listened to this on audiobook again and it was a very well done audiobook. The narrator does an excellent job narrating the different character voices and portrays character emotion well. Definitely a series I will keep listening to.Alex is called to a scene by the police to investigate a case of left feet. Yep, someone is finding a whole bunch of left feet and Alex senses dark magic attached to them. As Alex starts to investigate this dark magic someone starts to come after her. They are sending evil constructs to attack her and those she cares about. She must figure out this dark magic before it’s too late.This was an excellent continuation of this series. This book shifts from just dealing with Alex's grave magic to exploring Alex's connection with Fey. As with the last book there is a contained investigation that solved in this book and also a larger story that continues developing from the first book.I really am enjoying how complex, creative, and interesting this world is. A lot of new excellent characters are added to the story. Additionally both Falin and Death get a lot of page space and we learn more background on both of them. Alex also learns more about her past.Alex is a fun and complex character to read about. She keeps learning new and interesting things about both her fey and grave powers; yet she is human too. She still needs to eat and sleep to keep functioning. She has a dark sense of humor, which I enjoy. I am not a huge fan of love triangles, but I can make an exception for Death and Falin. Both of these male leads are just so darn interesting. We learn a lot more about Falin in this book and he is a complex character indeed. Death is still mostly a mystery though, while we learn a bit more about him, most of Death’s character is still shrouded in shadow.I also enjoy that Alex has a price to pay for using her magic. This reminds me a bit of Devon Monk’s Allie Beckstrom series and I love how having to pay a cost for magic balances out a character’s power.The main investigation tied up nicely. The book is well written and easy to read. The whole story is very engaging and well-paced; never boring but never frantic either.Overall I enjoyed this second book even more than Grave Witch. The world is complex and interesting, as are the characters. There are so many things to learn about and read about in this world, I was just absolutely sucked into the story. Highly recommended to fans of urban fantasy; especially to those who enjoy reading about the Fey.
    • 5/5
      This series is incredible. This is a new writer I follow very closely and never miss a release. The content is fresh, the events and characters are not your typical fare and is not rehashed from the thousands of witches and faye books and stories out there. It's was refreshing, a great ride and I am happy to have these books as my own in my own library at home. You can't go wrong here.
    • 3/5
      So easy to jump back into Alex's world, well constructed to be interesting and a refresher (it has Brenda awhile since book 1). Though I'm not much on love triangles, Falin and Death are more poignant than most. I was rooting for Death, but by book's end I had empathy for both of them.
    • 4/5
      This book was a huge improvement on the previous one in the series, Grave Witch. Alex makes decisions, doesn't spend the book getting rescued by other people, and shows signs of being less stupid than the previous adventure made her seem. Mind you, she STILL wanders off into fairyland without a backup (something she at least agonizes over) but this was better.

      The villains in this book were superior too. The bad guy of the previous was evil but cardboard; less so here. I liked the Winter Queen, who was played by Tilda Swinton in my imagination, and also the other Fairy creatures like the irritable FIB fairy cop. The only disappointment was the final villain, who we never met enough times in the course of the book to feel for, although she had a sad ending.

      On the subject of baddies, the supporting villains are more interesting than the Big Bad, in every case in this series. Alex's dad is given some real development, as is her sister in the previous book. I thought it was interesting that for a while it looks like the Big Bad might be Alex's friend, but then it turns out not to be.

      The fairyland itself was well-rendered, even if it owes a debt to Lewis Carroll and multitudinous video games. Looking forward to seeing more of it in the next book.
    • 4/5
      I might have gone into this book with too high of hopes. Don’t get me wrong, it was still very good. It just wasn’t on the level of good I had expected. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but when it comes to -everything- in life, I can be quite picky.That being said, the author is very good at balancing new powers. If there was ever a point where I felt there would be some Mary Sue action, I was delighted to find the author had stunted other powers. Alex has different powers in different realms, and doesn’t retain all powers across all realms. Also, in gaining more of her birthright, she mostly just gets into trouble and exhibits terrible symptoms when coming into contact with iron. Being so used to the Anita Blakes of the PN/UF universe, this lack on the Mary Sue front felt like the sky opened up and angels were singing a chorus.I’m also glad to see that she just didn’t jump right back into bed with Falin like a lost puppy. I’m so used to seeing accidental sex and then dealing with the consequences afterwards. No fan service here. The character stayed true to herself and that was wonderful.I honestly had no idea who was the bad guy until they showed their face. Big surprise. Wonderful finish.I’d like to see more Kelpie.
    • 4/5
      I really like "Grave Witch" the first book in the Alex Craft series although at times her grave sight bothered or confused me. I think its because even though I read a lot of urban fantasy, this with a pretty unique and new concept to me. Yet I loved the world of the story and very much loved the characters. I am even more pleased with book number two, "Grave Dance". The story here is very strong. Alex is trying to find out who is behind a bunch of left feet. Yup thats the only body part that remains and there isn't much to go by to solve these murders. Falin, her fae love interest, hasn't been around since the conclusion of the events in "Grave Witch" and Alex is more than a little bit stung by this. He does make an appearance and Alex has to learn whether and how much to trust him. Also, I personally am rooting for Death, believe it or not. He has such wit and charm and I really can't help but enjoy him. So Team Death it is for me! Either way the two men make for a couple of very enjoyable scenes in "Grave Dance". Alex gets to spend some time in Fairie and finds something waiting for her there. This also was a great development and I look forward to more happenings with this particular plotline. We get to meet a couple of new characters who I also hope get some more page time. This series is just full of fun and unique characters. The Alex Craft series really reminds me of Seanan Mcguire's fantastic "October Daye" series, although the worlds and narrators are still different. Kaylana Price really seems to find her way with this installment. There are no big missing pieces of cohension in this book and I found the grave sight much easier to deal with in this book. Also I agree with other reviewers who have mentioned how refreshing it is to see magic come with a price. Alex has to deal with blindness or at least extremely poor sight after she uses her magic. Its not just an easy thing for her to do without consequence. I still wouldn't rate this book quite five stars as I believe there were still slow slow points in the book that should have moved along more quickly. Still I certainly plan to read any future installments of the series as soon as they are released. I encourage urban fantasy lovers to try these books. I consider them to be a great investment.
    • 3/5
      *Rating* 3.0*Genre* Urban FantasyGrave Dance is the second novel in the Alex Craft series by Kalayna Price. A month has passed since Alex confronted and eliminated the evil and devious Coleman (Grave Witch), and ended up not only saving her sister Grace, but rescued Rianna her former roommate and best friend from witch school. Rianna, known as the Shadow Girl, was presumed to be dead for the past 4 years. She was actually turned into a challenging by Coleman and spent hundreds of years stuck in Faerie where times moves differently than in the mortal realm. She was nothing more than a piece of property and can’t exactly leave Fairie without rapidly aging. Now, she is Alex’s property because she killed Coleman.Alex has confused emotions regarding both Death, who told her that he loves her and has known Alex since she was 5 years old, as well as Falin Andrews the Winter Queen’s consort, knight, assassin, and bloodied hands. Can I reiterate how much I truly despise and loathe 3-way relationship scenarios? If the choice was mine to make, and it’s obviously not, I would have chosen Death the minute that he expressed his true feelings towards Alex. Falin is attached by the hip to the Queen who refuses to allow him to go anywhere. Naturally, there are forces on Death’s side that won’t let that happen any time soon; think the gray man, and a female reaper. Alex is the so called Lead Investigator and Grave Witch for Tongues for the Dead. Of course, she’s the only employee! Alex raises shades and gives the living a chance to question the dead for a fee; a very large fee. John Matthews, who took a bullet for Alex in Grave Witch, asks for her assistance when police find the remains of several left feet. He is hoping that she can raise a shade and find out what happened. This search leads to an even more gruesome discovery and the possibility that someone is collecting souls. Is the killer Fae, human, or reaper?Falin returns and doesn’t exactly offer up any explanation to where he’s been for the past month or why he didn't attempt to contact her. He shows up all bloodied and hurt and remains silent as to what happened to him. Since he’s Fae, he can’t exactly lie, so instead, he refuses to talk about it. Naturally, Alex gets all emotionally charged up and falls back into the same routine of falling head over heels with him. He also pushes his way into the investigation, thus ending up working with Alex as she stumbles and bumbles her way to find out what is truly happening to the feet and who is really responsible.Alex slowly comes to terms with the fact that she is feykin or Sleagh Maith. She finds that she has developed a strong sensibility to metal, the inability to maintain her shields, increased ability to sense fae magic and glamour, and she can see multiple planes of existence which makes her unique as well as a target for the Fae world and those who want to use her abilites. She is also trying to figure out the Fae don’t lie rule since she has had to wiggle her way out of more than one situation where lying is a lot better than telling the truth.Her father, a Fae noble, actually isn’t as much of an asstard this time around and actually seems to care what happens to Alex now that she is discovering her true heritage. Of course, there are a lot of questions that are left unanswered because to do so would somehow go against Fae insecurities and the inability to lie. Then there is the fact that he hasn’t exactly told Alex what really happened to her mother or why she can’t raise her shade.As Alex stumbles and bumbles along and overuses her grave witch abilities to the point of burning herself out, she finds that she is also being pursued by the Fae Intelligence Bureau who wants to drag her to Fairie and the Winter Court because she is a planeweaver. They claim it’s for her protection, which is just another excuse for imprisoning anyone who is independent and not aligned with any court.What’s truly interesting is that after she finds her way to Fairie, she meets her bloodkin in the Shadow Court King who not only rescues her from the Winter Queen, but tells Alex that her mother was also a feykin and thus they are related. Earlier, she found out that by killing Coleman, she now has blood on her hands, literally, and has inherited his property which includes Rianna, a brownie named Ms. B, as well as a Castle in Fairie which she has no desire to keep.Bottom line: Alex is wanted by more than one party. The Nekros City Police needs her in help in identify the leftover feet and to close their investigation. The Winter Queen wants Alex because of her planeweaving abilities and her inability to remain invisible and away from the public eye. The Shadow Court and Nightmare world both desire Alex for their own and for very different reasons. Then you have Death and Falin who continue to have a pissing contest to see who is more desirable to Alex when she should stand up and say neither of you jerks is worth my time and efforts. I would recommend reading Grave Witch first so that you understand what Alex is capable of and what she has gone through. Grave Dance focuses on her Fae heritage and Alex’s new found abilities as well as disabilities.For me, this book seems to drag on at times. I found myself wondering if the magic from Grave Witch was somehow lost in the shuffle. Normally, it's the first book that takes time to develop, while the second picks up the slack and exceeds the first. Not in this case. While the action was decent enough to keep me coming back for more and the writing and world building was delightful, I would love to find out more about what really happened with Alex's mother and why her shade can't be raised. I would also love to see her father man up and explain things in a sensible and logical manner versus not discussing it at all. I would also love for Alex to make a choice and stick to it and not flip flop like a politician looking to be re-elected.
    • 5/5
      Loved it! Even better than the first book. Her worldbuilding is excellent. The characters, be it normal or supernatural, are easy to care about and relate to. Can't wait for the third book!! This series is definitely on my favourites list!
    • 5/5
      Alex is caught in between the Fae and the mortal world again and I am again drawn into it with her. I like Alex; she is a girl who doesn’t mind rushing headlong into issues to save her friends. She does her job, even to the point of overdoing it. I don’t like love triangles, but I am not sure that’s quite what we have with Falin and Death. The interest is there, yes, but I don’t think either one of them are good for her. The romantic in me wants to see something positive happen, but this time around we get intrigue instead. I was anxious to read this; now I want more Alex Craft. I want more of everything Ms. Price writes.
    • 4/5
      With Grave Dance, the second novel in the Alex Craft series, Kalayna Price has cemented her place in my collection of favorite authors along with Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison. The characters, the world building, and the story are all fantastic and I can't wait to read more of Alex's adventures.
    • 4/5
      An excellent follow-up to Grave Witch, Grave Dance has an exciting plot, an awesome heroine, and tons of magical mayhem to keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s action-packed and never loses suspense as we discover more about the world of Faerie and Alex’s newfound powers. But despite the revelations, Grave Dance still leaves us with many unanswered questions, especially surrounding Alex’s family, the soul collectors, and the fae courts - mysteries that will have readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. The romantic tension continues to spice things up with both of Alex’s love interests developing into intriguing, unique, and likable characters. Overall, Grave Dance is a great example of why I love urban fantasy, and I can’t wait for more.
    • 4/5
      Review courtesy of All Things Urban FantasyGRAVE WITCH was one of the most promising urban fantasy debuts from last year. It introduced us to strange and alluring Nekros City where all the horror stories and fairy tale creatures you’ve ever heard of live along side with humans, two potential romantic leads with enigmatic Death himself and a fae with ambiguous loyalties, and a fearless protagonist in Alex Craft who works as a private investigator with a talent for communicating beyond the grave. With so much going for the debut, could the sequel live up to it? No. It’s better actually.The worldbuilding in the Alex Craft series is a dense and vibrant tour de force. It’s the best I’ve read since Ilona Andrews’ Atlanta from the Kate Daniels series. Magic has serious consequences, especially for Alex who permanently damages her vision and goes temporarily blind every time she uses her Gravesight. Raising a shade from a dead body exacts it’s own price on her too. It’s this cost that made the stakes in GRAVE DANCE so high. Alex had to constantly weigh the benefits and risks every time she needed to use her abilities, and the choices she made often had devastating repercussions. The plot was equally compelling. It was dark without being disturbing. There are harrowing moments of danger and bleak displays of capricious depravity especially from the many fae in GRAVE DANCE, but they are tempered with Alex’s subtle humor and her impressive resourcefulness and bravery that made her ‘this is going to hurt but what choice do I have’ attitude all the more appealing. And despite how many time I thought I had figured out the true motives of each character, Kaylayna surprised me while still remaining completely believable. And the romance! Urban fantasy is the perfect genre to build really good romantic tension that can span several books and that’s exactly what Kaylayna Price is doing with her Alex Craft series. Falin or Death? Death or Falin? I don’t know who I want Alex to end up with, but if there are more scenes like delicious ones in GRAVE DANCE, I’m really going to enjoy the chase. No word yet on the next Alex Craft book, but this series is now firmly placed on my favorites list. Sexual Content:Kissing. References to sex