Voodoo Shanghai

Awesome series. Was seriously jonesing after the lasy Owl book. So glad this author is still churning out hits. Love the genre, but can be difficult to find stories with surprises. Charish always add a fresh protaganist with a strong viewpoint.

Another great book in this really outstanding series. Charish is a fantastic world builder and this series is one of the best Im currently following.

I love this series, and have always been curious about how the MC would grow given how close her past seems. This book felt like a significant turning point in that journey. I really hope the author continues the series!

I learned on Kristi Charish’s Instagram that Voodoo Shanghai would be the last book in the Kincaid Strange series. Which made me sad and also made me wonder if we would be a clean wrap up at the end of this installment. The wayVoodoo Shanghaiended leads me to believe she did not know her publisher would not pick up another book. It ends on a huge cliffhanger. I’m hoping maybe we will see at least one more installment via self-publishing.

The Kincaid Strange seriesis truly a great and unique urban fantasy series. Don’t let the fact that it was “canceled” stop you from trying it. I believe it’s an unsung series that needs more attention. It has everything a UF fan wants, a strong and likable heroine, action, a mystery to solve in each installment and with Voodoo Shanghai,Ms. Charish had me guessing who the killer was to the very end (I usually figure out the bad guy within the first few chapters of about 90% of the books I read).

Kincaid is working with the FBI on a murder case that takes her from Seattle to Portland. They believe it’s a cut and dry case of a serial killer, but she’s not so sure. With the help of her ghost friend and roommate, Nate (90s grunge rocker), Gideon (a ghost who is training her on more advanced skills) and FBI agent Wolf she works the case to find out the whole story of the murder and missing ghosts in the Portland area all while trying to not becoming one of the missing herself. As I mentioned, Charish does a great job weaving the mystery into a hard to guess “who done it” that includes paranormal creatures such as ghosts, zombies, poltergeist, and witches.

While the case is wrapped up there are unfinished storylines within the series do to the cliffhanger. I really want to know what happens next. Fingers crossed that Ms. Charish continues The Kincaid Strange seriesat some point.

What? No! That ending . . . that last chapter . . . that closing scene . . . Voodoo Shanghai is the third and final installment in the Kincaid Strange saga . . . and I am totally and absolutely wrecked.

Kristi Charish has elected to go out with a bang here, offering up the biggest, boldest, and darkest entry in the series, complete with ghosts, zombies, serial killers, witches, and celebrity ghost hunters. Shifting the action from Seattle to Portland breathes new life into the series, taking Strange out of her element and isolating her from her usual support structure. That also allows Charish to introduce new settings and new story elements, beginning with a strange barn, a creepy 1950s dinner scene, and a marsh that is so clouded with Otherside, its blinding.

This is such a hard book to talk about without spoilers. Its a paranormal mystery from page one, with so many huge questions that you cant stop turning pages, no matter how late it is. What I can say is Strange gets even more of an edge than usual here, growing beyond her role supporting the Seattle PD and seriously challenging for her federal license. She refuses to pick things back up with Aaron, gets deeper with Gideon in weaving ghost traps, and stands her ground against a police department and FBI that demand she betray her principles and bind the ghost of a dead serial killer.

The ghost aspect of this is amazing enough, and the absence of ghosts is even better, but I will say no more on that. Okay, so actually, I will. I freely admit to geeking out over the amount of paranormal detail here, what with mirrors and pentagrams, ghost traps and bindings, definitions of ghosts versus poltergeists, and the use of Otherside as a tool, a defense, an energy source, and a weapon. Anybody who says urban fantasy doesnt need world-building has not encountered a Kristi Charish novel!

The pacing in Voodoo Shanghai is nearly relentless, barely giving readers a chance to breath, and never wasting a scene. There are moments of humor here, some of it surreal and some of it sarcastic, with the oddities of the well-hung My Little Pony centaur and crack-smoking Care Bear sculptures and the dark humor of the perverted airport ghost setting the tone early on.

As for characters, there are some big personalities in the story, both good and bad, and they hold their own against Strange. Highlights for me, at least without spoiling any latter-chapter secrets, were Stephan Wolf (FBI agent), Bergen Wolf (witch), Martin Dane (serial killer), Astrid Young (ghost), and Liam Sinclair (paranormal celebrity).

The entire Kincaid Strange saga has been a fun ride, and if Voodoo Shanghai is really it, then Charish has gone out on a bang.

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