Title: Sixth Grave on the Edge Series: Charley Davidson #6
Author: Darynda Jones
Published: May 20, 2014
Genre(s): Urban Fantasy
Page Count: 326
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Few things in life can come between a grim reaper and her coffee, but the sexy, sultry son of Satan is one of them. Now that Reyes Farrow has asked for her hand, Charley Davidson feels it's time to learn more about his past, but Reyes is reluctant to open up. When the official FBI file of his childhood abduction lands in her lap, Charley decides to go behind her mysterious beau’s back and conduct her own investigation. Because what could go wrong?
Unfortunately, another case has fallen into her lap—one with dangerous implications. Some very insistent men want Charley to hunt down a witness who is scheduled to testify against their boss, a major player in the local crime syndicate. If Charley doesn't come up with an address in 48 hours, the people closest to her will start to disappear.
Add to that a desperate man in search of the soul he lost in a card game, a dogged mother determined to find the ghost of her son, and a beautiful, young Deaf boy haunted by his new ability to see the departed as clearly as he sees the living, and Charley has her hands full. The fact that Reyes has caught on to her latest venture only adds fuel to the inferno that he is. Good thing for Charley she's used to multi-tasking and always up for a challenge…especially when that challenge comes in the form of Reyes Farrow.
At this point in the game, my main goal in continuing the Charley Davidson series is to see how it all ends up. I am, admittedly, not Darynda Jones’ biggest fan, and these books are far from my favorite. But I’m invested in Charley’s story and I’m interested in seeing how things turn out; I’ve come too far to quit now. With that being said, I didn’t expect to love Sixth Grave on the Edge, and I didn’t love it. So my expectations were met, and that was that.
My biggest complaint with this book is that it has way too much going on. There’s not really a “central” plot, and instead, Jones divides time between four or five smaller stories that all take place within Sixth Grave on the Edge. I really felt like this book could have used some unifying purpose, a big something going on, with less side-plots crowding the space. It’s not that the author’s stories are bad or uninteresting, it’s that there are too many of them, and they’re not organized well.
In terms of characterization, I definitely felt like more could have been done. It’s been a long time since I read the last book in the series, and it seems like at this point, Jones has somewhat stopped bothering with extensive character development. Charley is her usually snarky, abrasive self, but there was a lack of depth here, probably because Jones had developed that in earlier books, but not carried it through to this book. That was definitely disappointing.
In terms of the “big picture”, I’m interested to see where this story is headed, especially concerning that last little surprise that got thrown in at the end. Sixth Grave on the Edge, like most books in this series, doesn’t offer much in terms of revealing what Charley’s ultimate fate and goals should be. Jones is feeding it to readers so slowly, piece by piece, that I’m seriously wondering how long this series is going to be. And in my opinion, Charley Davidson met her expiration date a long time ago.
I’m officially on for the ride, no matter how long it takes or where it goes. But Darynda Jones’ writing could definitely see some polishing, and Sixth Grave on the Edge was far from amazing. It’s going to be a long trip, I think.
