Grave Secret
by Charlaine Harris
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 306
Rating:4/5
Read: Nov. 17-24, 2009
Challenge: 2009 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Countdown Challenge; 2009 Celebrate the Author Challenge
Yearly Count: 61
First Line: “All right,” said the straw-haired woman in the denim jacket. “Do your thing.”
Harper Connelly has traveled to Texas with her stepbrother Tolliver to do a job. They like to travel to Texas, it allows this to see their little sisters. But what they learn while in Texas is worse than they could have ever imagined anything. First they learn that Tolliver’s father is out of prison and is trying to re-establish family connections. After they finish the job that brought them to Texas, Tolliver is shot. But the police think that Tolliver was not the intended target, that Harper was. While Tolliver is recovering in the hospital, Harper is trying to figure out what is going on. She has a feeling that there is a connection between their last job and Tolliver being shot, but she can’t possibly figure out what it is. And the fact that Tolliver’s father is back in the mix only makes matters worse for her. However, what she will ultimately find out will turn her world upside down. Harper finally finds out what happened to her sister so many years ago, but what the truth reveals is something far more disturbing than anyone ever thought possible.
This is the fourth (and, sadly) the last in the Harper Connelly series. Although Ms. Harris left a small opening for another book in this series, she has mentioned in numerous places on her website that she is finished with Harper. And honestly, I can see where it would be hard to go anywhere else with this series. Although a lot of people might have been turned off by the relationship between Harper and Tolliver, I didn’t find it all that problematic. In fact I can see where it can be quite common – however, I would have thought that the attraction would have happened when they were teenagers. However, having Harper and Tolliver together practically 24/7 on the road made it kind of inevitable also. I personally liked Harper’s character. I thought that the gift that Harris thought up for her was quite interesting, and her descriptions of how she did her work were interesting. However, I have a rather large complaint about this book – there was very little action in regards to what Harper does as a living. She came in and did her “thing” within the first chapter and that was that. The rest of the book was mainly about Tolliver recovering and Harper trying to figure out what was going on with the help of Manfred. I rated this book a 4/5 simply because I felt it was a little rushed in places. It was like Ms. Harris was trying her hardest to wrap this series up as quickly as possible. There were also more than a few grammar/spelling errors (which I have noticed is a common thing in Ms. Harris’ books). Overall I thought that this was a pretty decent way to end this series, and that although I am sad to see the end of this series, I am also glad to have a conclusion.
Tales of a Book Addict 