Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Principles of Spookology
SERIES: Spectral Files #2
AUTHOR: S.E. Harmon
NARRATOR: Kirt Graves
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 10 hours, 4 minutes
RELEASE DATE: June 23, 2020
BLURB:
No one said being a medium would be easy.
Rain Christiansen, former FBI agent and current cold case detective, is starting to think it’s the hardest job he’s ever had – and the most important. He’s determined to accept all the changes in his formerly well-ordered life, but that means embracing a whole lot of weird. There’s no instruction manual for meshing his work with his medium duties, and he’s painfully aware that he’s flubbing the job. So are the ghosts, who are becoming increasingly impatient. And stronger.
To complicate matters, he’s not sure what these spooktacular developments mean for his relationship. It certainly seems like Daniel McKenna, his partner in work and life, is in it for the long haul. But Rain can’t help but wonder how long that patience will last…and what he’ll do if Danny decides the intrusive ghosts are just too much.
Rain thought accepting his supernatural gifts would be the solution to his troubles. But he’s starting to realize his problems are just getting started.
REVIEW:
Soo, I have to confess…in my audio review of P.S. I Spook You I know I said I wouldn’t pick this book if it was ever published in audio. Yet here I am, writing a review for the audiobook anyway. But come on, I couldn’t resist Kirt Graves and the only reason I said I wouldn’t, was that the narrator for the previous book just didn’t work for me. I’m normally not a fan of a change of a narrator in a series, at least when it follows the same couple, but this time I didn’t mind as I wasn’t a fan of Noah Michael Levine, but I also know that this is a personal preference and some will prefer the original narrator.
After finishing both audiobooks I’m torn. I don’t have a clear preference of narrators, which is surprising as I’ve loved several of Kirt Graves’ productions before. I was so sure this was going to be a winner, but it wasn’t for a bunch of reasons. Again, many will probably disagree with me, so please give he book a try, and don’t disregard it on my account.
Like the first book, this one is told from Rain’s POV and we experience everything through him. Now Rain is sarcastic and loves snark and banter, it’s one of the reasons so many falls for him, me included. Sadly Graves doesn’t really do snark or banter or sarcasm, the punch lines got lost somewhere and I would say some of Rain’s personality went with it. It felt like the feel and heart of the story was missing.
He also didn’t really differentiate between characters and it made some parts hard to follow, dialogues especially. Sometimes there were minor differences in voices, but they weren’t consistent and they weren’t inherent to any specific character but could change one sentence from the next.
On the other hand, Graves has a deep voice that’s very pleasant to listen to, it’s comforting. Which, when I think of it might seem strange when narrating a murder/ghost mystery, but for me it worked. He has a good pacing for his narration and one that fits the essence of the story. As does the feelings he adds to it. I loved how he made us feel both Rain and Danny’s frustration with their ghostly audience every time they were trying for some “alone time”. Then again, the ghostly cockblockers were kind of hilarious to us listeners. I also loved how he portrayed Rain and Danny’s relationship, he made you feel the love between them. But also the reticent, the reluctance to put words to their feelings.
In the end I’m torn in the regards to the narration. But the story alone is worth the listen, so you should give it a try.
RATING: 
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