The Reanimator’s Heart – Kara Jorgensen

The Reanimator Mysteries
1

A reluctant necromancer, a man killed before his time, and the crime that brings them together. Felipe Galvan’s life as an investigator for the Paranormal Society has been spent running into danger. Returning home from his latest case, Felipe struggles with the sudden quiet of his life until a mysterious death puts him in the path of the enigmatic Oliver Barlow. Oliver has two secrets. One, he has been in love with the charming Felipe Galvan for years. Two, he is a necromancer, but to keep the sensible life he’s built as a medical examiner, he must hide his powers. That is until Oliver finds Felipe murdered and accidentally brings him back from the dead. But Felipe refuses to die again until he and Oliver catch his killer. Together, Felipe and Oliver embark on an investigation to uncover a plot centuries in the making. As they close in on his killer, one thing is certain: if they don’t stop them, Felipe won’t be the last to die.

This book contains:

Attempted and completed murder
Corruption
Homophobia.

Oliver is a quiet, restrained man due to the experiences he’s had with others previously. He’s been ridiculed, excluded and made to feel uncomfortable around people for many years due to his social difficulties, sexuality and powers as a necromancer. Because of this, he keeps to himself in his morgue not wanting to cause any problems with the Paranormal Society so he can keep his position as their medial examiner.

Felipe was previously married, and even has a child in collage – but left that loving home after realising his preference for men. So he moved into the Paranormal Societies housing and often travels for cases he’s investigating. Except now he’s part of the case in ways he wasn’t expecting.

Oliver and Felipe have been dancing around their attraction to each other for a while now, that is, until Felipe makes a definitive move and they spend their first night together. Unfortunately, Felipe’s investigation causes him to be killed – leaving Oliver to discover his body and accidentally reanimate him. From there, the two team up to discover who killed Felipe, save the Paranormal Society and tie up any loose ends in Felipe’s life before he lets Oliver let him go.

For the most part I really enjoyed this book. The characters were believable – especially if you image it set in the late 1800s, early 1900s which some of the descriptions suggest.

Being a book centered around the Paranormal Society, there’s a certain amount of “suspension of disbelief” you need to keep in mind to allow the story to truly capture you. And for the most part, this was done really well!

As a necromancer, especially one who was never really trained, waking a dead body – one he was in love with – is really plausible. When you don’t understand your powers, it’s pretty hard to control them and even harder again when you’re experiencing heightened emotions.

Even the way corruption and other creepiness worked. It all tied the characters together into a great mystery that left you wondering how it’s all connected and to what end?

Where I found myself being lost though was in the last major fight. There was a distinct moment where I remember doing “Seriously? This? You think this is believable? There’s only so many times you can ask me to suspend disbelief, even in a paranormal mystery!”

You may not find yourself feeling the same way, but it hit me in such a way where I became a bit detached from the story for a whole section because of that one thing. It just felt a little bit too much and like it didn’t fit with the rest of the story.

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