"Mountain Echoes" by C. E. Murphy Part Two

         Yeah, part two of the review. I didn’t expect to do one-even if it is number two-but after reading more of the book various thoughts have bounced into the forefront of my mind. 

  First: whoa boy is this a wild ride. Murphy is at her best. Twice now I kept reading after my allotted time for reading, I just didn’t want to stop. I had to because things needed to be done just part away the leftovers from dinner. But it was almost like I couldn’t stop.

A  very ungeneral spoiler here so I hope it isn’t too spoiley.  But The Big Bad Guy first takes her on like the Hulk but then switches and becomes more subtle with a long going strategy. Surprised me even though maybe it shouldn’t. Second I had thought about writing a note to Murphy to ask when Walker deals with her daughter’s soul--sorry if you don’t know but it’s all in the first book--but Murphy deals with that in this book but I won’t say how or when. And there is time travel as if that was a surprise from the cover and previous adventures--again I won’t say more--but Walker, as before, learns something she needed to know. Murphy does a great job and her imagination comes up with some interesting situations and battles for Walker. Even though Murphy does seems to be following a pattern she developed a couple of books ago. It might go back to the first book and I just noticed it but in either case it works. 

Second: There are other writers I like and I have developed my own habit of coming up with characters using the model of the writer I like. As I say my character is sort of, kind of, in a way, based on that writer’s character. The novel I want to Indieize is an example. There are plenty of changes I made to make my MC different from Wren in Laura Anne Gilman’s Wren books but still Wren is under there--kinda of. As I said as a model even though my MC’s emotional baggage is closer to Walker’s than Wren’s. 

But strangely enough I haven’t come up with my version of Walker. But come to think of it I have-she is in a short story not a novel. She traveled around the place while growing up because she is a military brat. I didn’t do much with that in the short story except in her relationship with her husband. Yes, my MC has been married for a couple of years and never had any children. She also has an angel advising her. And a chance to be tempted big time to go over to the dark side. I remembered I do want to do a novel but not now--too many other novels going on. 

So read C. E. Murphy--she has out more than one series and is a great storyteller.