Romance Lovers for the Challenge-Impaired discussion

Heart of Evil by Heather Graham

Emerging from the bayou like an apparition, Donegal Plantation is known for its unsurpassed dining, captivating atmosphere, haunting legends and now a corpse swinging from the marble angel that marks its cemetery's most majestic vault. A corpse discovered in nearly the same situation as that of Marshall Donegal, the patriarch killed in a skirmish just before the Civil War.

Desperate for help traditional criminologists could never provide, plantation heiress Ashley Donegal turns to an elite team of paranormal investigators who blend hard forensics with rare & often inexplicable intuition. Among the Krewe of Hunters is an old flame, Jake Mallory, a gifted musician with talent stretching far beyond the realm of the physical, and a few dark ghosts of his own.

The evil the team unveils has the power to shake the plantation to its very core. Jake and Ashley are forced to risk everything to unravel secrets that will not stay buried even in death.

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Continueing our Series Read. Please Join us!

Reserved.

I'm in !

I'm in, too!

I'm in

I'm in this series for the long haul!

Unless I hate book 1, i'm in. It sure sounds good though.

Oleander wrote: "Unless I hate book 1, i'm in. It sure sounds good though."

LOL! Even if I hate book 1, I'll probably read it. I usually give a series a second chance. If I hate 2 consecutive books or can't finish the second-chance book, then I drop it.

I've just requested this one from the library, so I'll join for this one too!

I'm in. I just finished Book #1 and liked it and hope I like the rest of the series.

I'm in as well!

Cool. I want to start it now. I know the first book could have been a bit better in spots, but the idea of the series has pulled me in.

Lisa Kay wrote: "Cool. I want to start it now. I know the first book could have been a bit better in spots, but the idea of the series has pulled me in."

Be good and wait for Feb 20 :D

I will. (view spoiler)[**evil chuckle** (hide spoiler)]

I finished book 1. It had some problems but I'm hoping they will straighten out in future books. I like the premise of the series and think it has potential.

from the reviews I read the books following 1 are supposed to get better!

I've never figured out if there was book or series that preceded this one. There were a lot of mentions of the guy who put the team together that seemed to imply earlier events that could have taken place in one or more books.

I found out this morning that this author has written another series named Harrison investigation before these books.

ShoSho wrote: "I found out this morning that this author has written another series named Harrison investigation before these books. "

Thanks! It looks interesting as well. And has 10 books. Graham sure writes a lot!

Lara wrote: "ShoSho wrote: "I found out this morning that this author has written another series named Harrison investigation before these books. "

Thanks! It looks interesting as wel..."

I know my library has 133 books from her in different formats!

ShoSho wrote: "I know my library has 133 books from her in different formats! "

Heh, I guess she's popular ;-)

I'm in - this will be a re-read for me and I'll try to do a re-read of the first book before we begin.

Heather Graham is a very prolific writer. She is a bit hit and miss for me but I have enjoyed most of her books that I've read.

The 3rd book in this series is the best I've read of hers.

I'm in for the series. Just finished and looking forwaed to I loved the first book in series.

Hoping Heart of Evil is better...I've heard it is a lot different feeling than the first, hopefully that's in a good way!

Carly - Resident Supergirl wrote: "Hoping Heart of Evil is better...I've heard it is a lot different feeling than the first, hopefully that's in a good way!"

Fingers crossed!

Well, I'm looking forward to it. I read another creepy NOLA-located book this month (with ghosts and some poltergeist action too):

I think I'll start tonight

ShoSho wrote: "I think I'll start tonight"

I'll join you, ShoSho!

Me, three. LOL!

I ordered book and still waiting on it. Rats

Ladies, do you remember the skills and details about the members of the team? I only remember Jackson and Angela by their name and skills and background.
Jake was the one who could find people, there was a nurse , there was the girl with the grandmother and ....
Can anyone give a few details about the characters?

Phantom Evil Characters
Adam Harrison- Team Creator/Supervisor

Jackson Crow- Native American/Scottish, Leader of the Team, FBI Behaviorial Science Unit, prove-it-to-me skeptic, coupled with Angela Hawkins

Angela Hawkins- Virginia Police, Good with people, precognitive, Ghostly empath or witch?, Coupled with Jackson Crow

Whitney Tremont- Creole, bit of a chameleon, cameraman for paranormal TV show, great intuition, Voodoo Priestess Grandmother (Mama Matisse) ((Brother is Tyler))

Jake Mallory- New Orleans native, Musician, involved with searches (kidnappings and disappearances) due to a knack for finding people/bodies, computer guru/hacker

Jenna Duffy- Irish, Registered Nurse from Boston?, Medium?

Will Chan- Theater/Magician, Film Major at UCLA-good with cameras/audio recording

Heart of Evil Characters
Ashley Donegal- Sensitive to the ghosts of her ancestors, coupled with Jake Mallory

Thanks, Trea, this is really helpful :)

ShoSho wrote: "Thanks, Trea, this is really helpful :)"

I'm still working on it, I have the first book open on my Kindle and am adding details as I find them.

We should probably add this to the Introductory posts for each book...

Ok, I think I got it done...went to 40% into the book just to get the details I did, and I think I missed some as well. That should get you started, though!

I started today as well. It's a shorter book than the first and is faster. However, I'm not great when authors have numerous characters with names that start with the same letter. In this one in particular we have Jake and Jackson, and Ashley and Angela. (view spoiler)[ And, of course they make two couples. (hide spoiler)] Ack!

ShoSho wrote: "Thanks, Trea, this is really helpful :)"

Ditto!! Thanks, Trea.

Lara wrote: "However, I'm not great when authors have numerous characters with names that start with the same letter."

Oh my gosh! I'm the same way, Lara! LOL!

Lisa Kay wrote: "ShoSho wrote: "Thanks, Trea, this is really helpful :)"

Ditto!! Thanks, Trea."

Sure thing. I've read the chapters for today, but can't get a good handle on Angela yet. Will update as I get more info.

Something came up and I won't be able to read until Friday. I'll come back to it my Friday afternoon.

Thanks for the character list, Trea.
It will be very helpful in keeping track of the characters throughout the series.

Lauren wrote: "Thanks for the character list, Trea.
It will be very helpful in keeping track of the characters throughout the series."

Sure thing, Lauren!

I am around page 270, 100 pages or so left to go...without spoiling, I haven't found myself as engaged as I was with the first novel but I was also struggling to get through the first 50 pages of all Civil War Reenactment set up and what not, Civil War just hasn't been my thing ever really...the next book centered around Jack The Ripper sounds like it'll be more up my alley though so not turned off yet!

Just started. Jake's dream was awful, all those people! Katrina broke my heart and just the mention of all the victims makes me sad. :'(

Right with you Gisela. and Ditto

How many times is "The war is over" repeated in chapter 1? :P

Gosh, I know I said thanks for the character list, Trea, but man-oh-man! I'm really glad you posted it. Took me awhile to straighten all these characters out.

...river rat...AKA "nutria."

...this shows the Greek columns with the wrap around porch... but Ashley's house doesn't have the dome...
From Wiki:

Greek Revival would remain a favorite architectural style in the agrarian South until well after the Civil War, but other styles had appeared in the nation about the same time as Greek Revival or soon afterward. These were primarily the Italianate and Gothic Revival. They were slower to be adopted in whole for domestic plantation architecture, but they can be seen in a fusion of stylistic influences. Houses that were basically Greek Revival in character sprouted Italianate towers, bracketed eaves, or adopted the asymmetrical massing characteristic of that style.