Summoned to Thirteenth Grave
2.5 Stars

Charley returns from her exile on another plane to discover that all hell has literally broken loose in Albuquerque. The hell dimension that Charley and Reyes opened has begun to consume this dimension, and the key to reversing the process may just lie in the mystery surrounding the death of her mother. In other news, Charley investigates the decades-old disappearance of a teenager who may have been held captive all these years.

Hallelujah, I'm done!

No offense to the myriads of fans out there, but the last few books have not lived up to their potential, and this final installment is no different as it is nothing more than a rehashing of tired jokes, regurgitated plotlines, absurd innuendo and senseless surprises that appear designed for shock value and little else ( Jemma is a ghost and Uncle Bob is the Archangel Raphael - seriously?!).

The paranormal mystery elements that were so original and had me hooked for the first 6 or 7 books have dwindled down to an afterthought and the weird "Charley is a god" arc goes from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Even the fantastic Reyes and his sexy as sin romance with Charley couldn't compensate for the poor storylines of these last few installments.

Despite these issues, I have enjoyed Charley and company's journey overall and will definitely read a spin-off if and when Jones decides to write it. ( )

Charlie has been sent to another dimension and is gone for 10 days which felt like 100 years to her. Upon her return she learns that a hell dimension is taking over. Now it's up to her and her cohorts to rescue the world. ( )

The last book in the series; the one meant to wrap up all the loose ends, and it does so admirably.

When I read the first book, I liked it for the mysteries and the humor, though the humor was a little over-played (her penchant for naming everything grated on my nerves, and though she never stops doing it, it plays a much smaller part in the narratives of future books). As the series progressed, I still read them for the mysteries and I enjoyed the humor more because it became more balanced, but I also got stuck into the mythology Jones was using for the overall series arc. And I genuinely became attached to the wacky cast of characters that surrounded Charley.

This final book winds up the arc concerning the prophecies involving Charley and Reyes - and keeps the possibilities open for a future series featuring their daughter and her prophesied battle against Lucifer. Since the 13th book was meant to be the finale, there are no loose ends or questions - though there were a couple of didn't-see-that-coming twists, one full-blown M. Night Shyamalan shocker, and a single misty-eyed moment I'm wiling to admit to.

The only bit that left me disappointed was the end-end; the part where we find out what Charley and Reyes do. It's not anything short of a happy ending, but I didn't like it. I get it, and I get why it was the perfect ending, but I still didn't like it, and mostly for juvenile reasons.

They left their friends and family behind to become incorporeal so they could protect their daughter. Altruistic and purely unselfish, but I still didn't like imagining a book world where the gang isn't all together. Sue me.
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While I'm sad to see the story end, and sad I won't see the gang anymore, I'm happy with the series ending now rather than past its prime, and Darynda Jones has a new series coming out next year that sounds like it might be fun, so perhaps I'll have a new series to love and look forward to.

I read this book for Halloween Bingo's 13 square. 13 in the title, and 13th in the series. ( )

el fin de una era

the last sentece tho ( )

What a terrific wrap up to this great series. It seems like the author to went out of her way to bring back all the favorite minor characters introduced over the last 13 books so they all could have a proper goodbye. Charley and Rey most of all. I have just 2 novella's left in the series and the last I'm saving for Halloween. My favorite Urban Fantasy of all. ( )