I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this book.

Hrm. I know who Simon Green is, I have the first two books of his London paranormal mysteries series. It was during my Dresden FIles era - and those books are widely known and well regarded.

I guess this was a mixture of expectations not met and a bare bones mystery disguised as paranormal. Lets make this clear: I am 100% on board with a pastor who solves mysteries. I'm 100% on board with a series in which poses as a paranormal vs the living (which you, the reader, are having to figure out if the story's outcome is paranormal or not).

So where are the issues, why did I give this two stars? Well, for starters, the 'paranormal creepiness' does not 'creep' into the book until the 40% mark. So what are we treated to in the meantime? A lot of quips, one liners, and no real substance. We are introduced to a cast of characters (meeting the pastor first, since you seem to follow him through this), and you watch that he is paired with Diana (the actress), who you realize can only say 'Bish' 'Darling' and 'dear' way too much. You also don't learn much else about them or their personalities. You then meet the others, and... again, you don't know much more than why they're there.

People start dying but I was like, 'why do I care? why is this one guy upset over this younger girl he hardly knew and had a connection with and wanted to be like a father to her'? Where is their bonding? Where do two complete strangers who know each other for less than 4 hours get to that level?

The pastor, our lead, literally becomes a detective in the moment we loose ANOTHER person. Wait. Backup. Is the pastor also a detective on the side? What do we know about him? He is in his late twenties, handsome, and he is here because they wanted someone to be a focus point of bringing more exposure to the clergy / religious world. That's it. So when this guy starts going Sherlock Holmes 2.0 and Diana turns into a lack luster Watson, it's confusing as hell because you don't know if he moonlights as a detective on the side.

Maybe some people can just sit back and enjoy the story, but the story itself? I figured out what was going on instantly. So I read the rest of the book to see if I was right (I was) and I was upset with how it ended, because I really hoped for something to pull the rug out from under me.

I think that, with more meet, more CHARACTER development, more 'creep' factor, this could be an interesting series (which this is being pegged as) of a pastor who solves mysteries that are deemed paranormal. Though, I have to question if he is really a pastor ... since he is a bit of a horny little shit by the end of the book.

So. Here I am, writing this review. "Good, but can be better".