Author: Tate Hallaway
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Publisher: Berkley Trade
ISBN: 0425247791
ISBN13: 9780425247792
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher
Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment...
When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off.
After working up the courage to report the missing body, Alex is transferred to the mysterious Precinct 13 where she discovers that her new co-workers—including a cute technomage named Jack—are paranormals just like her. Now, Alex is being encouraged to use her ability to speak to the dead to solve crimes. And despite being in the middle of nowhere, Hughes County sure does have a lot of paranormal activity…
Alex is nominated to be the Hughes County Coroner on a dare. She hasn't had a crazy life so far so when her very first day on the job a corpse gets up and walks away she isn't quite sure how crazy she actually is.
Alex had a great personality and was fun to read about. There was a lot of times where Alex mentioned her past or a past event but they were only hinted at or slightly mentioned and it would have been nice to know the details of stuff that affected her so much. I felt like I missed a book or short story or something along those lines a lot during the book. I really liked Precinct 13 and the way they operated. There was a lot of mystery involved in the plot while Alex and Precinct 13 were investigating and I never felt like I knew who the bad guy was or had a grasp on the the exact situation they were in which is always nice. The romance between Alex and Valentine was just ehhh. There wasn't much in the way of explanation about him or his and Alex's past. Alex hints about him then all of a sudden he jumps in and is there. He remains mysterious for most of the book with only a little revealed about him, some big things are revealed but again it felt like I missed something.
It pains me to say this but I really wanted to love PRECINCT 13 and I only liked it. There is some decent groundwork for a series and I did like Alex and her coworkers so I will probably read a second book if one comes out, but I would probably borrow it from the library.
I gave it 3/5 stars
