Review by Booklist Review
Supernatural investigator Ishmael Jones (Into the Thinnest of Air, 2018) is an anomaly in his line of work in that he both investigates paranormal activities and is an actual being from another planet who has been roaming the earth for decades in his never-aging human form. In his sixth adventure, Jones and girlfriend Penny (perfectly human and independently wealthy) help Ishmael's old partner find a murderer. Robert Bergin's daughter may be falling under a centuries-old family curse that dooms any groom who marries into the family to die on his wedding night. The vicar who was to perform the ceremony for his daughter has already been murdered, and Robert is determined to prevent any otherworldly beasties from ruining his little girl's big day. As bodies pile up, Ishmael and Penny race to find who or what is preying on the wedding party. Fans of the series will be delighted to reconnect with the quick-witted detective and to learn a little bit more about his early days on the planet.--Karen Keefe Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In Green's thin seventh paranormal mystery featuring the disguised alien life-form who calls himself Ishmael Jones (after 2018's Murder in the Dark), Jones, the sole survivor of a "starship from God knows where" that crashed in England a half-century earlier, and his love interest, Penny Belcourt, who like him is a member of the Organization, a secret group devoted to "solving cases of the weird and uncanny," head to Yorkshire. There, Robert Bergin, an old friend of Jones from their days working for a different secret group, needs their help. The impending marriage of Bergin's daughter is a cause for concern, because of a legendary family curse that maintains an invisible demon will kill any Bergin bridegroom on his wedding night. Bergin has more than superstition to alarm him; someone has murdered the vicar who was slated to perform the ceremony. The author does a nice job of creating a spooky atmosphere, but the payoff is weak and Jones's wrestling with himself to keep his inner alien in check isn't well developed. Green fails to make the most of his unusual concept in this outing. (Aug.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An alien living on Earth endures a war waging between his alien and human selves while also investigating a family curse for an old friend.Turned into a human in 1963 after his spaceship crashed in England, Ishmael Jones has always lived a life under the radar (Murder in the Dark, 2018, etc.). Until now, he's been able to reconcile his alien and human selves, drawing on an impressive set of skills, like his powerful strength and ability to read people as well as some supervision from a shadowy group called the Organization, to help him solve crimes committed on the fringes of society. Though Ishmael doesn't like to think about his nonhuman past, a look in the mirror one day tells him the alien within is threatening to resurface and destroy his humanity. He doesn't know how to quell this turmoil, which wouldn't bother him so much if his human side weren't happily sharing a life with Penny Belcourt, a willing co-adventurer in life and the Organization's missions. While Ishmael ponders whether to tell Penny about his potentially dwindling humanity, his friend and former colleague Robert Bergin reaches out to Ishmael to seek out his specific skill set for some unusual assistance. Though Robert hasn't seen Ishmael in 30 years, Ishmael hasn't aged a day, and while Robert doesn't know the truth, Ishmael's lack of aging persuades Robert that Ishmael may be exactly who he needs to help him. Robert's betrothed daughter, Gillian, hopes to avoid the family curse of the death of every man who married a Bergin woman on their wedding night. Ishmael and Penny are skeptical about the supernatural forces causing the deaths, but when the pastor who's been engaged to perform the ceremony is murdered, they agree to investigate.Though the hero defeats the family curse, the big story here is his struggle to maintain his own humanity. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
