Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Holy cow that was a Crazy last couple of chapters! I wasn't sure which way things were going to go for awhile - totally blew me away! lol
LOVE this series! Not sure waiting a year for the next book is going to be easy - but it's defiantly one I'll be re-reading again :)

Charley Davidson—grim reaper extraordinaire, private investigator . . . meh—is practicing her profession under the influence, caffeine and copious amounts of it, due to an extreme desire to induce insomnia. Every time she closes her eyes, Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan, is there. Only thing is, he’s a tad peeved. She did bind him for all eternity, so it’s hard blame him. But 13 days without a wink is bound to bring out the crazy in a girl. So, when a man hires her to find his wife, Charley accepts the job with one goal in mind: Put the man behind bars, and not the wet kind. She can sense the guilt waft off him and vows to find the woman’s body and prove he’s a murderer. 

In the meantime, Reyes is back in prison and none too happy about it . . . so Charley thinks, until she is carjacked by the dark-haired rake, who swears the very man he went to prison for killing is not only alive, but close by. And he wants Charley to find him. 

While a visit to her old friend Rocket sheds no light on Reyes’s situation, Charley finds out the man’s wife is still alive and time is running out. Finding her before she dies would be a miracle, but she has to try. Together with the help of a fashion-impaired receptionist named Cookie, Charley sets out to bring the bad guys to justice. She just hopes Reyes is not one of them. And that she’s not hallucinating from her self-induced bout with insomnia.(less)

Jen's Review

This story started off with Charley waking up - yes there is a dead clown in her house, but she's going to ignore it until she gets that first sip of coffee into her system. Because before that, yeah that just wasn't going to happen. Her one goal in life for the past couple of weeks was to stay awake at all costs. The alternative was exhausting.. Reyes.

Since binding him to his physical body, he's stuck in jail, but every time she closes her eyes, he shows up! How did that even happen? He told her SHE was the one calling him to her, but she knows she didn't do that. The hard part was, as much as they were "together" when he was there. He was still pissed off, extremely pissed off - so she knew he didn't really WANT to be there with her, and that Pissed HER off. SO no sleep it is.

When Cookie popped over at 3:38 in the morning (due to her accidently falling asleep and Reyes appearing) They talked - when cookie was about to leave she told charley that Garrett has a case for her. Being the fun loving gal Charley is, she decided to pay Garrett a visit , Besides, it would help her stay awake longer.

Garrett wasn't happy to have a visitor that early in the morning. Lol have to read this about her needing Ibuprofen and him not having any. too funny.

Garrett tells her about a friend of a friend who's wife went missing about a week ago. But realizing that Charley wasn't really herself at the moment, he took her home. He leaves her with the good dr's card.
Then he let her know about his "list of things one should never say to the grim reaper." Roflol -

After another quick shower, she headed to the office. Dr. Nathan Yost walked into the office and wanted to speak with Charley.

The very same Dr. Nathan Yost that Garrett talked to her about last night. So after a series of questions, Charley deemed him Guilty.. Guilty of what, she couldn't tell, but it had something to do with his wife's disappearance.

And as if her morning couldn't get any better, he dad walked in as the good Dr walked out. She was still mad at her dad for almost getting her killed without telling her about it. But she was almost ready to forgive him, at least until he opened his mouth to speak! YIKES!

I understand her dad is only looking out for her, but seriously. She's a grown woman and special abilities ..

When she finally gets her dad to leave, and let's Cookie in on the future, she gets another phone call. This time it's Neil - Reyes wants to talk

You should have heard me squeal when I read that part :) SO excited! I was half expecting this to be a book with very little Reyes because he refused to talk to her and was so mad at her for binding him. SO yes, I was extremely happy when he wanted her to go to the Prison to talk to him.

Neil - what a great guy - He's Awesome - and though he owes Reyes his life for saving it, a few times , he was still more concerned about Charley being alone with him - But Charley knew she'd be ok - at least she thought she would be.. Ok she had no idea. he was pissed at her. She tried taking the Binding thing off, but it didn't work.

So when Reyes walked into the little room, she didn't know what to feel. When Reyes asked her again to unbound him, she kept saying she tried but she didn't know how. He said he had unfinished business.

OK so after she leaves the prison, Cookie calls her for an update. She also lets her know that Luther Dean, The dr's wife's brother is nearby, but he doesn't want to talk. So naturally Charley heads over to his job site to talk to him.

Now Luther is a big guy, and he's scary looking. So when Charley tries to talk to him, and he refuses to talk back, she can't help but call him an "asshole" smiles - stunned everyone, including Luther - luckily she was able to get out of there with all her limbs attached.

As she gets home, she gets another update from Cookie. Then she decides to take a soak in the tub - big mistake. Hot water helps relax, and she needed to stay awake ....

When she gets out of the tub , she notices she missed a text. Gemma was having car trouble in Santa Fe and needed her to pick her up. Charley tried calling Gemma's phone, but it went directly to voice mail.

Having no choice, she drives out - again to Santa Fe in a huge blinding rainstorm to help her sister out.
When she gets to the gas station, she doesn't see Gemma, or her car. Feeling frustrated she tried calling Gemma again. Nothing - just as the passenger's side door opened, but instead of her sister's blond hair , a large wet man crawled inside and closed the door behind him.

ACK!

Ok that's only 30% into the book - and usually I'll tell you up to 45% before cutting off, but the it's really worth not knowing until you get there. The suspense is so much fun in this series of books.

I'm sad that I have to wait a year until the 4th book comes out - but I'll defiantly be re-reading this one again when it does :)

A Few Cookie Quirks :) 

I nodded off ... and veered into oncoming traffic. The honking horns and flashing lights had me believing I'd been abducted by aliens. Thank goodness a well-placed telephone pole put a stop to that nonsense.

"I was fooled"
With an appreciative grin, I said "You're always fooled. You always think the best of people. that's why we get along so well. You can't see past my charm and stunning beauty to the real me."
"Oh , no, I see the real you. I just feel sorry for the mentally challenged. I think you guys deserve just as much of a chance at a normal life as the next guy."

"Where are you?" I asked.
"Who is this?"
"Elvis"
"What time is it?"
"Hammer time?"

"if I have to suffer, then so does everyone else within a ten-mile radius."
She pursed her lips. "Whatever happened to taking one for the team?"
"Was never much of a team player."
:Sacrificing yourself for the greater good?"
"Not much into human sacrifices."
"Suffering in silence?"
"If I have to suffer, I'll be screaming your name at the top of my lungs the whole time...."

"So, here's the word off the street."
"I love it when you talk dirty."