Polterheist

Polterheist (Esther Diamond, #5)by Laura Resnick

Struggling actress Esther Diamond's latest Manhattan misadventure leads her into the twisted realm of greedy heirs battling over a retail empire, a series of heists pulled off by invisible thieves, and inanimate objects that grow fangs and fly through the air to attack a poor actress who's just trying to earn enough money to pay her rent.Realizing that magical mayhem is afoot, Esther joins forces with her pal Max, a 350 year old sorcerer whose day job is protecting the Big Apple from Evil. Together they investigate the terrifying manifestations at Fenster & Co., where Esther is working overtime as an underdressed elf.Meanwhile, Esther's tumultuous almost-romance with NYPD's Detective Connor Lopez runs hot and cold and increasingly strange as he investigates the perplexing heists at Fenster's. Semi-retired hit man Lucky Battistuzzi is also nosing around, since the mob deeply resents being implicated in these thefts which they didn't commit—well, not this time, anyhow.As an ancient Evil prepares to unleash hell on a night when darkness prevails and dimensional barriers crumble, Esther Diamond battles to save her friends from deadly peril, protect her city from demonic disaster, and collect her paycheck in time to make rent. (goodreads.com)

I'm breaking from my self-imposed rule of blogging about books in the order that I read them (because I'm OCD that way) because I just don't feel like back-dating and shifting all my images around to flow the way they normally do. I did however still read this fifth Esther Diamond book in November.In fact, it was the first book I read this month (er, and by "this month" I mean, November, because I keep forgetting we're already in DECEMBER!) and we were halfway through the month by then! Also, I read this book cover-to-cover on the train to Toronto, so it's only fitting that I am blogging about it while on a train from Ottawa back to Montreal. (I have been traveling a lot lately).As you all know, I read books 1 through 4 during the month of October. October was a great reading month for me - up until the end. These books by Laura Resnick were just the thing I needed to keep me in the Halloweeny spirit and finding something FUN to read finally. (To be honest, whenever I read or do anything other than the schoolwork I need to be reading and doing I just feel so guilty!).But this book... this book, I read in mid-November when Halloween was over and done with and I was itching to put up my Christmas decorations and buy a tree (waaaaaay too early). So imagine my absolute surprise and DELIGHT when I started Polterheist and realized - IT'S A CHRISTMAS FLAVOURED BOOK!!*Snoopy dances*One thing I don't do is read Christmas-themed books this time of year. I listen to music, watch tv shows and movies, turn everything from my bathrooms to my dishes CHRISTIMASSY, but I don't do the book thing. This book however hit the spot.I positively love Esther Diamond and her crazy shenanigans. This book had me giggling and just feeling so happy the entire time. And there's a line on page 160 that had me laugh out loud and choke on my own saliva while riding a train, with my boss and a ton of strangers. That was classy. Yep. I even took a photo of the line for Instagram. I'm one of THOSE people. Yes.There are things that happen in this book that fans of the series will love and there are things that will make you gnash your teeth in frustration (the ending! $%%$$^%$^$%$!!!!) and I would really, really like some sort of movement on the "Lopez has some sort of mystical whatsitdoodle to him" storyline. Either drop it or make it more prominent than just a throwaway line in the story. It's starting to annoy me and fast.Of course, at the same time... Lopez. YUM.I have said it before and I will say it again (and have the backing of a coworker to whom I lent the books) Lopez is a mix of Ranger and Morelli from the Stephanie Plum series. I'm totally a Ranger fangirl, but Lopez is the best of both worlds. Mmmmm.So here you go, Internet. A bookish post while I am on the train. I was going to be doing school work, but the train won't load the school's crappy blackboard interface so I can't get into the discussion boards. Alas.My train should be arriving in my home station in about 45 minutes and I am looking forward to being home and seeing my puppies and, of course, my wonderful husband who has been living as a bachelor for the last 3 days. I believe he's survived on much pizza. Hmm.For those of you who like light, funny mysteries with a little bit of magical whimsy to them, I'd highly recommend this series. Next book even has a title now (see below) but I don't know when it's coming out, except for some time in 2013 (I hope!).Esther Diamond Novels

1. Disappearing Nightly
2. Dopplegangster
3. Unsympathetic Magic
4. Vamparazzi
5. Polterheist
6. The Misfortune Cookie