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A review by barb4ry1
Grave Beginnings by R.R. Virdi
3.0
I like simple entertainment. Especially when the job becomes stressful, targets insane and my brain starts to short-circuit. RR Virdi’s debut offers a pleasant respite from the corporate life or overly nuanced literary fiction. I love the premise.
The Grave Beginnings is a story about Vincent Graves, a soul without a body who works / is forced to work for a certain Church - a mysterious and intriguing figure. Vincent temporarily inhabits the bodies of people killed by monsters and use them, their minds, bodies, skills, and memories to solve their murders. The more he does it, the more he loses his memories and because he’s been doing it for years, he barely remembers his original identity.
He always works on a tight schedule as Church gives him a countdown tattoo - an hourly timer branded into the body he wears that decreases in time by the hour for his case. The book doesn’t treat itself too seriously and contains A LOT of darker humour, funny quips and pop-culture references.
This time he ends up in the body of Norman Smith, freshly deceased curator of the American Museum of Natural History. As he tries to figure out what killed Norman, he deals with creepy paranormal creatures, but he also meets Special Agent Camilla Ortiz who turns out to be a rather interesting woman and a valuable ally.
I find the idea brilliant and the execution mostly satisfying. Vincent is perfectly likeable. I appreciate his sharp wit, determination, and resolve. Graves, pictured as a sardonic, smartass soul that never misses an opportunity to make a joke makes a good POV. I liked his narration and distance to danger, especially when he doesn’t try too hard to be too funny. Unfortunately, things get over the top in places and the focus on funny slows down the action or kills the tension.
While secondary characters were nicely sketched, I wouldn’t call them believable, but it’s fine as long as they entertain. Camilla Ortiz and Church both have distinct traits of character and make the story more nuanced. Unfortunately, Vincent interactions with Camilla are filled with repetitive descriptions of her staring icy daggers at him or giving him a deadly look. They banter offers some quality in places, but seriously lacks it in others.
The story feels linear and rather simplistic and the final confrontation with the mysterious monster lacked tension (they killed him but he survived so they killed him again but he survived in which case they killed him again but he, well, yes; you guessed right; he survived).
While Grave Beginnings has flaws and feels cheesy in places, it also entertains. I’ve read it in two sittings. It makes a perfect read for a longer commute. I think RR Virdi’s storytelling has good flow, especially when he doesn’t try too hard to make a reader crack. I liked it enough to start the sequel immediately after finishing the book.
The Grave Beginnings is a story about Vincent Graves, a soul without a body who works / is forced to work for a certain Church - a mysterious and intriguing figure. Vincent temporarily inhabits the bodies of people killed by monsters and use them, their minds, bodies, skills, and memories to solve their murders. The more he does it, the more he loses his memories and because he’s been doing it for years, he barely remembers his original identity.
He always works on a tight schedule as Church gives him a countdown tattoo - an hourly timer branded into the body he wears that decreases in time by the hour for his case. The book doesn’t treat itself too seriously and contains A LOT of darker humour, funny quips and pop-culture references.
This time he ends up in the body of Norman Smith, freshly deceased curator of the American Museum of Natural History. As he tries to figure out what killed Norman, he deals with creepy paranormal creatures, but he also meets Special Agent Camilla Ortiz who turns out to be a rather interesting woman and a valuable ally.
I find the idea brilliant and the execution mostly satisfying. Vincent is perfectly likeable. I appreciate his sharp wit, determination, and resolve. Graves, pictured as a sardonic, smartass soul that never misses an opportunity to make a joke makes a good POV. I liked his narration and distance to danger, especially when he doesn’t try too hard to be too funny. Unfortunately, things get over the top in places and the focus on funny slows down the action or kills the tension.
While secondary characters were nicely sketched, I wouldn’t call them believable, but it’s fine as long as they entertain. Camilla Ortiz and Church both have distinct traits of character and make the story more nuanced. Unfortunately, Vincent interactions with Camilla are filled with repetitive descriptions of her staring icy daggers at him or giving him a deadly look. They banter offers some quality in places, but seriously lacks it in others.
The story feels linear and rather simplistic and the final confrontation with the mysterious monster lacked tension (they killed him but he survived so they killed him again but he survived in which case they killed him again but he, well, yes; you guessed right; he survived).
While Grave Beginnings has flaws and feels cheesy in places, it also entertains. I’ve read it in two sittings. It makes a perfect read for a longer commute. I think RR Virdi’s storytelling has good flow, especially when he doesn’t try too hard to make a reader crack. I liked it enough to start the sequel immediately after finishing the book.