Rating: 3 stars

Harper Blaine is a Greywalker, able to cross the boundary between our reality and the supernatural “Grey,” home to all things that go bump in the night. When homeless people who live in the abandoned basements and passageways of Seattle’s Underground start turning up dead and mutilated, Harper’s friend, Quinton, asks her to investigate. Quinton, already a wanted man and living off the grid in the Underground himself, fears he’ll be considered a suspect. With a little Grey-enhanced snooping, Harper and Quinton discover the killer is not human and it will be up to them to stop the evil before it kills again.

Although Underground may please those who have read the first two books in the series (Greywalker and Poltergeist), it does not work well as a stand-alone novel. Other than Quinton and Harper herself, characters from the first two novels play no major roles, but a couple do pop up in “bit parts” with no explanations as to who they are, or what their ties to Harper might be. Nor can a new reader get much of a grip on Harper’s powers or how the Grey works.

The romantic element is cookie-cutter cliche. Harper’s ongoing relationship with an antiques dealer fizzles out early because he can’t accept the supernatural as natural. All too coincidentally, Quinton is waiting with a problem to solve, a monster to slay, and love to give.

Richardson also grounds her plot in the hoary horror cliche of ancient Indian legend -- minus the scares. What could have been a formidably monstrous foe is portrayed as more of an ill-mannered puppy on a leash looking for a doggy treat than an unchained slithering terror in search of its next midnight snack. Besides, the Native Americans wisely buried that evil stuff for a reason, why can't novelists let it rest in peace?

And Harper's constant inner whine about her injured knee is so annoying I almost started rooting for Ancient Evil to win.

Greywalker and Poltergeist garnered high marks from me for originality and characterization, but Underground struggles for a passing grade. Harper Blaine can take her next walk through the Grey without me.
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Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub. Date: August 2008
ISBN-13: 9780451462121