With a touch of her hand, Octavia Hollows can restore life. Yet, she couldn’t save the man she loved from the horrific accident that stole him from her. Octavia thought she could outrun the pain, but ghosts from the past refuse to be silenced. Out of options, she chooses to retrace her wayward journey across the country in search of answers. Surrounded by baffling mysteries of the undead, what … she learns about herself along the way might become her greatest weapon.
This six novella series chronicles Octavia’s adventures in:
Wake the Dead
Dead Man’s Hand
Caught Dead
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Dead Ringer
Dead as a Doornail
“This is Rourke at her finest: sassy and completely unapologetic. Proving again why she’s a powerhouse in this industry.”
-USA Today Best Selling Author Rue Volley
“This book has it all: a kickass heroine, loads of action… and a pig named Bacon.”
-NYT & USA Today Best Selling Author Karen Lynch
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Octavia is a badass and funny as hell!
I loved this series when I read the individual installments, and I was thrilled to see them all make it into one giant volume so that I could have another go round with these characters back-to-back.
The formatting in this volume is absolute perfection; it is so pretty! And the stories are just as awesome as they were the first time around.
I love the humor that Rourke writes with. Octavia is a force to be reckoned with; she’s feisty and yet has me laughing so much along the way.
Each story was just as great as I remembered it from the solo books, maybe even more so this second time around.
About halfway through the story (Book Four) Drop Dead Gorgeous, there were several typos and errors, but the story was no less enjoyable for these mistakes.
Reading this entire series again was so enjoyable. I devoured these stories and loved being transported back into this book world. I am already hoping for more Octavia and Bacon in the future.
Just one word: BACON.
Seriously though, this was Rourke’s usual brand of snark, combined with something original, dark, and mysterious. I devoured this series and gasped, cried, and laughed at those wonderful one-liners and out-of-nowhere laughs.
I liked this one! I am always on the lookout for new Urban Fantasy series to try and I just couldn’t resist a story about a necromancer with a resurrected pet pig named Bacon! This book is a collection of 6 different novella-length stories that all tie into a larger story. I did like some of the stories much more than others but I had a good time with the collection overall.
I loved Octavia! She had a lot of spunk and was just a lot of fun. Every time she put her pet pig, Bacon in a baby carrier under her shirt and pretended to be pregnant, I couldn’t help the smile that would work its way onto my face. She was tough and rather resourceful. I liked seeing her handle herself in such a wide variety of settings.
In this collection, we see Octavia encounter a lot of different challenges. Each story was different but sometimes things from a previous story would carry over. I liked some of the stories a lot more than others which is normal for a collection of shorter pieces. I liked the stories at the beginning and the end of the collection the best and found that the middle stories dragged a bit. This audiobook did keep the beginning and ending credits for each of the six shorter works which I found somewhat unexpected.
This was the first time that I have listened to Brenda Scott Wlazlo narrate a book. I thought that she did a marvelous job with this one. I probably enjoyed this book a bit more because of her narration. She made the story come alive and everything flowed beautifully. I loved that when Octavia sang, we got to hear it. I hope to listen to more of her narration work.
I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a very well done collection of stories with great characters and just the right amount of humor. I would love to see what comes next for Octavia, Bacon, and friends!
I received a review copy of this audiobook from the author via Caffeinated Services.
I LAUGHED my way through this book! Like Laugh out loud laughing. That doesn’t happen very often. Octavia is smart and she doesn’t mind showing it. She is also a bit clumsy…that is how she got Bacon…her pig. So she now is also cautious.
This is a collection of six stories. Each one is kind of a stand alone with a main storyline running through the whole set. I loved the beginning couple but the last two are my fav! Again so many Pig-isms and Magic flusters that I couldn’t help but laugh and smile.
All of the character she meets or comes in contact with are so full of life….or should I say reanimated life. Hahaha! We really meet so many fun and characters I wish could stay but I can see why they can’t as the stories went on.
I listened to this on audio. Brenda Scott Wlazlo is a voice genius! I can’t even say the number of characters she had to voice but she nailed them all! Some went from story to story and I could tell who they were by her voice. Old, young or child it didn’t matter she nailed it!
I can’t wait for more of Octavia and her crew! This will be on my re-read list until then.
Ps. I want my own Bacon!!
The journals of Octavia Hollows
Bk1 wake the dead:
This is a new to me author and all I can say is where has she been hiding? I loved everything about this book, especially that Octavia’s sidekick is a reanimated pig called bacon, reanimated because Octavia is a necromancer who was working in a butchers shop and that’s where she acquired Bacon 🙂
Humour, a good storyline and a very likeable main character make this an entertaining read.
Bk2 dead mans hand:
Octavia can raise the dead but was unable to save the man she loved so our sassy necromancer sets out on a journey looking for answers, what she finds here though is a supernatural being that is turning people into crispy critters and a hitman for the mob!
I’m loving the combination of sassy humour and mystery.
My favourite line … “All their attention was focused on my favourite little pork rind”
Bk 3 caught dead
Who is the stranger that appears to be stalking Octavia? A threat? Or someone that can help with the answers she seeks? Octavia’s search takes her to Texas, she’s immediately confronted with the finding of a dead man, when the mans wife admits to his murder because of his adultery it appears to be a cut and dried case!
Bk 4 drop dead gorgeous
Octavia May have gotten into more trouble than she can handle this time!
Finding out a bit more about her roots unveils a whole new world to her and one that puts not only herself in danger but those she cares about too. Just who is this elusive stranger that seems to know all about Octavia ?
Another great read full of intrigue, humour and danger. I get the feeling this sassy necromancer is on the way to finding out exactly how powerful she really is.
Bk 5 Dead Ringer
Another stop in her way to finding out just what happened to her dead fiancées body, this time Octavia finds herself helping someone that surprisingly doesn’t involve raising any dead.
An ominous package has our necromancer heading to Tallahassee…….. the place where Alba died!
Lots of intrigue and humour but of course my favourite is still that cute little porker called Bacon.
Bk 6 dead as a doornail:
In this book all the intrigue and unanswered questions are finally answered.
The mystery stalker is revealed And with it sees Octavia face her biggest challenge yet, one that could see her lose everything!
A gripping and nail biting finale to this adventure, I’ll be keeping a close eye on any future adventures from Octavia and Bacon.