Review: The Reanimator’s Remains by Kara Jorgensen

Title: The Reanimator’s Remains

Series: The Reanimator Mysteries: Book Three

Author: Kara Jorgensen

Length: 360 Pages

Category: Historical Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Paranormal

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: The chaos and danger in The Reanimator’s Remains usher in a perfectly romantic and beautiful ending to this chapter of Oliver and Felipe’s story. Where they’ll go next and what they’ll find there is sure to be full of a multitude of mayhem and magic.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Oliver Barlow never knew what happened to his parents. With a note from his mother as his only lead, Oliver had given up hope of ever learning the truth. But when the dead start rising in the town of Aldorhaven, Oliver jumps at the chance to take the case if it means he can investigate the last place his parents were seen alive.

Felipe Galvan would like to be anywhere but Aldorhaven. Between protecting Oliver and Gwen, dealing with distrustful townsfolk, and an unexpected letter from his estranged parents, Felipe is already stretched thin. But when he is suddenly plagued by whispers from the woods and nightmares from his past, Felipe fears he is only one misstep away from becoming the monster he was meant to be.

Far more sinister things than the dead lurk in Aldorhaven’s woods. A centuries old bargain has been broken, and the only thing that can satisfy it is Oliver’s blood. Together, Oliver, Felipe, and Gwen must finish what Oliver’s parents started or they too will be ensnared by their devil’s bargain.

Review: Kara Jorgensen opens The Reanimator’s Remains in a delectably pulse-pounding fashion, accomplished in a life-or-death scene that becomes the foundation for the whole of the story and brings our beloved Oliver’s past into sharp and dangerous focus.

There’s such a lovely and delicate balance in the way Jorgensen uses Oliver’s origin story to convey where Felipe came from and how his family and their expectations have scarred his psyche and threatened his emotional wellbeing. This installment of the series gives a deeper, richer tenor to both characters, and in the process, strengthens the bond between them that goes well beyond their metaphysical tether and enters the realms of a soul-deep love.

The dark, eldritch magic that makes the woods of Aldorhaven so sinister—and so sentient—tests both Oliver and Felipe while exposing the town’s ugliest and most sinister secrets in the form of its founding family. Oliver and Felipe, along with Gwen and a few town residents—Mr. Allen (I loved) and Willard Jarngren (I felt so much sympathy for) and Lucien Stills (I’m ambivalent)—dig deep to fight a powerful being who demands her due. Find her they do, and oh my, is it exquisite.

The chaos and danger in The Reanimator’s Remains usher in a perfectly romantic and beautiful ending to this chapter of Oliver and Felipe’s story. Where they’ll go next and what they’ll find there is sure to be full of a multitude of mayhem and magic.