Rating: 4⭐️

Urban Shaman brought me not only another great book but a new prolific author and series to explore. Love it when this happens. 

In Urban Shaman, Murphy introduces a mixed race (Cherokee and Irish ancestry) Seattle police mechanic Joanne Walker, who on a flight home from a funeral, discovers not only is there mystical layers to her world but she’s a shaman as well. 

In trying to save a woman from a threats from a Celtic god and the mythical Wild Hunt, Jo has to accept that she’s got shaman powers she’s not even close to understanding. And she needs them in order to survive the gods and the threats they have brought into her world. 

The author combines Seattle location, a mechanic’s love for her cars, a middling law enforcement presence and two different types of mythology, Celtic and a broader spectrum of The People to this urban fantasy novel. 

There’s murder, a race to understand the mystery behind the what the Wild Hunt and gods are doing, and most of the time, it’s spent in a dream scape of a urban fantasy world where Jo and Coyote are trying to heal her and lead her to knowledge. 

This aspect of the story is where some readers will find themselves having issues. The magic isn’t well defined, especially Jo’s powers and how she’s developing them. And that so much of the story isn’t set in the real world of Seattle where the drama is occurring. 

Perhaps future books will change that. 

Jo is a really good and traumatized character (there’s a very sad, past history revealed here). And her relationship with the cab driver and her boss in the SPD have potential. 

Looking forward to reading more of the series. 

A winner here with the potential for a great series. 

Cover Art & Design: G&S 

Cover Design Studio Cover Model: Marissa Turcotte

The Walker Papers (10 book series):

Urban Shaman #1

Banshee Cries #2

Thunderbird Falls #3

Coyote Dreams #4

Cauldron Bourne #5

Demon Hunts #6

Spirit Dances #7

Raven Calls #8

No Dominion #9

Mountain Echoes #10 – July7,2026

Buy link

 Book 1 of 10: The Walker Papers 

Blurb 

Joanne Walker has no use for the mystical, and up until this morning, the mystical had no use for her.

But an ancient god has reared his head, and the all-too-real riders of the mythical Wild Hunt are menacing the streets of Seattle. Caught in the middle of an age-old grudge, Joanne is forced to choose between accepting an unexpected magical heritage and facing this immortal enemy, or…dying.

(Look, nobody said it was a good choice.)

Guided by a cryptic coyote who visits her dreams and armed with magic she doesn’t know how to use, Joanne is befriended by a nosy cab driver who wants to tag along for the adventure as she hangs on to the desperate hope that she might survive the next few days.

Joanne’s journey from police department mechanic to urban shaman begins here…whether she likes it or not!

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Miz Kit Productions

Publication date

October 1, 2023

Language

‎English

Print length

364 pages

Book 1 of 10

The Walker Papers