Vanessa Family Tree

Rating:
Summary: An unusual and enjoyable follow-up to the first Vanessa book
Review: David L. Howells' Vanessa series is a unique set of novels, and this second entry in that series, Vanessa: Family Tree, is particularly unusual in terms of its storyline. The book begins where the first book ended - literally. You don't necessarily have to read the first book in order to follow and appreciate this one, but you will be much better served if you do so. The ghostly conflict that provided the culminating drama of the first book has ended, but the story is far from over. The authorities in Milledgeville, Georgia, want to know what the heck happened at the old Edwards Estate, and the national news networks are airing all the footage of the conflict, footage which clearly shows a battle between two ghostly spirits and the participation in that event by the members of the unofficial Fitzgalen Family. The first half of this second novel basically revolves around the investigation of these mysterious events, centering on the detective activities of a special Task Force consisting of a ghost hunter and his famous ghost-sniffing Chihuahua, an officer in the Georgia National Guard, a Milledgeville cop, an FBI agent, and a well-known independent journalist. This gang of experts compiles an impressive amount of information before confronting the group head-on, at which point the novel takes a much different turn.

As for our gang of heroes from the first book, we follow their winding-down activities after the confrontation in Georgia and return to home base, where among other things they take care of sending family lawyer (and new ghost companion) Gustav's body to the grave. The young new CEO of the company continues to develop his newly-rekindled romance with the new and improved Melissa, Ralph and Marianne advance their flirtatious new relationship in great haste, and Rachel faces the daunting task of possibly choosing between her husband's family and her new participation in the Fitzgalen Family. Howells does a great job of keeping a large and growing cast of characters busy and at the forefront of the reader's mind. While there are still several "for Pete's sake" and "you have got to be kidding" moments and bits of dialogue scattered around, these very human characters are by now well-known and liked by the reader, and I for one greatly enjoy even the silliest of quirks these people express.

The most unusual part of this book is the fact that there is no well-established storyline dominating it; the first half of the novel is mostly just a continuation of the first book, and the ghostly confrontation upon which this book culminates appears late in the game and doesn't really get a lot of attention. Thus, I can see how someone picking this book up without having read the first Vanessa novel could be disappointed in the story. For fans of the Fitzgalen Family and their devoted efforts to help dead souls stuck on earth advance to the next realm, however, this is just more of a great thing. I do wonder, though, about the number of additions to the team this novel gives us, especially since most of these people just do not connect with this reader the way the original core group does. That, of course, is a question to be answered by the Vanessa novels that are to follow. A few characters' continued presence here would be fairly unexplainable in terms of the context of this book alone, but obviously these individuals will play a role in future Fitzgalen missions, the accounts of which I look forward to reading and enjoying.

Rating:
Summary: An unusual and enjoyable follow-up to the first Vanessa book
Review: David L. Howells' Vanessa series is a unique set of novels, and this second entry in that series, Vanessa: Family Tree, is particularly unusual in terms of its storyline. The book begins where the first book ended - literally. You don't necessarily have to read the first book in order to follow and appreciate this one, but you will be much better served if you do so. The ghostly conflict that provided the culminating drama of the first book has ended, but the story is far from over. The authorities in Milledgeville, Georgia, want to know what the heck happened at the old Edwards Estate, and the national news networks are airing all the footage of the conflict, footage which clearly shows a battle between two ghostly spirits and the participation in that event by the members of the unofficial Fitzgalen Family. The first half of this second novel basically revolves around the investigation of these mysterious events, centering on the detective activities of a special Task Force consisting of a ghost hunter and his famous ghost-sniffing Chihuahua, an officer in the Georgia National Guard, a Milledgeville cop, an FBI agent, and a well-known independent journalist. This gang of experts compiles an impressive amount of information before confronting the group head-on, at which point the novel takes a much different turn.

As for our gang of heroes from the first book, we follow their winding-down activities after the confrontation in Georgia and return to home base, where among other things they take care of sending family lawyer (and new ghost companion) Gustav's body to the grave. The young new CEO of the company continues to develop his newly-rekindled romance with the new and improved Melissa, Ralph and Marianne advance their flirtatious new relationship in great haste, and Rachel faces the daunting task of possibly choosing between her husband's family and her new participation in the Fitzgalen Family. Howells does a great job of keeping a large and growing cast of characters busy and at the forefront of the reader's mind. While there are still several "for Pete's sake" and "you have got to be kidding" moments and bits of dialogue scattered around, these very human characters are by now well-known and liked by the reader, and I for one greatly enjoy even the silliest of quirks these people express.

The most unusual part of this book is the fact that there is no well-established storyline dominating it; the first half of the novel is mostly just a continuation of the first book, and the ghostly confrontation upon which this book culminates appears late in the game and doesn't really get a lot of attention. Thus, I can see how someone picking this book up without having read the first Vanessa novel could be disappointed in the story. For fans of the Fitzgalen Family and their devoted efforts to help dead souls stuck on earth advance to the next realm, however, this is just more of a great thing. I do wonder, though, about the number of additions to the team this novel gives us, especially since most of these people just do not connect with this reader the way the original core group does. That, of course, is a question to be answered by the Vanessa novels that are to follow. A few characters' continued presence here would be fairly unexplainable in terms of the context of this book alone, but obviously these individuals will play a role in future Fitzgalen missions, the accounts of which I look forward to reading and enjoying.

Rating:
Summary: Much like the first
Review: Family Tree is good much like the first book. It is also like the first book in that more characters are added to the "family" (thus the title: Family Tree). The adding of the members is a major sub-plot to the book.

I would have liked if there had been more of the ghost conflict or some other conflict. The beginning conflict with the other group was a a fan something I didn't like (I'm a big softie when it comes to character's I like and conflict) but as a reader it was good in that it added drama and tension. The resolution of that conflict was good as a fan but as a reader it was almost too pat and nice. The ghost conflict was almost like a minor add on. Overall I gave the book a B/B- on the StuPage website.

Rating:
Summary: Much like the first
Review: Family Tree is good much like the first book. It is also like the first book in that more characters are added to the "family" (thus the title: Family Tree). The adding of the members is a major sub-plot to the book.

I would have liked if there had been more of the ghost conflict or some other conflict. The beginning conflict with the other group was a a fan something I didn't like (I'm a big softie when it comes to character's I like and conflict) but as a reader it was good in that it added drama and tension. The resolution of that conflict was good as a fan but as a reader it was almost too pat and nice. The ghost conflict was almost like a minor add on. Overall I gave the book a B/B- on the StuPage website.