Book Review – Come Alive by Karina Halle

It’s one thing to bring the woman you love back into your life. It’s another to try and keep her there. For Dex Foray, con­vinc­ing Perry Palomino to open her­self to their bur­geon­ing rela­tion­ship has been more chal­leng­ing than hunt­ing ghosts, bat­tling demons and stalk­ing Sasquatch com­bined. Add in the fact that the only way they can keep their Exper­i­ment in Ter­ror show run­ning is to take on a third part­ner in the form of the mys­te­ri­ous Max­imus Jacobs — all while inves­ti­gat­ing a sin­is­ter voodoo sect in New Orleans — and you’ve got the per­fect South­ern storm and a recipe for dis­as­ter. Luck­ily, Dex has never been one to back down, even when his life –and heart — are on the line.

Come Alive is told from Dex’s POV

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. In plain English, this means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you purchase something through the links provided. This small income goes back into my blog, so I can continue to create fun content for you. I appreciate my readers and make it my goal to be upfront and honest. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Book Review:

Come Alive has everything Experiment in Terror fans have been waiting for – incredibly hot sex, an ominous setting, and answers to some of your most burning questions.  This book made me violent, made me scream, made me cry, and turned everything I thought I knew upside down.

****This Review contains spoilers.  If you HAVE NOT read the Experiment in Terror series, do not read on.  Instead you should one-click Darkhouse.

Come Alive picks up right where Into the Hollow left off – in Dex’s hotel room (yay!).  We also get to see some of what Dex was thinking before the end of Into the Hollow, which made me really happy.  Because they had to deal with the fallout from the Twatwaffle massacre, Dex and Perry get no post-coital cuddle time.  But don’t worry, Dex and Perry more than make up for that later on.  Even Dex Foray needs cuddles.

After all the drama, heartache, separation, and a certain Miss Anonymous that kept Dex and Perry apart for SIX BOOKS, I was overjoyed to FINALLY see them together, enjoying each other’s company and adjusting to their new status as a couple (OMG!).  I could almost hear a collective sigh across of all of EIT fandom.  We finally got what we have been wanting from the first time Perry runs into Dex in that blessed lighthouse – Dex and Perry on the couch with Fatty Rab, just chilling in THEIR (squee!) apartment.  I LOVED the Derry time leading up to the meeting with the auburn-haired snatchslinger.

The ending of Lying Season demanded to be made right.  MAKE IT RIGHT , DERRY!  Boy did they make it right!  They made it right on the elevator, against the wall, in the bed, in the shower, in a bar.  Need I say more?  I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Chapter Four.  HOLY FREAKING BATMAN!  This chapter is one of my favorite chapters/moments from the entire series.  Why, you ask?  Let me just say this: alcohol makes Dex Foray misbehave and payback is a bitch.  ‘Nuff said. Things are going smashingly.  Dex and Perry are a couple, Jimmy has given them another chance with Shownet, and Maximus joins their team.  Say What????  You heard me.  Maximus is a new team member on EIT show.  This made for some pretty hilarious conversations between the three best friends.

Then things get serious in New Orleans.  The gang travels to NOLA in hopes of getting footage that would help save the show.  There we meet several new characters – Rose (Max’s ex-girlfriend), Maryse (a Voodoo priestess) , and Ambrosia (Maryse’s apprentice).  The addition of these three characters was brilliant and stirred the already brewing pot. Dex, Perry & Maximus are sucked into the world of Voodoo and things go downhill rather quickly. I was worried that Perry was going to hold back and be wishy-washy in this book but she wasn’t. Well she withheld those three little words.

But my dear Dex, being the insanely amazing man that he is, understood why she was hesitant – Perry had been through hell and back and she was still trying to deal with what happened in On Demon Wings.  Although he understood Perry’s feelings, that didn’t mean that it didn’t bother him.  Seeing his insecurities about her feelings towards him and trying to show her the depth of his love was hard to see. He has never loved anyone like he loves Perry and that was very, very clear in this book. Dex’s dialogue was the perfect mix of pervy and sweet.  His colorful language did not disappoint. I don’t know what I loved more – his hilarious zingers or the incredibly heartfelt and romantic declarations.  The scenes between Dex and Maximus were incredible.  For obvious reasons, their relationship was strained, which made for an interesting dynamic.  Prior to Come Alive, I was not a huge fan of Maximus.  I called him horrible things and made fun of him on a regular basis.  But after some shocking revelations in Come Alive my feelings have changed.  I won’t go into this, but I feel like own Max an apology.  So here it is:

Dearest Maximus, I beg your forgiveness for the nasty things I said and thought about you.   Well not everything.  I mean, what you did to Perry when she was possessed was pretty rotten and douchey.  But after Come Alive, I know more about you.  I’m sorry for what you’re going through right now.  I hope to hear more about how you’re doing in the future.  Hint, hint Karina Halle!!!

The historic and picturesque backdrop of New Orleans was the perfect setting and it gave me the creeps.  Through Halle’s vivid and colorful descriptions I could feel and see everything as if I were there in that moment.  The heaviness in the air and the sense of foreboding stayed with me for the latter part of the novel.  Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, they did.  When I thought it was going to get better, it didn’t.  The twists and turns were both unpredictable and unexpected.  I didn’t know which way was up.  And through all of this I clung to the good times for dear life.  At around 80% I didn’t know how or if my beloved duo was going to get back to Fatty Rab.  Remember when I said this book made me violent?  Well I wanted to bust the author’s knee caps for putting me through this emotional distress. I couldn’t have asked for a better resolution for Dex and Perry.  Though, I was left with this deep sadness for Rose and Maximus.  I want more of them, please!  In the end, the anger, the tears, and the weight I gained eating away my emotions was all worth it.  I look forward to see what the final two installments of the series has in store.

Favorite Quotes:

“You fill me up and break my own heart, you know? It just creates more room. There is no limit. I love you, I love you, I love you and I’ll die saying it because I was born to feel it. I am in love with you.”

I thought everyone should care that I fucked Perry last night and fucked her good. Perhaps I needed to get an airplane to write that in the sky. I knew an auburn-haired snatchslinger who needed to see it.

I looked over at Fat Rabbit instead who was watching Perry carefully. “Fatty Rab,” I exclaimed. “Where’s your greeting for the lady of the house?” The dog looked at me then closed his eyes. Disrespectful fucker.

“I want to take care of you. I’ve never been able to take care of anyone in my whole life.”

About the Author:

The daughter of a Norwegian Viking and a Finnish Moomin, Karina Halle grew up in Vancouver, Canada with trolls and eternal darkness on the brain. This soon turned into a love of all things that go bump in the night and a rather sadistic appreciation for freaking people out. Like many of the flawed characters she writes, Karina never knew where to find herself and has dabbled in acting, make-up artistry, film production, screenwriting, photography, travel writing and music journalism. She eventually found herself in the pages of the very novels she wrote (if only she had looked there to begin with). Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Karina is represented by Scott Waxman of the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency

Follow Karina:

EIT Website | Website | EIT Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Twitter | Goodreads