Walker Papers series

New Release: Shaman Rises (Walker Papers #9) by C.E. Murphy — Pub: June 24th 2014

The Walker Papers series is written by C. E. Murphy. Updated: June 22, 2014

Genre and Subgenres[]

Urban Fantasy

Brief Series Description or Overview[]

✥ Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt. No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing herself from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams. And if all that’s not bad enough, in the three years Joanne’s been a cop, she’s never seen a dead body—but she’s just come across her second in three days. It’s been a bitch of a week. And it isn’t over yet. ~ from: C.E. Murphy | Fantasy and Sci-Fi Reviews

Lead's Species[]

Shaman, Paranormal Cop

Primary Supe[]

Magic users, Gods,

What Sets it Apart[]

Native American Shaman Cop in lead

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

First person narrative told by

Books in Series[]

Walker Papers series:

Urban Shaman (2005)
Thunderbird Falls (2006)
Coyote Dreams (2007)
Walking Dead (2009)
Demon Hunts (2010)
Spirit Dances (2011)
Raven Calls (2012)
Mountain Echoes (2013)
Shaman Rises (Dec, 2013) ~ Final ~ Excerpt

Shorts, Anthologies and Guides[]

1.5. "Banshee Cries" in Winter Moon (GR link) (2005)
7.5. No Dominion (2012) collection of shorts featuring the supporting characters: Walker Paper, 390 pgs
7.6. "Easy Pickings" (2012) eBook ~ with Faith Hunter (both protagonists in same story)

Other Series by Author on site []

Themes[]

Shamanism
Native American and Cletic mythologies

World Building[]

Celtic and Native American folklore and mythology intertwined.

Setting[]

Seattle

Other Places:

Ireland
Sonata
Middle World
North Carolina
Appalachians
Lower World
Dead Zone
Kobe
Hill of Tara: magical hill in Ireland
Ireland
Qualla Boundary: Cherokee reservation in North Carolina—where Joanne spent her unhappy teen years
Thunderbird Falls: an important magical site in Seattle that has played a major role; It's white magic has turned dangerously black

Supernatural Elements[]

Shaman, coyote trickster god, Celtic gods, fairies, Wild Hunt, shifters, witches, medium, astral realms, Astral projection, evil banshee, ancient spirit, zombie invasion, ghosts, werewolf, demon, time-travel, Master's avatars, evil angel, Irish mythology, Native American mythology/magic, warrior and a healer, cannibalistic serial killer, Lower World, spirit guide, blue sleep, netherworld, good-hearted coven, , ,

Elements of Joanne's Native American shamanism: spirit animals, magic Garden, magic sword, time-bending (one of the spirit animals)
- Joanne's Three Spirit Animals: a raven, a snake, and a walking stick (insect).

Glossary:[]

Wild Hunt:
Lower World: a shamanistic plane of magic and spirits
Astral Realms: trances and dreams used to move back and forth in other planes of existence
Gwyld: Shaman or wise man in Gaelic
Irish mythology:
blue sleep: cops are down with the blue flu—or rather the blue sleep. Yet there's no physical cause anyone can point to—and it keeps spreading (bk3)

Mythological Beings:[]

Cernunnos: Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld, protector of the forest
Meabh (aka Maeve): Queen of Connacht, wife of Aillil, The Morrigan's daughter, and a distant relative of Joanne's. She's one of Joanne's supporters.
The Morrigan: Goddess of battle and strife, she's sworn allegiance to the Master and is Joanne's primary foe in this book even though she is also a distant ancestor.
Banshees: Fairy women who are the harbingers of death. In this book, the Banshees are sworn to the Master and are bringing death rather than foretelling it. Joanne's mother is one of the Banshees.
Brigid: Another Irish fairy woman who shows up a few times to converse with Joanne in a friendly manner.
The Master: He is apparently the god of Death and Destruction and The Morrigan is his assistant. Joanne has been battling him and his minions for many months. Other than "the Master," no other name is given. We don't learn his true identity until the climax of the final novel, Shaman Rises.
Lugh and Nuada: Mythological Irish high kings who show up to move the story along. Both are friendly to Joanne. Nuada crafts Joanne's necklace—the one her mother gave her. That necklace keeps showing up around various necks throughout the story, depending on what time period they're in.
Gancanagh: A male fairy who tries to help Joanne, but causes trouble the entire time he's with her because he has the ability to seduce women by taking the form of the one they love best. You can guess whose form he takes for Joanne. Unfortunately, Joanne's traveling companion at that point is Maebh, and to her he looks like her cheating former husband, Aillil. Much violence ensues when Joanne and Maebh throw some jealous fits.
Herne:
Thor:
Green Man:
Raven Mocker: one of the Master's avatars; physical-spiritual-magical battle with him

World / Protagonist[]

Siobhan Grainne MacNamarra Walkingstick (aka “Joanne Walker”) is a six-foot tall, half-Cherokee, half-Irish police officer in Seattle. She is also a trained and experienced auto mechanic, which was her first job with the police department. Although Joanne has changed her Native American name and repressed her heritage for most of her life, a near-death experience triggers her abilities as a shaman, and she begins to use trances and dreams to move back and forth between astral realms, trying to solve both human and immortal problems. As the series progresses, Joanne's powers become quite strong—strong enough, in fact, to cause an earthquake and create a waterfall.

Joanne's sidekick is cab-driver Gary Muldoon, who drums Joanne into her trances (he's away on a trip so he doesn't appear in Spirit Dances); her partner is Billy Holiday, a medium whose wife (Melinda) is a witch. Joanne’s nemesis (and possible love interest, she hopes) is her boss, Captain Michael Morrison, who tries to ignore Joanne’s magic but keeps being drawn into it. Her magical, mystical mentor is Coyote, who can take three different shapes: his namesake furry animal self, a red-skinned man, or an actual human. Joanne also has two other mystical helpers (Raven and Snake) who assist her in her magic and help her get out of the jams into which she constantly puts herself.

Story lines in earlier books include an evil banshee who kills several humans in a quest for power, an ancient Celtic god, Cernunnos, who leads the Wild Hunt in search of a missing Rider, a coven of witches who try to reanimate an ancient spirit, and a zombie invasion of Seattle. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: C. E. Murphy: THE WALKER PAPERS

Sidekicks[]

✥ Gary Muldoon: cab driver — sidekick to Joanne Walker — 70-something former college linebacker

✥ Friends & Helpers: Gary Muldoon, Captain Michael Morrison, Coyote, Billy Holiday, Melinda, Raven, Snake

Character Chart[]

Characters	What	About
Joanne Walker / Siobhan Walkingstick	reluctant shaman, Seattle cop,	spirit guide is a Coyote Trickster; warrior and healer;
Gary Muldoon	elderly cab driver, Sidekick	decides helping Joanna brings some excitement into his life; drums Joanne into her trances for spirit walks; linebacker in college,
Captain Michael Morrison	boss	boss, nemesis and possible love interest; tries to ignore Joanne’s magic; always has Joanne back when she needed it; she saved his life in Coyote Dreams; offers a choice: detective promotion or staying a mechanic to pursue a relationship w/ him, she chose the promotion.
Coyote, Cyrano Bia	magical, mystical mentor	three shapes: a coyote, a red-skinned man, or an actual human
Billy Holiday	medium, Seattle police detective	partner, friend; understands Joanna's powers and has a few of his own;
Cerrunos	Celtic God, ancient	leads the Wild Hunt in search of a missing Rider;
Melinda Holiday	witch	Billy's wife; pregnant and 4 kids, wiccan that worship a goddess; she & coven help Joanne in Coyote dreams. She doesn't like her husband in danger by Joanne;
Raven	mystical helpers	assists her in magic, helps her out of jams
Snake	mystical helpers	assists her in magic, helps her out of jams
Sara Isaac	nemesis, former BFF; FBI agent	Joanne got pregnant by boy she secretly loved-hostile since; married to Lucas, the father of Joanne's twins
Aidan	12 years old son	meet first time; has wicked shamanic powers; goes off into the mountains alone; adopted by a res woman;
Lucas	father of Joanne's twins;	married to Sara;
Father	Joanne's dad	missing;
Lester Lee	sheriff	has had a long-time crush on Joanne
Annie Muldoon	Gary's wife	supposedly dead wife
Suzanne (Suzy) Quinley	granddaughter of Cernunnos
Phoebe Kostelis:	Joanne fencing instructor	friend; tall, athletic, long raven hair; doesn't believe Joanne have shaman abilities or werid things that happen her;
Edward, "Thor"		nickname him Thor because he's tall muscular, long blonde hair like the Thunder God; wants to protect Joanne from danger; she didn't like him at first;

To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column. Or, in Source Mode: copy-paste rows.

Author[]

C. E. Murphy

Website: C. E. Murphy: Official homepage for author C. E. Murphy

Bio: C.E. Murphy is a writer of fantasy novels and short stories. She also writes "action-adventure romance" novels under the pseudonym Cate Dermody, which was her grandmother's maiden name. ~ Goodreads

Cover Artist[]

Artist: none listed

Other Contributors[]

Narrators:

Christine Carroll — Book 1
Gabra Zackman — Book 2–on

Awards[]

Publishing Information[]

Publisher: Luna Books, Harlequin Luna
Author Page:
Book page: Harlequin.com | Miniseries - The Walker Papers
Bk-1: Paperback, 410 pages, Pub: June 1st 2005—ISBN: 0373802234
Bk-2: Paperback, 408 pages, Pub: May 1st 2006—ISBN: 0373802358
Bk-3: Paperback, 416 pages, Pub: May 1st 2007—ISBN: 0373802722
Bk-4: Paperback, 384 pages, Pub: August 18th 2009—ISBN: 037380301X
Bk-5: Paperback, 368 pages, Pub: June 1st 2010—ISBN:
Bk-6: Paperback, 368 pages, Pub: March 22nd 2011—ISBN: 0373803257
Bk-7: Paperback, 384 pages, Pub: March 1st 2012—ISBN: 145922289X
Bk-8: Paperback, 352 pages, Pub: February 26th 2013 by Harlequin Luna—ISBN: 0373803516
Bk-9: Paperback, 384 pages, Pub: June 24th 2014 by Harlequin Luna—ISBN: 0373803621

Book Cover Blurbs[]

✤ BOOK ONE—Urban Shaman (2005): Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt. No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams. And if all that's not bad enough, in the three years Joanne's been a cop, she's never seen a dead body -- but she's just come across her second in three days. It's been a bitch of a week. And it isn't over yet. ~ Urban Shaman~ FF

✤ BOOK TWO—Thunderbird Falls (2006): The sequel to 2005's Urban Shaman pits beat cop and reluctant shaman Joanne Walker (real name Siobhan Walkingstick) against her deadliest foe yet: an ancient serpentine spirit bent on crossing over into modern-day Seattle -- not to order an iced mocha latte from Starbucks but to take over the world! Just a few months after meeting the Native American trickster god Coyote and grudgingly agreeing to become a shaman—it was either that or death!—Walker is still coming to grips with her paranormal abilities. But when she discovers the body of a dead woman in a University of Washington shower room, she's thrust into a potentially apocalyptic adventure that revolves around a good-hearted coven trying to raise a seemingly benevolent spirit from the netherworld. But as the rituals intensify, Walker realizes that the 3,000-year-old entity isn't exactly on a mission of peace. ~ Thunderbird Falls (Walker Papers, #2)

✤ BOOK THREE—Coyote Dreams (2007): Much of the city can't wake up. And more are dozing off each day. Instead of powerful forces storming Seattle, a more insidious invasion is happening. Most of Joanne Walker's fellow cops are down with the blue flu—or rather the blue sleep. Yet there's no physical cause anyone can point to—and it keeps spreading. It has to be magical, Joanne figures. But what's up with the crazy dreams that hit her every time she closes her eyes? Are they being sent by Coyote, her still-missing spirit guide? The messages just aren't clear. Somehow Joanne has to wake up her sleeping friends while protecting those still awake, figure out her inner-spirit dream life and, yeah, come to terms with these other dreams she's having about her boss... ~ Coyote Dreams (Walker Papers, #3)

✤ BOOK FOUR—Walking Dead (2009): For once, Joanne Walker's not out to save the world. She's come to terms with the host of shamanic powers she's been given, her job as a police detective has been relatively calm, and she's got a love life for the first time in memory. Not bad for a woman who started out the year mostly dead. — But it's Halloween, and the undead have just crashed Joanne's party. Now, with her mentor Coyote still missing, she has to figure out how to break the spell that has let the ghosts, zombies and even the Wild Hunt come back. Unfortunately, there's no shamanic handbook explaining how to deal with the walking dead. And if they have anything to say about it—which they do—no one's getting out of there alive. ~ Walking Dead (Walker Papers, #4)

✤ BOOK FIVE—Demon Hunts (2010): Seattle police detective Joanne Walker started the year mostly dead, and she's ending it trying not to be consumed by evil. Literally. She's proven she can handle the gods and the walking dead. But a cannibalistic serial killer? That's more than even she bargained for. What's worse, the brutal demon can only be tracked one way. If Joanne is to stop its campaign of terror, she'll have to hunt it where it lives: the Lower World, a shamanistic plane of magic and spirits. Trouble is, Joanne's skills are no match for the dangers she's about to face—and her on-the-job training could prove fatal to the people she's sworn to protect…. ~ Demon Hunts (Walker Papers, #5) by C.E. Murphy

✤ BOOK SIX—Spirit Dances (2011): For Seattle detective Joanne Walker, spring is about new beginnings. She's mastered her shamanic abilities (mostly), survived a cannibalistic serial killer (barely) and now she's facing the biggest challenge of her career—attending a dance concert with her sexy boss, Captain Michael Morrison. But when the performance—billed as transformative—actually changes her into a coyote, she and Morrison have bigger things to deal with. And there's more. Homeless people are disappearing, a mystical murder puts Joanne way out of her jurisdiction and with the full moon coming on, it's looking like the killer is a creature that can't possibly exist. But Jo could probably handle all of that, if one ordinary homicide hadn't pushed her to the very edge... ~ Demon Hunts (Walker Papers, #5) by C.E. Murphy

✤ BOOK SEVEN—Raven Calls (2012): Something wicked this way comes… Suddenly, being bitten by a werewolf is the least of Joanne Walker’s problems. Her personal life in turmoil, her job as a cop over, she’s been called to Ireland by the magic within her. And though Joanne’s skills have grown by leaps and bounds, Ireland’s magic is old and very powerful… In fact, this is a case of unfinished business. Because the woman Joanne has come to Ireland to rescue is the woman who sacrificed everything for Joanne—the woman who died a year ago. Now, through a slip in time, she’s in thrall to a dark power and Joanne must battle darkness, time and the gods themselves to save her. ~ Raven Calls (Walker Papers, #7) by C.E. Murphy

✤ BOOK EIGHT—Mountain Echoes (Feb, 2013): You can never go home again. Joanne Walker has survived an encounter with the Master at great personal cost, but now her father is missing - stolen from the timeline. She must finally return to North Carolina to find him—and to meet Aidan, the son she left behind long ago. That would be enough for any shaman to face, but Joanne's beloved Appalachians are being torn apart by an evil reaching forward from the distant past. Anything that gets in its way becomes tainted—or worse. — And Aidan has gotten in the way. Only by calling on every aspect of her shamanic powers can Joanne pull the past apart and weave a better future. It will take everything she has - and more. Unless she can turn back time... ~ Mountain Echoes (Walker Papers, #8) by C.E. Murphy

✤ BOOK NINE—Shaman Rises (Dec, 2013): Joanne Walker has two choices: Defeat the enemy…or lose her soul trying. For over a year, Joanne has been fighting the Master—the world's most abiding evil entity. She's sacrificed family, friendships, even watched potential futures fade away…and now the Master is bringing the final battle to Joanne's beloved Seattle. Lives will be lost as the repercussions of all Joanne's final transformation into her full Shamanic abilities come to her doorstep. Before the end, she'll mourn, rejoice—and surrender everything for the hope of the world's survival. She'll be a warrior and a healer. Because she is finally a Shaman Rising. ~ Shaman Rises (Walker Papers, #9)

First Sentences[]

Urban Shaman: There's nothing worse than a red-eye flight.
Thunderbird Falls: Two words I never thought would go together: Joanne Walker and 6:00 a.m.
Coyote Dreams: Someone had driven a tire iron into my skull.
Walking Dead: My wig itched like a son of a bitch.
Demon Hunts: Someone had been chewing on the body.
Spirit Dances: Walker, Holliday, you're up.
Raven Calls: The werewolf bite on my forearm itched.
Mountain Echoes: I came home to North Caroline just shy of a decade after promising I'd never go back.
Shaman Rises: Annie Marie Muldoon was supposed to be dead.

Quotes[]

C.E. Murphy Quotes (Author of Urban Shaman)
The Walker Papers Series — quotes on each page

Read Alikes (similar elements)[]

See Category links at bottom of page

Awards[]

Trivia[]

~ ranked #35 on Best Urban Fantasy SERIES (330 books)

List:

Unique Lists:

Notes[]

Plots are mystically labyrinthine at times—particularly during Joanne’s frequent dreams and trances as she visits other planes of existence. The author doesn't provide much background information for Joanne's forays into various mythological pantheons, so it's easy for the reader to feel a bit lost at times. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: C. E. Murphy: THE WALKER PAPERS