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Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

Precinct 13 (2012) by Tate Hallaway

Precinct 13 series, aka Alex Connor series by Tate Hallaway, a stand-Alone novel for now, sequel in progress. 

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Urban Fantasy / Police Procedural

Book Description or Overview[]

When we meet Alex, our heroine, she has just won the position of Hughes County coroner on a bet. Her first day on the job ends with a corpse walking out of her office, a snake tattooing it’s self to her arm and the sheriff directing her to a mysterious office named Precinct 13. When she arrives at Precinct 13 to report the missing corpse she is met by all manner of paranormals who will become her new co-workers and teach Alex how she fits into their magical world. What follows is an adventure of tracking down zombies, dealing with crop circles and mutilated cows and Alex using her ability to talk to the dead to help Precinct 13 solve crime. ~ http://fictionvixen.com/guest-review-precinct-13-tate-halloway/

Lead's Species[]

  • Human — with the ability to talk to the dead and witch;

Primary Supe[]

  • Paranormal cops

What Sets it Apart[]

  • A police station filled with Supe cops.

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

  • First person 

Books in Series[]

Precinct 13 series, aka Alex Connor series:

  1. Precinct 13 (2012)
  2. Unjust Cause () — posted serially free: UnJust Cause Part 1: The Dragon's Hoard - Page 1 - Wattpad

World Building[]

Fang-tastic Fiction: Tate Hallaway: PRECINCT 13 SERIES

Setting[]

  • Pierre, North Dakota

Places:

  • Chicago: where Alex grew up and moved away from
  • Big Al's: greasy spoon diner

Supernatural Elements[]

✥ Paranormal cops, psychics, Faeries, psychometrists, zombies, golems, vampire-werewolf hybrid, dragon shifter, magic tattoos, dhampirs, trolls, gargoyles, demon, crop circles, pixies, Fallen, Ifrit, magic objects, fairy ring, , ,

Glossary:[]

  • Yokai: Japanese shape-shifting fox demons

Groups & Organizations:[]

  • Precinct 13: strange, fascinating bureaucratic department populated with a variety of supernatural creatures

World[]

In this world, the supernatural community exists alongside the human community (aka the ordinarium), but most ordinarium don't know that the magical world exists. Only the top government officials know what's really going on. In Pierre, North Dakota, the law enforcement arm of the supernaturals is a very special part of the police department called Precinct 13. The staff of Precinct 13 includes everything from fairies to psychometrists to a vampire-werewolf hybrid—and much more.

Magic: There are two types of magic in this mythology: natural and unnatural. One of the characters explains the difference: "The distinction is really very straightforward. If you think of power as a river, natural magic uses the existing currents. If you go against the flow, you're tapping into the unnatural....the energy itself is neutral and what matters is how you use it. But it's actually quite possible for a practitioner to use natural magic for evil purposes, and vice versa." (pp. 65-66) So...although unnatural practitioners aren't necessarily evil, many natural practitioners are extremely prejudiced against unnatural practitioners. They consider certain types of supernaturals to be inherently unnatural—like vampires and golems—and are not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt as to their motives.

Protagonist[]

✥ Alex, as bold and daring as they come. After taking a bet from her best friend, she campaigned and won the election for Hughes County coroner in Pierre, South Dakota. It wasn’t a fluke chance either. Alex is a forensic science graduate, who dropped out of medical school because of complicated life issues. But all of the complications and her former life in Chicago are behind her now, and as ready as she’ll ever be. Alex’s first day on the job resulted in moving body markings, a new protective snake tattoo, as well as having a fresh corpse getting up and walking from her table. Life as she knew it will change forever, opening up Alex’s eyes to paranormal truths and become a part of something that makes her feel normal. ~ Goodreads | Dark Faerie Tales's review of Precinct 13

✥ The series heroine is Alex Connor, who has spent much of her life under psychiatric care and under the influence of anti-psychotic drugs because she has always been able to see magical creatures like fairies, trolls, and gargoyles. When she accused her step-mother of being a demon (which, by the way, is literally true), she asked her boyfriend, Valentine, to help subdue her. After the demonic step-mother fought off Valentine's attack, he went to jail and she was bundled off to a locked psychiatric ward. Now, Alex has moved away from her Chicago home to take a position as the coroner in Pierre, South Dakota—which makes this the very first paranormal novel I've ever read that is set in either one of the Dakotas. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: Tate Hallaway: PRECINCT 13 SERIES

Sidekick[]

  • Name: / What: / Sidekick-to: / About: / Book First Seen:

Characters Chart[]

Characters What About
Alex Connor coroner; witch always been able to see magical creatures—put on anti-psychotic drugs; lover: Valentine; step-mom is a demon; magic snake tattoo bonded to her;
Valentine Zmajov dragon shifter lover; white ice dragon; also Alex's familiar;
Devon Fletcher werewolf / vampire Alex accidentally blinded him; enthralled to Spenser by a blood glamour;
Spenser Jones fairy prince boss at Precinct 13; trapped Devon in a blood glamour;
Robert computer programmer, roommate; Alex & Val rent from him;
Jack technowitch at Precinct 13; tries to help Alex get rid of her snake tattoo;
Hannah Stone Precinct 13; missing, found dead in cemetery;
Brooklyn mortician sister of the necromancer who made the zombie with the snake tattoo that bonded to Alex; tried to kill Alex; tried to make people believe in magic to make them stronger;
Mac b-2 werewolf, Omega biker; Devon's pack;

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.

Tate

Tate Hallaway

Author[]

Tate Hallaway

Bio: A Scorpio with a Leo Rising, Tate Hallaway is an amateur astrologer and practicing Witch. Tate has been a fan of vampire fiction since she first read Poppy Z. Brite in high school. Her first short fiction acceptance was to a vampire ‘zine called Nocturnal Ecstasy Vampire Coven. Tate lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota with three black cats. TALL, DARK, AND DEAD is Tate’s first novel. ~ TATEHALLAWAY.Bio

Cover Artist[]

Artist: Blake Morrow

Publishing Information[]

Book Cover Blurbs[]

BOOK ONE— Precinct 13 (2012): Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment... When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off. After working up the courage to report the missing body, Alex is transferred to the mysterious Precinct 13 where she discovers that her new co-workers—including a cute technomage named Jack—are paranormals just like her. Now, Alex is being encouraged to use her ability to speak to the dead to solve crimes. And despite being in the middle of nowhere, Hughes County sure does have a lot of paranormal activity. ~ Goodreads | Precinct 13

BOOK TWO— Unjust Cause (): posted serially free: UnJust Cause Part 1: The Dragon's Hoard - Page 1 - Wattpad

Summary[]

Alex Connor just became the new coroner. One day, two cops (Jones and Stone) bring her a dead body. Stone asks her if she believes in magic and tells her that the body is of a necromancer and there is a spell on him so she shouldn't break the ribs. Alex performs the autopsy anyway and while in his chest cavity, she is attacked by a black snake that bites her wrist and becomes a tattoo on her arm. The dead man sits up and walks out of the morgue. Alex goes to tell the chief of police that the body is gone and he tells her to talk to the people at Precinct 13.

Once there, she discovers that it a unit of police made up on magical people who solve magical crimes. Jones is the head of the department. Jack is a technowitch and thinks that Alex must be a witch too. He explains some of magic to her. He tries to help her get rid of her tattoo, but is unsuccesful as it seems the snake has bonded with her. Jones and some of his cops go with Alex to investigate the necromancer's apartment, where Alex finds a head in the closet. She hears the head talking to her, but no one else does. Alex's old boyfriend, Valentine, shows up. They have been separated for 2 years because she thought her stepmother was a demon and when Valentine tried to kill her, he was arrested, tried and sentenced to prison. Alex was locked in a psych ward for 18 months.

The next day, Jones calls her to attend a cattle mutilation, where they find a fairy ring. The cattle have had their heads crushed in. Jones sends one of the cows back to the morgue so that Alex can determine what caused their deaths. Valentine meets her at the precinct and she discovers that he is her familiar and he is a dragon. The morning meeting is cancelled due to zombies being seen at a local diner. Jones calls Alex when one of the zombies dies. She goes to investigate and the zombie comes back to life and talks to her. She takes it back to the morgue, but then it walks out on her. She and Stone follow it and it suddenly attacks Stone. Alex calls Jones for help and then gets lost. She ends up at a funeral parlor, where she is attacked by the mortician. The mortician is the necromancer's sister and she tried to kill Alex. However, Alex's magic, which is apparently controlled by cursing, knocks out the mortician and Valentine and Jones show up to rescue her. Jones knows the mortician.

Back at her apartment, Alex and Valentine discuss the cases and Alex becomes concerned that Jones has been hiding something. She flies with Valentine back to the precinct where she confronts Jones. He confesses that he used to date the mortician, Brooklyn, and thus has been dragging his feet on the investigation because he didn't want to believe that she was involved. They question Brooklyn, who confesses that she and her brother were trying to make people believe in magic in the belief that this would make them stronger.

Suddenly they realize that no one has heard from Stone recently. They find her in a cemetery and she has been killed. They are confronted by the necromancer and his zombies but Alex's magic manages to defeat the zombies and her snake tattoo bites the necromancer, causing him to dematerialize. Jones calls a rabbit to resurrect Stone, who is a golem. Jones then takes Alex with him through his fairy ring to go back in time and see who killed the cattle. They discover that it wasn't a magic killing at all. Jones resigns until he has been evaluated by Internal Affairs.

While Alex and Valentine are sleeping, they are attacked by Brooklyn, who has escaped from the precinct with the help of her partner, Boyd, one of the detectives from the precinct. Alex is able to use her magic to defeat them and they are arrested. The human police were able to prove that the rancher killed his own cattle for insurance money, Stone is successfully resurrected and Alex decides that she might like being a coroner. Valentine decides to stay with her instead of roaming as most dragons do. ~ Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

First Sentences[]

  1. Precinct 13 (2012) — I never dreamed of being a coroner.
  2. Unjust Cause () — I poked Valentine in the chest. "Valentine, we need to talk."

Quotes[]

“I’m Jack,” he said. “You must be Alice.” “Alex, ” I corrected. “I was making a literary reference,” he said with a sniff and a London accent. He stepped aside to let me in. “Because, Alex, you’re about to enter Wonderland.”

Read Alikes (similar elements)[]

See Category links at bottom of page

Awards[]

Trivia[]

Notes[]

The publisher dropped the series. The author is posting the sequel serially online, free.

See Also[]

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