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Celestial Blues Trilogy

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The Taken (Celestial Blues -1) by Vicki Pettersson

The Taken (Celestial Blues #1) by Vicki Pettersson

Celestial Blues Trilogy by Vicki Pettersson

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Noir

Series Description or Overview[]

✥ This is an inventive mythology, with its grumpy angels and hard-luck hero who is forced to deal with his mortality sixty years after he thought that he was through with it for good. CELESTIAL BLUES tries hard to be classic noir fiction. ~ Fang-tastic

✥ BLURB: Griffin Shaw used to be a PI, but that was back when gumshoes hoofed the streets . . . and he was still alive. Fifty years later, he’s a celestial Centurion, assisting the recently, and violently, dead. Yet just because he’s an angel doesn’t mean he’s a saint. One small mistake has altered fate, and now he’s been dumped back onto to the mortal mudflat to collect another soul—Katherine “Kit” Craig, a journalist whose latest investigation is about to get her clipped. Bucking heavenly orders, Grif refuses to let this sable-haired siren with hairpin curves come to harm. Besides, protecting her offers a chance to find the truth about his own mysterious death — and wreak some vengeance for the murder of his beloved wife, Evie. Joining forces, Kit and Grif’s search for answers leads beyond the blinding lights of the Strip into the dark heart of an evil conspiracy. But a ruthless killer determined to destroy them isn’t Griffin’s biggest threat. His growing attraction to Kit could cost them both their lives, as well as the answer to the greatest mystery of his long afterlife … ~ Celestial Blues – Vicki Pettersson

Lead's Species[]

  • Celestial Centurion (a kind of angel)

Primary Supe[]

  • Angels

What Sets it Apart[]

  • PI turned angel

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

  • First Person narrative told by Griffin Shaw, protagonist.

Books in Series[]

Celestial Blues series:

  1. The Taken (2012)
  2. The Lost (2013)
  3. The Given (May 27, 2014) ~ Final

Shorts, Novellas, Anthologies and Guides[]

none yet

Other Series[]

World Building[]

Fang-tastic Fiction: Vicki Pettersson's CELESTIAL BLUES TRILOGY

Settings[]

Las Vegas, Nevada

Supernatural Elements[]

✥ Angels, Celestial Centurions, souls, supe drug, , ,

Glossary:[]

  • Celestial Centurions: angels who assist the recently deceased at the beginning of their journey into the Everlast—the few murdered souls that incubation couldn't cure
  • Incubation: a period during which all memories of earthly life are wiped away from the soul of a person when they die. Sometimes it doesn't take and that person becomes a Celestial Centurion.

Groups & Organizations:[]

World[]

The supernaturals in this world are angels, but they share many of the same emotions and frustrations as human beings. According to this mythology, when a person dies, he or she goes through an incubation period during which all memories of earthly life are wiped away. After the memory wipe, the now-angel goes on to the Everlast (i.e., heaven, paradise, kingdom come, cloud 9—take your pick).

Problematically, the incubation doesn't always work, and angels who maintain their memories are pressed into service as celestial Centurions—angels who assist the recently deceased at the beginning of their journey into the Everlast. The Centurions are "the losers. The few murdered souls that incubation couldn't cure. Still tethered to the Surface by memory and regret, they were pressed into assisting others to cross into the Everlast. The idea was that helping others would relieve their mental anguish. Then they, too, would be able to enter Paradise proper." (p. 48) People who die young and/or violently have the most trouble getting into Everlast because they find it so difficult to give up their emotional ties to their mortal lives.

Protagonist[]

✥ The series hero is Griffin (Grif) Shaw, who was a private investigator (PI) back in the 1950s until he was murdered along with his beautiful wife, Evie. Grif's memories of Evie are still very clear and extremely painful, and no amount of incubation has been able to wipe them away. As a result, Griffin has been a Centurion for the past 60 years, and not a very successful one. Grif crudely describes his Centurion duties as "Secure the Take. Clean 'em up. Bring 'em home." (p 48) (The "Take" is the deceased.)

Sidekick[]

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

Characters Chart[]

Characters What About
Griffin Shaw Angel, former PI Celestial Centurion assisting the recently, and violently, dead
Katherine “Kit” Craig Journalist Newspaper Reporter, a "billy", lives the rockabilly lifestyle
Scratch Fallen angel Feeds on negative emotions and steals souls
Dennis Carlisle Detective Old friend of Kit's
Anne, Anas Angel, a "Pure" Guardian of Heavenly Pathways, shepherds mortals into heaven; uses Anne in her human form'
Anabelle Chambers Wife of Caleb Chambers
Evelyn Shaw Deceased wife Griff's murdered wife
Nic, Nicole Elizabeth Rockwell Photographer Kit's best friend, photographer and a "billy"
Pure Created angel First of the created angels
Anthony Prima Mobster From Griff's past
Caleb Chambers Mormon Powerful Mormon business man
Marin Wilson Newspaper owner Kit's Aunt, runs the family newspaper
Dennis Police Officer Friend of Kit's
Paul Raggio Lawyer Kit's sleazy ex-husband,
Charlotte Daughter of Caleb Chambers
Bridget Chambers Ex-prostitute She runs a beauty parlor
Lance Arnold Schmidt Police Officer Crooked cop

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.

Vicki Pettersson - purple and curls

Vicki Pettersson




Author[]

Vicki Pettersson

Bio: Vicki Pettersson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Signs of the Zodiac novels, a completed six-book urban fantasy series set in her hometown of Las Vegas. She's now writing Celestial Blues, a supernatural noir trilogy that began with THE TAKEN (2012) and has been followed by THE LOST (2013). She divides her time between Las Vegas and Dallas.

Cover Artist[]

Artist: Larry Rostant — Source: Bibliography: Cover: The Taken

Publishing Information[]

Book Cover Blurbs[]

✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—The Taken (2012):

Griffin Shaw used to be a PI, but that was back when gumshoes hoofed the streets . . . and he was still alive. Fifty years later, he’s a celestial Centurion, assisting the recently, and violently, dead. Yet just because he’s an angel doesn’t mean he’s a saint. One small mistake has altered fate, and now he’s been dumped back onto to the mortal mudflat to collect another soul—Katherine “Kit” Craig, a journalist whose latest investigation is about to get her clipped.

Bucking heavenly orders, Grif refuses to let this sable-haired siren with hairpin curves come to harm. Besides, protecting her offers a chance to find the truth about his own mysterious death — and wreak some vengeance for the murder of his beloved wife, Evie. Joining forces, Kit and Grif’s search for answers leads beyond the blinding lights of the Strip into the dark heart of an evil conspiracy. But a ruthless killer determined to destroy them isn’t Griffin’s biggest threat. His growing attraction to Kit could cost them both their lives, as well as the answer to the greatest mystery of his long afterlife … ~ Celestial Blues – Vicki Pettersson

✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—The Lost (2013):

Griffin Shaw and his wife were both murdered fifty years ago. Now a minor angel, Grif's been granted permission to solve the mystery of his own death... if he helps the Pure angels guide those souls who might otherwise be Lost.

Souls like Jeap Yang, a drug addict in his final moments of life. Grif knows that death is coming, but he cannot intervene. However, Grif's mortal lover, reporter Katherine "Kit" Craig, isn't constrained by angelic protocol. If she can stop a death, she will.

But as Kit is about to find out, there are things more traumatic and evil than murder. A strange new drug is literally eating tweakers' flesh from their bones, and Kit's crusade to get it off the streets is set to propel her and Grif into a battle with a vicious drug cartel. They'll have to scramble to stay alive, stay together, and choose their own fate... before it's chosen for them. ~ Goodreads | The Lost (Celestial Blues, #2) by Vicki Pettersson

✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—The Given (May 27, 2014):

New York Times bestselling author Vicki Pettersson continues her breakout new supernatural noir mystery series as a fallen angel and a reporter team up to stop a drug cartel.

After learning his wife survived the attack that killed him fifty years earlier, angel/PI Griffin Shaw is determined to find Evelyn Shaw, no matter the cost. Yet his obsession comes at a price. Grif has had to give up his burgeoning love for reporter Katherine "Kit" Craig, the woman who made life worth living again, and dedicate himself to finding one he no longer knows.

Yet when Grif is attacked again, it becomes clear that there are forces in both the mortal and heavenly realm who'd rather see him dead than unearth the well-buried secrets of his past. If he's to survive his second go-round on the Surface, Grif will have to convince Kit to reunite with him professionally, and help uncover decades of police corruption, risking both their lives... and testing the limits to what one angel is really willing to give for love. ~ Goodreads | The Given (Celestial Blues, #3) by Vicki Pettersson

First Sentences[]

  1. The Taken (2012) — Here's the thing.
  2. The Lost (2013) — It was a dream, of that he was sure.
  3. The Given (2014) — A rule of thumb for all the aspiring angels out there: it's damned tough to go incognito when you've got a twelve-foot wingspan trailing behind you like a big, feathery flag.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

Awards[]

Read Alikes[]

Notes[]

Classic noir fiction in which "the protagonist is usually not a detective, but instead either a victim, a suspect, or a perpetrator. He is someone tied directly to the crime, not an outsider called to solve or fix the situation. Other common characteristics...are the emphasis on sexual relationships and the use of sex to advance the plot and the self-destructive qualities of the lead characters. This type of fiction also has...lean, direct writing style and...gritty realism." (George Tuttle, Mystery Scene magazine, 1994) It comes close (even has many characters smoking their lungs out, which seems improbable in today's cancer-conscious world), but it doesn't quite make the cut, mostly due to plot holes and characterization problems. ~ Fang-tastic

See Also[]

Category links at bottom of page

External References[]

Books:

Summaries, Articles:

World, Characters, etc:

Reviews:

Interviews:

Reviews: 

Other writings: 

Artist:

Author: 

Community, Fan Sites:

Gallery of Book Covers[]

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