Shutter is fast-paced action and horror with a fresh spin on monster-hunting. Courtney Alameda hits the ground running and never lets up.

Alameda does a nice job, for the most part, explaining the rules of this elaborate urban fantasy without getting to info-dumpy. That said, when racing through the book as a reader, it's not always easy to absorb all of it.

Micheline Helsing is descended from the famous Van Helsing in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Micheline takes after her father, who heads up the monster hunting organization that bears their family name. Both are a hot mess, because of the death of Micheline's mother and two younger brothers. Micheline and her dad both have hot tempers and act impulsively to a fault. Their relationship goes well beyond troubled. Her dad even assaults her at one point (definitely consider this a trigger warning for anyone who isn't comfortable reading about child abuse).

The book maintains its tension throughout, because Micheline and her team are infected by a powerful ghost that will kill them within days, unless they find the ghost and stop it. The only thing that hurts the pace is the growing romance between Micheline and her Australian hunting partner Ryder. Their relationship is forbidden, because the Helsings still arrange their marriages, and Ryder isn't a valued relationship for maintaining the legacy of the Helsing Corps. After almost every interaction between Micheline and Ryder, she worries over what will happen after they survive their spectral infection if her dad realizes they're in love. Having Micheline so worried over this, and she spends a LOT of time obsessing about it, creates the impression that the threat against her and her team isn't that immediate and life-threatening.

The last act is where the story gets a little rough for me. There are a couple times where a simple phone call with a cell phone would have helped.

Spoiler

When Micheline realizes the ghost is staging an attack on the Helsing Corps' island base, instead of calling the base herself, she has someone else call in an anonymous tip, which clearly won't get people on the island moving as quickly. I also was a bit baffled at how Micheline and her team have such a difficult time making the Dracula connection. Luca teases Micheline for not figuring it out sooner, and instead of it making Luca seem clever and dangerous, it just detracts from Micheline, because the reader can't help but ask "Why didn't she figure it out sooner?"

Overall, I enjoyed Shutter a lot. Despite my nit picks, I think Courtney Alameda gets a lot right in this book. I'd definitely be on board for a second book with Micheline Helsing, if one comes about. I'll certainly be picking up more of Alameda's books in the future.