So today’s Spooky Legend might be my favorite of the whole event. It comes to us courtesy of Trent Jamieson via his character Death from the Death Works trilogy. The first two installments along the third book have all been packaged together in one omnibus titled THE BUSINESS OF DEATH (available now from Orbit Books). Ever heard of Drop Bears? I hadn’t, but I’ll never be able to look at koalas the same way again. And if you are new to this series which I called a “sly, subtly humorous urban fantasy with a bittersweet love story and a novel approach to the business of death”, make sure to check out the giveaway below for a chance to win the omnibus. See details below.
Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways
Death on Drop Bears
by
Trent Jamieson
There's this story about killer koalas: that they drop from trees onto their victims and kill with tooth and claw. Hence the term Drop Bears. It's something for the most naive of tourists, and it's a load of crap.
Except when it isn't.
When you're Death you find yourself privy to all sorts of stuff you wish you weren't. Some of it sad, some of it awful, a lot of it both.
*This title will be released on July 27, 2010*
Steven de Selby has a hangover. Bright lights, loud noise, and lots of exercise are the last thing he wants. But that’s exactly what he gets when someone starts shooting at him.
Steven is no stranger to death-Mr. D’s his boss after all-but when a dead girl saves him from sharing her fate, he finds himself on the wrong end of the barrel. His job is to guide the restless dead to the underworld but now his clients are his own colleagues, friends, and family.
Mr. D’s gone missing and with no one in charge, the dead start to rise, the living are hunted, and the whole city teeters on the brink of a regional apocalypse-unless Steven can shake his hangover, not fall for the dead girl, and find out what happened to his boss- that is, Death himself.
Book 1 in The Death Works Series
DEATH MOST DEFINITE is the first in a new urban fantasy series about the corporate side of death, that blends an amalgam of afterlife mythologies, and a zombie uprising, all told from the POV of the underachieving guy who realizes he has to save the world and fight Death itself for the girl he can never get.
Pomps pomp the dead, we draw them through us to the Underworld and the One Tree. And we stall the Stirrers, those things that so desperately desire to come the other way. Every day I’m doing this – well, five days a week. It’s a living, and quite a lucrative one at that. – DEATH MOST DEFINITE
The mythology of death and the afterlife in DEATH MOST DEFINITE, specifically the idea of 9-5 working class Pyschopomps who aid the newly dead to the underworld, Stirrers who reanimate the dead, and Mr. Death himself are fresh and compelling concepts that help elevate this story above the mass of urban fantasy titles released this year.
And while I loved the world building, I did struggle with the pacing of DEATH MOST DEFINITE. It’s broken up into two parts and I almost wish I could review each part separately. The first part, while doing a great job of introducing readers to the dry, deprecating wit of protagonist Steven de Selby, is a bit sluggish in terms of advancing the plot. Once Steven found out what was happening, I got impatient with him as he sort of ran around doing nothing until right before part two when he—and the story--launched into hyper drive.
Overall, DEATH MOST DEFINITE is a sly, subtly humorous urban fantasy with a bittersweet love story and a novel approach to the business of death. The first half is a bit slow, but the breakneck pace of the second half, and an a sarcastic protagonist saves this tale that fans of The Dresden Files should love. The next book in the Death Works series, Managing Death, will be released on January 11, 2011
Sexual Content: References to sex. A brief masturbation scene. A brief sex scene.
My Rating (out of 5):
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages *Disclosure: I received this book courtesy of Orbit Books
Disagree with my review? Contact me with your review for this or any other book I’ve reviewed and I might use it for 2nd Opinion Review.
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