Dead Man Rising by Lilith SaintcrowMy rating: 0 of 5 stars
A relative newcomer to the Dark Fantasy genre, Lilith Saintcrow pens a
tale that will seem superficially familiar to the aficionado.
Protagonist Dante (Danny) Valentine is a necromance, a half-demon and a
bounty hunter. Beginning where “Working for the Devil” the previous
(and first) novel in the series left off, we find Danny immersing
herself in her work collecting bounties nonstop as a means to forget
about the death of her lover. Japhrimel a full demon, is the reason
that Danny now finds herself to be semi-immortal, inhumanly beautiful
and nearly invulnerable.
Danny receives a call from close friend and fellow necromance, Gabe, who
asks for her help in investigating a series of killings. The victims
are seemingly unrelated, with two being psions and one a normal, until
Danny using her talents calls back one of the murdered spirits, and is
told “Remember Rigger Hall. Remember. REMEMBER!” Aided by former
lover, Jace, the shaman who taught her almost everything she knows about
bounty hunting, Danny begins an investigation that will tear her apart
by forcing her to confront her tortured childhood at Rigger Hall.
When she starts receiving letters and phone calls from The Devil asking
where Japhrimel is, since he can’t seem to locate him in hell, Danny
begins to wonder if she is losing it. She knows Japhrimel is dead she
witnessed Lucifer kill him with her very own eyes. Now the voices in
her head tell her she could have brought him back if only she knew how.
It’s a story that melds a little bit of cyberpunk, with a dash of
paranormal romance, and then brings that together with just enough
thriller/horror elements to satisfy the reader. This reviewer would
suggest reading “Working for the Devil” first for the full effect.
Fortunately a glossary is provided, as the author not only uses Egyptian
phrases, but also makes up many of her own names for common things –
such as werecain instead of werewolf or lycanthrope and nichtvren for
vampire.
This series should be immediately and immensely popular with fans of
Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison and Charlaine Harris. A powerful
urban fantasy, with a strong female lead wielding immense power, but who
has the sensitivity to question her own humanity.
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