susanvoss18

The world has changed in the several decades since magic was reintroduced. For some, it is better, for others not so much. Connor Night is dying of cancer and he is one of the few Necromancers currently living. He and his partner (Danelle AKA Dani) along with his reanimated corpse, Evan, do odd jobs. Indeed, they are quite odd and often involve breaking the law. This time, Connor and his crew get drawn in to an unexpected job and the outcome is not quite what they had in mind.

This book was a world of fun and I definitely didn’t want to put it down. Connor is a pretty unique protagonist. He’s on death’s door and only the illegal, expensive, experimental drugs are keeping his cancer from devouring him. Basically, he isn’t your basic studly hero. Yet he has a certain fatalistic charm and gallows humor that had me attached to him from the beginning.

Connor’s crew are also a fun bunch, in a knife-wielding, verbally abusive sort of way. Dani is the weapons master of the bunch and often the planner of each job, keeping everyone on track. I really liked her practical approach to problems. Meanwhile, Evan is a stinky rotting corpse that has to be kept on ice when not in use. He seems pretty pissed about being reanimated and who can blame him? But for this job he will get to have a little fun.

A compulsion has been laid on Connor and he must leave his town of Chicago and get to New Orleans as quick as possible or go insane from the constant mental pressure. New Orleans holds many surprises. There will be fancy dress attire, weapons, ogres, gambling, voodoo, and some other surprises our heroes didn’t see coming. It was a very fun mix and the story kept me engaged the entire time. I definitely look forward to listening to the rest of the series.

At the time of posting this review, this novella was free to listen to on the narrator’s YouTube channel. I don’t know how long it will be available before it goes to Audible.

Narration:  Jeff Hays has done another fine performance. His somewhat gravelly voice for Connor was perfect. He even tossed in some coughing fits here and there to get across to the listener just how ill Connor is. He has an amazing range and his female voices were very realistic. He did some regional accents along with big ogre voices. It was a highly entertaining performance!