Sign in with Facebook
Steve Stred's Reviews > Never Dead
Never Dead
by
by
Thanks to Joe for sending me a digital copy of this one!
I’ve said it before – and I’ll always find it strange – but very frequently in my book reading world, I end up finishing one book and shortly after, another one has similar themes. It is always random, as its usually the books I’m reading for review purposes, but in this case, I’d finished reading Tim McGregor’s wonderful ‘Eynhallow’ which involved Victor Frankenstein, and a few short books later, I jump into Joe’s latest, which involves someone stealing bodies from graveyards so that scientists can reanimate them. Love it!
What I liked: Set in the 1920’s the story hops back and forth between Clyde, an assistant to a wealthy man, and Michael, an eager newspaper reporter. Clyde has been helping dig up bodies, but for what reason, he’s unsure. That is until he’s shown that the wealthy are working with scientists to bring those dead back to life.
Meanwhile, Michael is eager to report on something different than the usual gang related stuff plaguing the city. So, heading to the suburbs, he reconnects with an old friend, who works for the police there, and learns of these grave diggings.
Scipione keeps those storylines separate for a bit before they merge and Clyde and Michael form an unlikely duo looking to get to the bottom of things. It made for a fun pairing, and seeing the dark secrets that kept getting revealed made for an entertaining read.
It all comes to a head at the end, with the last quarter working so very well to keep us guessing, but to also have the readers remain fully entrenched in how things come to a end.
What I didn’t like: I felt like initially, we are shown the ‘reveal’ of why the bodies are being dug up really quickly. I think it would’ve been fun to have that teased out a bit more.
And, I did find at first, I kept thinking the Michael parts were almost modern day, as the writing felt different than the Clyde aspects.
Why you should read this: Joe is always creating fun horror for readers and ‘Never Dead’ is no exception. This one hums along, gives us some fantastic scenes, and you’ll be all the better for having met Michael and Clyde.
I’ve said it before – and I’ll always find it strange – but very frequently in my book reading world, I end up finishing one book and shortly after, another one has similar themes. It is always random, as its usually the books I’m reading for review purposes, but in this case, I’d finished reading Tim McGregor’s wonderful ‘Eynhallow’ which involved Victor Frankenstein, and a few short books later, I jump into Joe’s latest, which involves someone stealing bodies from graveyards so that scientists can reanimate them. Love it!
What I liked: Set in the 1920’s the story hops back and forth between Clyde, an assistant to a wealthy man, and Michael, an eager newspaper reporter. Clyde has been helping dig up bodies, but for what reason, he’s unsure. That is until he’s shown that the wealthy are working with scientists to bring those dead back to life.
Meanwhile, Michael is eager to report on something different than the usual gang related stuff plaguing the city. So, heading to the suburbs, he reconnects with an old friend, who works for the police there, and learns of these grave diggings.
Scipione keeps those storylines separate for a bit before they merge and Clyde and Michael form an unlikely duo looking to get to the bottom of things. It made for a fun pairing, and seeing the dark secrets that kept getting revealed made for an entertaining read.
It all comes to a head at the end, with the last quarter working so very well to keep us guessing, but to also have the readers remain fully entrenched in how things come to a end.
What I didn’t like: I felt like initially, we are shown the ‘reveal’ of why the bodies are being dug up really quickly. I think it would’ve been fun to have that teased out a bit more.
And, I did find at first, I kept thinking the Michael parts were almost modern day, as the writing felt different than the Clyde aspects.
Why you should read this: Joe is always creating fun horror for readers and ‘Never Dead’ is no exception. This one hums along, gives us some fantastic scenes, and you’ll be all the better for having met Michael and Clyde.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Never Dead.
Sign In »
