- Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Del Rey; Original edition (May 25, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345515579
- ISBN-13: 978-0345515575
- Goodreads.com synopsis: THE DEPARTED HAVE ARRIVED.
The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen, and the living are under attack. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully tattooed witch and freewheeling ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for banishing the wicked dead. But Chess is keeping a dark secret: She owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump, who wants immediate payback in the form of a dangerous job that involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust for a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah.
Wow, this was even better than what I was expecting. Chess works for the Church of Truth as a debunker, which means she investigates peoples claims of hauntings and either exorcises the ghost or proves it to be a false claim.
Chess' character is very interesting, she uses drugs to block out the memories of a very traumatizing childhood as well as some of the horrors she has to face from her job each day. I thought she was very realistic in the way she had a hard time trusting people, isolated herself, stayed away from meaningful relationships, and found it hard to make friends. Even her drug use makes sense considering her background, I hope through the rest of the series, I get to see her grow even more and overcome that addiction.
The Church of Truth was fascinating too and we get to find out how exactly this church came to be, and as the story progresses, we learn some of the rules and expectations for this society under the rule of this Church.
I loved all of the characters in this story, so many of them stand out to me. Of course Terrible, the drug dealer Bump's hired thug, who is a mixture of scary, damaged, and endearing.
Bump himself who I mentally picture as a 60's pimp with permed hair, big hat, and fur coat. Bump is selfish, overconfident, and demanding, but apparently has a soft side as well. The downside street slang is great on the audio.
I can't wait to finish the rest of this series, I hope it continues with the same fast paced action as well as telling us more about some of the characters that we didn't get a lot of back story on.
