This book was purchased with my own money, with no expectations for a review.

Blackmoore’s Dead Things is a fierce story with sharp, sarcastic teeth that sink into you and drag you screaming along, bound beyond the veil of life and death. This was one wild read, and I wish I’d picked it up long before now! Eric Carter is a man both pursuing, and pursued by, the darker things in life. In a world where magic is a gift some are blessed with, not all are equally blessed. There are many ways the gift may manifest, and Eric Carter got “dead things”, as he so eloquently puts it.

Summoned home by the murder of his sister, Eric finds far more than bargained for. A foe once believed fully vanquished beyond resurrection has returned, and is hellsbent on revenge. With the help of old friends and old foes alike, Eric sets to meet this challenge, but it’s not quite enough. Braving the fallout, Eric makes a deal with the devil (or rather, a bargain with an avatar of Death), selling his soul for ten years of badassery. Wait…wrong realm… that’s Supernatural… Carter’d fit right in with the Winchesters though. He makes a deal with Santa Muerta, agreeing to be her attack dog, more or less, in return for the power to defeat his nemesis.

I miss books like this. It was a dose of nice, dark urban fantasy with (gasp) no vampires, or were-beasties, sparkly or otherwise. No zombies either, per se. Those things seem so trite now. So very much overused. This was refreshingly original. Carter is a regular wit, snappy and sarcastic. He’s the quintessential anti-hero, rough around the edges and not afraid to do what’s necessary. A man for whom the ends justify the means. Yet, for all that, Carter is human. He bleeds. He hurts. He’s plagued by the same guilt and regret that can haunt us all. It makes him someone to identify with. I am very much looking forward to the next books, to see how Carter grows.

????? Highly recommended, especially if you enjoy dark urban fantasy, or books such as Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid series, or the earliest works of Laurell K Hamilton