It’s hard to defeat evil on a budget. Just ask Simon Canderous.
FROM THE AUTHOR OF DEAD TO ME.
View our feature on Anton Strout’s Deader Still.
It’s been 737 days since the Department of Extraordinary Affairs’ last vampire incursion, but that streak appears to have ended when a boat full of dead lawyers is found in the Hudson River. Using the power of psychometry—the ability to divine the history of an object by touching it—agent Simon Canderous discovers that the booze cruise was crashed by something that sucked all the blood out of the litigators. Now, his workday may never end—until his life does.
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Fantasy author Anton Strout was born in the Berkshire Hills mere miles from writing heavyweights Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville and currently lives in the haunted corn maze that is New Jersey (where nothing paranormal ever really happens, he assures you).
He is the author of the Simon Canderous urban fantasy series and Alchemystic, book one of the upcoming Spellmason Chronicles for Ace Books, a division of Penguin Group (USA). Anton is also the author of many short tales published in anthologies by DAW Books.
The Once & Future Podcast is his latest project, where he endeavors as Curator of Content to bring authors and readers together through a weekly news show format.
He has been a featured author guest of honor, speaker and workshop leader at San Diego Comic-Con, Gencon, New York Comic-Con, the Brooklyn Book Festival and many other conventions.
In his scant spare time, his is a writer, a sometimes actor, sometimes musician, occasional RPGer, and the worlds most casual and controller smashing video gamer. He currently works in the exciting world of publishing and yes, it is as glamorous as it sounds.
First off, I want to say that I actually liked this book. I really did. It's just that as I was reading it, I couldn't shake the feeling that it could have been better. While I liked the first book DEAD TO ME, I didn't love it ... which is something I really wanted to do, so I was hoping for big things from this second book. I won't get too much into the plot here, because others have already done that. But I will touch on a couple of things.
The author has created a great main character in Simon. He's definitely likeable enough and mostly fun to hang with. The problem I have with him is that he comes across more like a teenaged boy than he does an adult male in his mid to late twenties - which he is supposed to be. Because of this, the book reads more like a Young Adult fantasy novel than something for more mature readers.
If the focus had been more on Simon and his work directly, I might have felt differently. But instead a lot of time was spent on Simon's relationship with his girlfriend, Jane, who now works for the same organization that Simon does. I seriously could have done without all of the relationship drama. Especially since it's still somewhat difficult for me to view Jane as anything more than a paranormally talented "Bimbo" who gives blondes a bad name (which is pretty much how she came across to me in the first book. Still, I'd be wrong not to admit that her character is *much* improved in this follow-up, and I actually found her somewhat tolerable.).
My only other main issue with the book was the character of "Mina." I'm not even going to get too much into her role because I just found it tiresome. The way Simon handles the situation with her is simply ridiculous, and serves more to weaken his character than enhance the story itself.... Hopefully, we won't be seeing her again.
Despite this, there's a lot of good stuff here too. For starters, Simon's partner and mentor, Connor! He's just great. Love him. His big-brotherly relationship with Simon is a joy to read and the two play well off of each other. In fact, from the way things end, it looks like in the next book we'll finally get to find out more about him. Can't wait.
I also really *really* love me some Godfrey Candella! He plays a nerdy archivist that works in Simon's organization. Guys like Simon and Connor really need a "Godfrey" on their team. He's a great addition and I will think *really* bad thoughts about Anton Strout if he doesn't incorporate even more of him in future books. Lots of development potential here.
Strout's got a good story and a great cast of characters here. He's built a really funny, interesting and entertaining world and I definitely want to hang with Simon & Co. again. Overall, I found this to be a good, fun read ... just leaves a bit of room for improvement.
Simon Canderous returns in Deader Still, the sequel to Dead to Me. Who would have thought that working for the Department of Extraordinary Affairs involved so much red tape. Simon is lucky he is still able to use his psychometry after he gets done with the paperwork involved with closing a case. When Simon and Connor are called to investigate a boat cruise in the harbor, Simon will get a chance to make himself shine. He will be able to use his brand-spanking-new abilities from the F.O.Ggies when he discovers what may be vampires in New York City. However, will he be able to give orders to his mentor, Connor?
I give Deader Still 5 tombstones. I love this series! It has a little bit of everything for the paranormal junkie. Simon is impulsive and reckless, and I am almost always amazed that he gets out of scrapes without being seriously maimed and injured. Anton Strout does a fantastic job of further developing his characters in book two. Jane, the ex-cultist, is developed further in this book since she is Simon's girlfriend. It is intriguing to watch her as she struggles with the "darker" side of herself. However, it does seem to come in handy when Jane has to do some dirty fighting. We do not get to see much of Simon's partner, Connor, in this book, but it allows for further development of other characters that were briefly introduced previously.
Deader Still is unique from a lot of the urban fantasy genre. It pokes fun at the bureaucratic red tape of the government; for example, how many forms Simon has to fill out from Supply and how long will it take to get the item once it has been requested.... Since book two ends in a sort of cliff hanger, I look forward to the third book and seriously hope that the publishing company changes its mind and readers do not have to wait another year before it comes out. But then again, good things come to those who wait. This is a fantastic series, and I think it has a lot of promise. Just be sure that if you are going to read this book, that you have read Dead to Me first. I highly recommend that you go and get both books!
Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by VirginiaRead more ›
Deader Still is the sequel to Dead to Me, which, in true "I never know what the publishers will send me next" style, I haven't read. There's enough direct follow-on from Dead to Me that I think I would have enjoyed Deader Still much more if I'd read the previous book first.
Simon Canderous is an interesting character, both reluctant good guy and emotionally-stunted ordinary Joe. His psychometric abilities are the one thing setting him apart, and he'd just as soon be rid of them.
Some of the side characters definitely held my interest (Simon's partner, his mentor, and an archivist named Godfrey). Others, however, seemed a tad shallow (Simon's girlfriend and her boss, in particular), although I suspect having read the other book first might have eased that. In particular, Jane's affinity for Technomancy seems relatively random and doesn't go much of anywhere.
The climactic battle scene is clever, well-paced, and attention-grabbing, and I definitely enjoyed it. Again, however, I feel that the lack of having read the previous book left the bad guy seeming rather... random.
These days, because so many genre books are parts of series, most authors carefully write them to stand alone. This is a pretty good idea, because it means that if you happen to pick up a random book in the series and you enjoy it, you might go back to the beginning and get sucked into the whole thing. If the books don't stand alone, it's harder to pick up new fans after later books come out.
Because of this, I rarely have difficulty reviewing books from the middle of a series I haven't read before. Deader Still has proven one of the rare occasions when I definitely felt that I was missing whole angles and levels of characters because of having missed out on the previous book.... So if you find the series pretense appealing, I highly recommend starting with the beginning.Read more ›
