Hold Me Closer, Necromancer [Kindle Edition]

Lish McBride (Author)

Book Description

Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.

Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.  

With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—This sometimes goofy, sometimes gory debut novel introduces Sam, a fast-food employee in Seattle who has grown up unaware of his ability to raise the dead. After a bizarre encounter with a customer, he gets a beating from a stranger, and his coworker shows up missing her body below the neck (a misfortune that does not affect her positive attitude). It seems that Douglas, an evil local necromancer, has become aware of Sam's powers and views him as a threat. With the help of his friends—and a very attractive werewolf girl—Sam must try to tap into his necromancing abilities to beat Douglas at his own game. Some of the jokes, like the punning chapter titles that quote song lyrics from the likes of the Eurythmics,'70s-era Paul Simon, and Timbuk 3, may be lost on many of today's teens. However, for fans of horror-humor hybrids like the film Shaun of the Dead, this book may hold some appeal.—Hayden Bass, Seattle Public Library, WA
(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Sam has dropped out of college and is stalled in a fast-food job in Seattle. Interrupting the boredom of days waiting on Plumpy customers and evenings watching old movies with his friends, a scary guy named Douglas enters Sam’s world. After a few pithy verbal threats, Douglas has Sam beaten and mauled by a sidekick—and later delivers teen Brooke’s pretty blond head to Sam’s door. The good news is that Brooke seems to be in no pain and is as sassy as ever. The bad news, as Sam finds out in short order, is that Douglas is a necromancer and has identified Sam, who hasn’t a clue what his strengths are, as a rival. Before the week is out, Sam finds himself in a cellar, caged with another pretty girl, who is part werewolf, part fairy. And then there’s Ashley, the parochial-school-uniformed 10-year-old who can orchestrate salvation for Sam by using her Blackberry and brains. With fine writing, tight plotting, a unique and uniquely odd cast of teens, adults, and children, and a pace that smashes through any curtain of disbelief, this sardonic and outrageous story’s only problem is that it must, like all good things, come to an end. Grades 9-12. --Francisca Goldsmith

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 391 KB
• Print Length: 352 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0805090983
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); Reprint edition (October 12, 2010)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003P8Q5L2
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,996 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun paranormal comedy September 1, 2010

By S. Power TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Hold Me Closer Necromancer follows Sam as he finds out that he has the power to speak to and raise the dead and his battle with another Necromancer that wants him taken care of. The story starts with Sam and his friends working at a fast food restaurant (and behaving like typical teenagers) when they run into Douglass a necromancer who is not happy to find that he has competition. Sam then goes on a mission to find out what his powers are and ends up locked in Douglass' basement with a cute werewolf.

The story is fast paced and fun with characters that you would want to be friends with. The author does a great job infusing humor into the paranormal element and it's a welcome change from the super romantic paranormals that have flooded the YA market.

Appropriateness: This is a book that will speak to teenage boys (and girls) and has many gross out gags that will speak to that audience. There is a great romance but it is not the focus of the book and one sex scene that is very tame.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Dark & HILARIOUS! October 12, 2010

By Julia VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Hold me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride is brilliantly witty, suspenseful and outright fun! Talk about a great debut novel. This book was absolutely magnificent...I was giggling on one page and on pins and needles with suspense on the next.

Our hero, Sam, is the average guy. He doesn't have much motivation and seems unbelievably apathetic towards the path his life has decided to take. The way he tells his story, it encourages the reader to sympathize with him- absolutely adorable. His life is trite, working at a fast food joint, barely making rent and living on his own with a couple good friends. But the real story begins when he's on break, and he shatters the tail light of the wrong car.

Sam finds himself thrown into a horrific world of necromancy and murder, if only he hadn't been playing potato hockey. Sam is running from one place to the next trying to figure out where his roots began, an explanation to the medicine bag he's worn around his neck since he was a small boy and a way to save his friends and family from a torturous death. The discoveries he unveils along his tragic adventure are fascinating.

You will be pleased to hear that there is a little bit of romance. Sam meets the most badass hybrid faerie/werewolf. She is strong, smart and knows how to keep her own in a fight. Their budding romance evolves rather quickly as they're both kidnapped by one creepy villain. They were inevitably compatible and I enjoyed their scenes together more than any other in the book... well, maybe not more than the talking head. I hope I get to see these two take it a step further in another book- LISH! PLEASE write another!

Read this book. Read it! McBride did a beautiful job with the plot and both the primary and supporting characters were complex and pragmatic. I am dieing to hang out with Sam and his buddies, to be introduced to his mom- a witch! Every Paranormal, Young Adult junkie should give this book the a shot.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not seamless February 17, 2011

By Traveling Life VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

It took me awhile to finish this book. Sam is a normal young man working in a fast food diner. Not a go-getter just a get-a-long type of guy. He used to be plagued by nightmares when he was young but his mother made him a gris-gris or medicine pouch which he keeps with him all the time and since he's been wearing it the nightmares have gone away. Sam forgets his pouch at home, the cord which kept it around his neck was broken, and that night at work a stranger approaches him and accuses him of not getting approval from the council for moving into the area.

The reason I gave this book only three stars is because of the introduction of Bridin. She's a werewolf--going to be the alpha one day--and she's captured by Douglas who happens to be he head of the Council. The author could have kept these two stories separate or brought in her character in context with Sam's --like she as his friend or something. We have two different things going on. Bridin is kept in a secret cage in Douglas' basement for his purpose of doing experiments with her werewolf and fey blood. This part of the story focuses on Bridin and her background (which has nothing to do with Sam or his background). Then suddenly, we're back to Sam's story. And forget Bridin for the next third of the book.

If you can handle jumping around like this--because I did forget all about her, like I forgot all about Sam while I was reading about Bridin--then you'll like this book.

It would be a good writing exercise to incorporate Bridin into Sam's life before she's captured and make that one of Sam's problems along with his figuring out what he is and how he's supposed to use these powers he had no idea he had.

More About the Author

Lish McBride was raised by wolves in the Pacific Northwest. It rains a lot there, but she likes it anyway. She spent three years away while she got her MFA in fiction from the University of New Orleans, and she liked that too, although the hurricane did leave much of her stuff underwater. Her main goal in going to college was to become a writer so she could wear pajamas pretty much all the time. She enjoys reading, movies, comics, and preparing herself for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Currently, Lish lives happily in Seattle where the weather never actually tries to kill you, with her family, two cats, and one very put-upon Chihuahua. She is slowly building her garden gnome army.