Review: Defending the Dead
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 9, 2013
In theory, Atticus for the Undead is an urban fantasy novel... but it's also a legal thriller, a civil rights parable and so many other things. The story follows Hunter Gamble, a lawyer in an alternate present in which "arcanes" (zombies, werewolves etc.) coexist - successfully and unsuccessfully - with humans.On the surface, it's a fast-paced courtroom drama about a defence team doing its best to get a zombie acquitted for murder. Sam Pollard (the zombie in question) was heard arguing with his ex-girlfriend, who was found, sans-brains, shortly afterwards. Hunter Gamble agrees to take on his case, and finds himself up against far-right anti-undead vigilantes, a DA trying to get himself elected to congress, and a biased judge.However, the story also has striking similarities with many Jim Crow era cases, with the undead serving as a metaphor for the victims of racial discrimination, and Texas serving as a metaphor for... well... Texas (some things never change).Atticus for the Undead also has the biggest surprise twist in the end that I've read this year. I won't spoil it for you, but: wowsers, I did NOT see that coming. Right when you think you've got everything figured out, it all gets turned upside down... Serving, not incidentally, as an excellent cliff-hanger for the next book in the series (which I will definitely be reading).If I have one small gripe, it's that I would have liked the book to be longer. It's a pretty short read (I got through it in an evening), and I would have loved more of the trial back-and-forth. It also has the occasional sappy moment, which may get a bit much if you're a repressed, British cynic like me, but on the whole I enjoyed it immensely. I'm downloading "Identity Theft" as I write this.Standard disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book for review.