Review: A brilliantly creative, humourous and enjoyable follow-up to "Forever After"!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 29, 2013
This is the sequel to David Jesters other book in this series "Forever After". Ever since reading that, I've been waiting for this one, and picked it up as soon as I saw it! The story gets going immediately, it grabs you and pulls you right in. If possible, this one is even better than the first. This time there is a series of violent murders happening in the poverty-stricken town of Brittleside, the victims of which are picked up by Michael (who collects their souls). The gory crime scene descriptions are morbidly fascinating, and all add to the intrigue and excitement of the plot. It is a very creative, engaging, well-written and thoroughly readable and enjoyable story, as is the first one. I found myself continuing to read on (when I had other things to attend to!). You'll find it very hard to put down.The identity of the serial killer turns out to be a very sinister and intriguing surprise. He has a very unique quality that makes him a very slippery customer - very difficult to capture, in order to stop his reign of terror. He's had a lot of practice at what he does..I find Michael to be a very engaging character, and the dark, dry humour infused throughout is hilarious, there are so many laugh-out-loud moments in this. But it is also quite profound in other ways, and very thought-provoking too. I like the grittiness of it, and the cynical descriptions of the darker, seedier side of life - but I also find aspects of it to be quite warm and sensitive. Michael is unhappy with his lot (as a grim reaper), and that is so relatable because most people probably have at least some idea of what it's like to be unhappy in your work, and discontented in your life in general. In his case, the problem is much greater and his predicament far more serious, as he is in a permanent state of limbo. You do feel a great deal of sympathy for him.His flatmate Chip, the aka the Tooth Fairy, is as seedy and unwashed as always.. a very amusing character indeed!! Ideally you would read "Forever After" first, but it's not essential, as this is also highly enjoyable as a stand-alone story. As with the first one, this is a brilliantly imaginative and professionally written & presented book of the highest quality from a "real" author!I feel the same as the first reviewer - David Jester is a very talented author, one of my favourites, and I will be collecting all other books written by him!!