Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: The Dead
SERIES: Thaumaturge Series #1
AUTHOR: Cal Matthews
PUBLISHER: Self-pub
LENGTH: 227 pages
BLURB:
“She’s dead,” I said to him harshly, and he made a tiny, breathless noise. The old man put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and the girl gave another sob, her face crumpling like a tissue.
“But I can fix it,” I said, and smiled.
Ebron White has plenty of skeletons in his closet. Being gay in a remote ranching town is no picnic, but that’s nothing compared to Ebron’s biggest secret: he has the power to raise the dead. His life is complicated but so far he’s managing. He’s got a respectable business, an undead (though unreliable) boyfriend and most folks in his little rural community are willing to live and let live.
But a coven of witches showing up in town can only mean trouble. They’re entirely too interested in him and as the bodies pile up, Ebron is starting to realize that the dead are the least of his worries. It’s the live ones he has to survive.
REVIEW:
For a man who raises the dead and has a vampire boyfriend, Ebron White’s life is pretty routine. Sure, he occasionally stumbles across a dead body, but there really are not that many of them to be had in his little corner of Montana. Most of his days consist of pining for his (sorta-kinda) boyfriend, and running his herb shop. Not exactly something you would stop the presses for. And then the witches come to town and his life gets all kinds of interesting. The kind of interesting that Ebron, frankly, could have done without. But when you are the kind of guy that raises the dead, and the dead seem to be in unusual supply, there is not a lot that you can do about it.
I really loved the first two thirds of this book. The setting was great, the characters were all interesting, and I loved the whole raising the dead thing that Ebron has going on. Even the whole hot/cold thing that Ebron has with Leo (his vampire lover/best friend) was good. It wasn’t you typical relationship, and I find that is something I’m really in the mood for lately.
I liked how natural all the magical elements of this book felt. It felt like an extension of real life, and not an intrusion as it sometimes can be. Because Ebron really has no clue why or really how he does what he does, we are left a little in the dark about how magic functions in this world, but that too really worked. I think it would have dragged things down if it had long discussions about why certain things work the way they do. The lack of knowledge leaves us on an even footing with Ebron, and as we get to know these characters and this world more, I have a feeling we will learn right along with him.
The mystery of the witches worked well. I never quite knew who were the bad guys and who were the good guys (though there were certainly some characters that were pretty easy to slam black hats on). And Marcus’ half-truths and distrust, coupled with his lust for Ebron certainly made it all the more complex.
Oh, yes. Marcus. What ever shall I say about him?
Well, he certainly was well written. The complex is he/isn’t he was really well played out. I just really wish he had kept his mitts off of Ebron. Because, yes, Ebron is hot, but he is Leo’s. Sort of.
Which is actually one of my major issues with this book. Leo and Ebron have this ‘open relationship’ that has some pretty vague boundaries. I wish it could have been better defined, because the whole thing with Marcus really felt like cheating. No matter how many times Ebron (and Leo) say that he is free to sleep with anyone he chooses, I honestly felt like both of them really knew how it would feel. And that made the whole scene with Marcus kind of icky for me. I’m good with open relationships for characters, but I need better ground rules than was presented here, if I’m going to get over my issues with cheating.
From that moment on…I was just a little less connected to the story. Well, the willingly walking into an ambush (with no plan) didn’t exactly help matters, but Marcus presented a whole host of problems to me and it never felt really settled. It may be a bit more realistic about how relationships are, but it just didn’t work for me.
For the most part this is a very good story. The magical elements, as well as most of the personal relationships (be they of love, friendship, or community) really made this story come off the page. And since this is only book one in the series, I’m interested in seeing where this story is going. Especially with what is up with Leo.
RATING:
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