Four Summoner's Tales

Joe Ledger #4.3 - Alive Day

by Kelley Armstrong, Christopher Golden, David Liss

Four terror-inducing novellas from acclaimed bestselling authors Kelley Armstrong, David Liss, Christopher Golden, and Jonathan Maberry beginning with the premise: “A stranger comes to town, offering to raise the townsfolk’s dearly departed from the dead—for a price.”

In Kelley Armstrong’s “Suffer the Children,” an acute diphtheria outbreak kills most of the children in an isolated village in nineteen-century Ontario. Then a stranger arrives and offers to bring the children back to life. He wants money, of course, an extravagant sum, but more importantly, but for each child resurrected, one villager must voluntarily offer his life...

In David Liss’s “A Bad Season for Necromancy,” a con man on the margins of eighteenth-century British society discovers a book that reveals the method for bringing the dead back to life. After considering just how far he would go to avoid bringing his violent father back, he realizes the real value of this book. Instead of getting people to pay him to revive their departed, he will get people to pay him not to...

In “Pipers” by Christopher Golden, the Texas Border Volunteers wage a private war against drug smuggling by Mexican cartels in a modern-day South Texas town, complete with an indestructible army of the risen dead...

In “Alive Day” by Jonathan Maberry, a US Army sergeant must dive into the underworld of modern-day Afghanistan to try and barter for the release of his team, never dreaming of the horrors that await him...

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Short Stories, Fiction

321 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2013

About the author

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of four Monkey's Paw theme inspired novellas. The Kelley Armstrong is quite good; most of the other works of hers that I've read have left me thinking that I needed to read several other volumes to appreciate all of what I was currently engaging, but for this one I just appreciated memories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. The David Liss was my least favorite of the four; there were no likeable characters, some really unpleasant situations (and I have a pretty strong stomach), and no redeeming conclusions. Christopher Golden has long been one of my favorite authors, but his Weird Western zombie tale here struck me as a little flat. He didn't capture the rural Western flavor somehow; I was aware throughout that a well-educated and cultured New England gentleman was writing the story. It's not a bad story, but just a bit off. My favorite was Maberry's Joe Ledger tale, which was just like and just as good as the many other Joe Ledger stories I've read. Altogether a nice book; three out of four ain't bad.

[Bryce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four novellas that all base their plot around raising someone from the dead. Unexpectedly, all four stories are a little dark, a little gruesome. I've read books by Kelley Armstrong and David Liss before and they're the reason I picked up this book. But one of the best aspects of reading these types of compilations is the chance to discover new authors, without committing to a full-length novel.

On to individual reviews:

Suffer the Children
In a 19th century village, all the children have been tragically struck down by cases of diphtheria. Strangers enter the village with an intriguing promise to raise them back from the dead.

As I know Kelley Armstrong from her Women of the Otherworld series -- good but fluffy supernatural romance -- I was incredibly surprised and impressed by this story. She's a fine writer, but no one I took too seriously. There's no fluff here... only blood and steel and darkness.

Piper
The citizens of a small Texas border town are attacked by a Mexican drug lord, leaving many loved ones dead. A man promises to bring them back, but there's a price...

This struck me as a little racist, with the drug lord and his gang being the pictures of absolute evil. He sends men to slaughter a town without any provocation, he dismembers a teenage girl and enjoys it... he is the gold-chain-wearing, cackling cholo of pure evil.

The story itself felt flat. While it was unsettling as I read it, none of the details or impact stuck with me.

A Bad Day for Necromancy
David Liss does a phenomenal job at historic fiction, and even this supernatural-infused look at 17th century England is full of wonderful detail. This story has more of humorous edge then the other three, although it is dark humor. Easily my favorite story in the collection.

Alive Day
Jonathan Maberry uses characters from his long-running series in this novella, although it's not necessary to have read one to enjoy the other. His story focuses on a group of special ops soldiers trapped in Afghanistan with a long-forgotten pre-Christian demon. To me, the story read like any other modern war book... there just happened to be a supernatural element thrown in. There's a lot of description of military helicopters and weaponry, a lot of acronyms, a lot of talk of brotherly bonds formed in the heat of combat. Not my cup of tea at all.

[Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what I've finished so far...


“Pipers” by Christopher Golden
Oh my, this just super grade A creepy! Though you get at a closer look at what is really going on with the Mexican Cartels, and the people that it immediately affects.

David Liss’s “A Bad Season for Necromancy,”
Oh wow! Wow, wow, wow, wow! Where the hell do I start? This story is amazing!
There is so much to learn from this, and now I'm going to go find more of this writer's work now.

“Alive Day” by Jonathan Maberry
Holy freaking crap! I'm definitely going to have my hubby read this one. Not many know that he's a veteran that went to Afghanistan. He told me quite a few odd stories when he got back, and I swear to the gods that when I read this I just about pissed myself when the similarities were so close.
Also I would like to know if this unit DMS is for real or merely fictitious?

"Suffer the Children" by Kelley Armstrong
This bit of irony seemed to measure up to what I usually expect out of her work.

[AH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four strong stories from four great writers.

I was initially attracted to Four Summoner’s Tales because Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorite authors. I loved Ms. Armstrong’s urban fantasy series and I always look forward to new books and stories by her. I’ve also read Jonathan Maberry’s young adult zombie series and enjoyed that immensely. So Armstrong and Maberry = Win for me.

If the opportunity to reanimate a recently deceased loved one presented itself, what would you do? And at what cost? This is the theme of Four Summoner’s Tales. I think that what I liked most about this anthology was each author’s very different take on the theme.

Suffer the Children by Kelley Armstrong
A small remote town in northern Ontario lost most of its young and aged population from a diphtheria outbreak. The town is offered a chance to resurrect the recently dead children at a huge cost. I loved Preacher and Addie who acted as the town’s conscience. This is a dark story with a little twist.

Pipers by Christopher Golden
Christopher Golden is a new to me author and from the quality of this story, I will be sure to look up some of his books. I really enjoyed this story about a father’s love for his young teen-aged daughter Savannah. The story ripped my heart out and I really felt the Zeke’s pain, as well as the grief of his small, border town that has been tormented by a Mexican drug cartel. This is quite a dark and brutal story.

The Good Natured Man by David Liss
If you like the historical “romances” complete with rakes and other villains, then this may be the story for you. The Good Natured Man takes place in 18th century London and is the story of a young man with a questionable background who wishes to marry a rich widow. He takes a journal from his father and learns a spell to reanimate the dead. What follows is bribery, trickery, betrayal, death, and general mayhem. This was an enjoyable story and it really touches upon the consequences of changing fate. Well done.

Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry
I really must read some of Jonathan Maberry’s adult books. Rot & Ruin is a family favorite in my home and now that I’ve read this short story I really want to read more of his Joe Ledger series now.

This was probably my favorite story of the anthology. A black ops team is fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and they come across something strange and deadly. I liked how this story took from the Lilith mythology of the region and expanded on those demons. It was definitely a very creepy and bloody story.

All in all, four strong stories by four exceptional writers. Four Summoner’s Tales was an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Gallery Books for a review copy of this book.

Review posted on Badass Book Reviews.

[Liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review below is solely based on having read Kelley Armstrong's Suffer the Children in this anthology.

Frankly, I didn't know the other three authors and I really wanted to read this book because of Ms. Armstrong. So there you go, that was my confession upfront.

In Suffer the Children, we were treated to a story unfolding in a remote town somewhere near Toronto (Canada, I assumed), the people had an epidemic of diphtheria and 36 people had died of this disease, most of whom were children. When two strangers rode into town, claiming to have the ability to raise the dead, Benjamin (the Preacher of the town) objected vehemently but was rejected by the town's other council members they all were grieving lost loved ones and these strangers had given them hope.

Nothing was easy and was never as it appeared. Raising the dead had a terrible price and these townsfolks had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they signed up to this.

Ms. Armstrong never ceased to amaze me with her writing. Despite the short length of the story, she managed to pack a tale that held me to the edge of my seat and write various different characters with such vivid and distinct personalities. It really showed the depth of human's values and conscience when faced with an impossibility (i.e. the resurrection of a loved one) through that person's reactions and behaviours. Some people held their beliefs firm while others faltered under hope and external influence.

It was truly a sad story and it had no happy ending for everyone that was involved - well, perhaps the only person that was "happy" in the end would be the villain!

I'd give this story 4 stars.

[Ashley (gotbookcitement) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this! This was a strong anthology. I liked all of the stories. I think it was cool how they all created a story based on the same premise, and how that same premise can go in so many different directions. I also liked how it was four novellas, how I got a more fleshed out story than a short story would have given me. This was great. My favorite story was probably Kelley Armstrong's story, it was suuuuper dark. This was a win for me.

Story #1: Suffer the Children by Kelley Armstrong -- 4.5/5 -- Really good. Really dark. My favorite of the anthology.
Story #2: Pipers by Christopher Golden -- 4/5 -- I enjoyed this one a lot too. It focused on a tragedy, grief, and revenge.
Story #3: A Bad Season For Necromancy by David Liss -- 4/5 -- This one was a little slow at first, took a little longer for me to get into, but I did like it. I liked how our main character was a charlatan and a rogue doing things to make a buck. I liked how it twisted the premise a little.
Story #4: Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry -- 3.5/5 -- This was probably my least favorite of the anthology, but I still liked it. This takes the already established character Joe Ledger who is member of a super secret, super tough, military unit. So this story was very military, which I don't really read a lot of. Although, I have read the first book in the Joe Ledger series, and I do enjoy it and plan to read more of it. I feel like this one felt the most loose with the premise, if that makes sense. It was about a mission in Afghanistan involving tips of a biological pathogen, but turns into something much different, much darker. I did like it.

Overall, this Anthology is a win. It was a really fun read.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

[Skuli Saeland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fínustu nóvellur sem fjalla um áhrif uppvakninga á sína nánustu. Ef þú missir ástkæran vin eða fjölskyldumeðlim, hvað ertu reiðubúinn að ganga langt til að ná honum aftur til lífs? 4 höfundar spyrja þessarar spurningar og svörin eru fæst á jákvæðum nótum. Heillandi nöturleg lesning.

[Bookmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tales by 4 authors with one theme: Raising the dead. Ah, but what’s the price and what exactly will be raised? I read this as an eBook ARC, but each story appears to be 80-90 printed pages long, giving enough world and character building, emotion and a sense of horror (for one reason or another) that you won’t feel like you’ve been short-changed.

I read this because of Kelley Armstrong and am new to the other authors. I found that I enjoyed all of the stories and am looking forward to checking out books by the other three authors. I believe the first 3 are stand-alone stories. The last one by Jonathan Maberry is part of his Joe Ledger series, although you don’t have to be familiar with those books to get into this one. I’ve read plenty of Urban Fantasy, and books containing necromancy, but these stories felt a lot creepier than the other things I’ve read.

Suffer the Children by Kelley Armstrong is set in the past in a small wilderness town in Canada. Over 1/3 of the population was just wiped out by diphtheria; a great many of them children. Two men walk into town; speaking to just the town council they offer to help by raising any that passed in the last 4 days. But after luring them in with hope, tell them just a portion of the real price.

Part of the story is told thru the eyes of a wild 12 year-old girl who finally learns what love of family means. This story felt the most horrific in terms of what people are willing to do.

Pipers by Christopher Golden is set in Lansdale, TX along the Mexican border and is told through the eyes of Zeke. His daughter, along with 22 other people, is gunned down at a town celebration by the Matamoros cartel in retaliation for the disruption of their drug trafficking operation. Months later a man shows up offering to return their loved ones to them, but it’s an all or nothing proposition and getting vengeance is part of the package.

What we get out of this story is the heavy emphasis on morality that not only is Zeke struggling with, but most of the other people involved. But once started they can’t back out. The results take a surprising turn. This story hit my emotions the hardest.

A Bad Season for Necromancy by David Liss is set in England in the early 1700s as we follow an acknowledged rogue and scam artist conning his way into the ton in order to snag a rich bride. He comes across a book telling him how to raise the dead and in a fit of anger, uses it to hurt someone.

I loved the writing style of this author that gave a humorous slant to a number of things even though it was said in a straight way; reminded me of the way comedian Bob Newhart tells a story. And I was surprised to find that I not only liked the scoundrel but was rooting him on.

Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry is part of the Joe Ledger series. Echo Team is sent into Afghanistan to back-up Snake Team who is trying to take out the Taliban’s drug trade. But Snake Team ran into trouble with an old spirit and a bargain is made to save the leader’s team.

This one is obviously military-based and is probably the most horrific in terms of what each of the men face, and unless you witness it, no one is going to believe you. Chilling.

[All Things Urban Fantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review Courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

SUFFER THE CHILDREN by Kelley Armstrong

This story is heartbreaking and tragic as it demonstrates just how far a town of people are willing to go to save their children. It was shocking how gruesome the story became when the price for raising the townsfolks’ loved ones was. While this story was filled with darkness and blood it had a bittersweet ending for Addie and her foster mother.



A BAD SEASON FOR NECROMANCY by David Liss

Set in 18th century England we follow a scam artist who gets his hands on a book that teaches him how to raise the dead. What follows is a long string of death, reanimation followed by more death, betrayal, and mayhem. I enjoyed the writing style and dark humor in this story.



PIPERS by Christopher Golden

PIPERS was really gruesome with the dead being used as revenge. Like SUFFER THE CHILDREN, PIPERS was about the length a father would go to see his child again even though the consequences of reanimation bring up serious issues of morality. I enjoyed the mix of zombies with Mexican drug cartels; two things I never think to put together and it ends up as horrifyingly blood as a zombie vs drug cartel battle would end. I also liked the little twist at the end which didn’t see coming.



ALIVE DAY by Jonathan Maberry

I am not a huge fan of military fiction even ones with zombies so I didn’t fully enjoy this story. It is set in the Joe Ledger series by Maberry and mixes the occult with military warfare in Afghanistan. It is spooky and has a ton of action. The writing was decent and the plot was intriguing but I probably would have liked it better if it were a different setting without all of the military terminology and lingo.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four short stories of horror revolving around the basic plot of someone offering to raise the dead...for a price.

Series:
“Alive Day” (Joe Ledger - 06.5)

My Take
All four were horrorific in varying degrees. And all four were well written as complete stories with backgrounds and developed characters.

The Stories
Kelley Armstrong’s “Suffer the Children” is a nasty bit of complex betrayal in a small village outside Ontario in the nineteenth century, and I cried so at the end.

Christopher Golden’s “Pipers” was the most depressing as events fall apart around the townsfolk. People who mostly hoped to bring back their loved ones, but were pushed and blackmailed into continuing with a deadly plan.

David Liss’s “A Bad Season for Necromancy” was my least favorite as the “hero” was such a weak man who preyed on others for his own advancement. Although Liss did provide for this aspect of Reginald/January with the effects of being revived.

Jonathan Maberry’s “Alive Day” is the most horrific, partially because Maberry leaves so much to my confused imagination, and partially because he was so brilliant in pulling me into the terror of what happened to Finn in Afghanistan.

The Cover
The cover is actually not so scary with its behatted man in a leather coat, his back to us as he stands in the rain in the middle of a cemetery.

The title is short and to the point, for these are Four Summoner’s Tales. Hope they never summon you!

[Lorena · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a 50/50 split between good stories and bad in this collection. The stories by Kelley Armstrong and David Liss are intriguing and atmospheric. I particularly liked the way Liss flipped the concept of the Summoner from one who summons back the dearly departed to one who threatens to summon those whose passing was more cause for celebration than anything else. The other two stories are less successful. Christopher Golden's "Pipers" never seems to really go anywhere but round in circles (which was maybe the point, but it wasn't a particularly rewarding ride to get there). Mayberry's "Alive Day" seems to feature a recurring character from his series. I've never read the books in question, and I'm not likely to after reading this short story. They seem to be about a black-ops group that is so black-ops that other black-ops don't even know about them, but they are all super tough and manly and do more for their country before breakfast than you do in your whole life, if by "do more" you mean "kill a bunch of people because that is what is necessary and YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH," which is not exactly my thing in fiction. A fan of that genre might enjoy it more.

[Rizwan Khalil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read the novella Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry starring my favorite badass Joe Ledger and his Echo Team. But this is really unlike Ledger's usual bombastic action-packed suspense thriller novels with some paranormal elements thrown in, as this is a basically straight up creepy supernatural horror story without any trademark Ledger-badassery, having Ledger-Top-Bunny going out of their minds in trying to make sense of everything unsensable happening around them. DMS's Echo Team was in a remote Afghanistan area searching for Rattlesnake Team who came here for Taliban drug smugglers and bioweapons and then went missing for ten days. But instead of bioweapons and Taliban bad guys and their missing people all they keep finding are dead guys and blood everywhere and mysterious stolen artifacts and one VERY creepy scary dark cave of ancient... demons. Yeah. Lilitu. For the first time in their super dangerous lives, Ledger-Top-Bunny are hopelessly outmatched. And hopelessly scared. A bit too long, but damn it was fun seeing three of the toughest of the tough guys almost crapping their pants in sheer terror! 9/10

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four authors were given this premise: “A stranger comes to town, offering to raise the townsfolk’s dearly departed from the dead—for a price.” The stories that emerged caution you to be careful what you wish for, because the price might be higher than you can pay.

The stories:

Kelley Armstrong; “Suffer the Children.”
David Liss; “A Bad Season for Necromancy.”
Christopher Golden; “Pipers.”
Jonathan Maberyy; “Alive Day.”

Ranging from lost children to lost soldiers, innocent victims and more questionable dead, the stories are eerie and chilling, and sometimes sad. Grief can make people do terrible things, and somewhere out there are people willing to capitalize on that grief and use it towards their own ends.

Would you make a bargain, or accept your loss?

[Rachel-RN · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is about Kelley Armstrong's "Suffer the Children" only. I picked this up just for her story.
I liked the idea behind the novella (each author had to write a story based on this: "A strange visitor comes to town, offering to raise the townsfolk's dearly departed from the dead- for a price..."). Story is in 3rd person throughout, but there are segments told through Addie, Preacher (Benjamin), and Browning's point-of-view. I enjoyed that because it let me understand things from that particular point of view. I think this is unlike anything she has ever written. Very dark, wonderfully so.
(Maybe not the best thing to read on Christmas morning, but oh well to that!)

[Shelley]

*Recvd via Edelweiss 05/10/2013* Expected publication: September 17th 2013 by Gallery Books

[Ramesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death is just the beginning...

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

All good, solid stories, but I think I enjoyed the first most of all.
Kelley Armstrong's tale really made me live in her world.
And, of course, the Joe Ledger tale is awesome.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally picked this novel up for Alive Day by Jonathan Maberry as I love his novels. This novella features Joe Ledger and Echo Team, who work for the DMS (a military organization). They are looking for a missing team, code named Rattlesnake, that went missing in Afghanistan. This novella wasn’t as good as his full length Joe Ledger novels or most of his short stories. I still loved it as there was plenty of action and suspense with amazing characters. However, I found the ending a little too vague and there was too much supernatural elements to it whereas most of his novels/stories are more science based.

Suffer the Children by Kelley Armstrong follows a 19th century Canadian town preparing for a mass funeral. Numerous children have died from diphtheria and the town is grieving. When the residents are given a chance to bring their children back they jump at the chance. I had a hard time getting into the novella as I found the beginning a little slow but the conclusion definitely made up for it. By the end I couldn’t finish the novel quick enough. I loved the ending.

Piper by Christopher Golden takes place in a Texan border town. The beginning was the best part and the novella lost steam as it progressed. I found it a little boring as there wasn’t a lot of action and instead focused on the MC’s grief and motivations. I understand some character development was needed but this novella was bogged down with it. I didn’t like the stereotypes in this novel, the villains were evil and racist. I kept expecting for a huge twist to occur, where the Mexican drug lord wasn’t that bad and Ezekiel was really a drug lord and wanted to eliminate his competition.. or something like that. Instead we got a bad ending that missed out on an amazing battle and was confusing.

A Bad Day for Necromancy by David Liss. I could not get into this story and after 10 pages I gave up. I have better novels to enjoy.

[Nicole Monachino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I initially bought this book because Kelley Armstrong is one of my top three favourite authors. After reading her novella, which was darker than most of her other books and short stories, I was completely hooked on the premise of this collection.

I felt that "Pipers" had a heart wrenching and unique approach to the premise, however the ending felt rushed and somewhat unsatisfying.

When I started reading David Liss' novella, I was initially skeptical that I would enjoy his story. However it quickly grabbed me and I was unable to put it down. I especially loved his twist on the agreed parameters of the novella.

"Alive Day" is a total mind trip that I am still reeling from. I replay the story in my head over and over and it gives me chills. Maberry used one of his recurring characters for this story and after reading it I am seriously considering hunting down his other books.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Suffer the Children” - Armstrong
3/5 ⭐️. Had some really interesting bits. I enjoyed Browning’s POV most.

“Pipers” - Golden
4/5⭐️. This short story had me asking “wtf is going on?!” out loud to myself. The ending was a little confusing but the story was definitely intriguing nonetheless.

“A Bad Season For Necromancy” - Liss
1/5⭐️. Hated what I read. I even tried restarting it the next day to have a fresh start but I couldn’t focus or care. I started skimming and skipping around, but overall it was a DNF.

“Alive Day” - Maberry
3/5⭐️. Parts were fascinating (I love old lore, legends, monsters) but I was a little confused as to what was really going on and what the bargain truly was. The title of the story is dull and doesn’t really go with the story I don’t think.

I’d give the whole book a 3/5 ⭐️.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 short stories. The criteria for a "short" story is what? This reader has read short stories that have been exciting and profound. This little stories have a hell of a punch. This collection is just that. Kelly Armstrongs' first story is just so good. Touches so many bases on "what would you do" memes. Jonathan Maberry story is a dive into the world of John Ledgers and for those familiar with this character you will find it light but still compelling. Nice stories and by some very good authors. Later. Keep Reading.

[Storm]

Placeholder - TBR

Four terror-inducing novellas beginning with the premise: “A stranger comes to town, offering to raise the townsfolk’s dearly departed from the dead—for a price.”

Suffer the Children - Kelley Armstrong - ⭐

A Bad Season for Necromancy - David Liss - ⭐

Pipers - Christopher Golden - ⭐

Alive Day - Joe Ledger 4.3 - Jonathan Maberry - ⭐

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. First story was great, second story started out well but petered out to nothing, I couldn't get through the third story due to the writing and the fourth story was meh. I'd say read the first and skip the rest.

[Thad Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book because of the story by Kelley Armstrong. It turned out I had already read that story. It was still a good purchase. Two of the other stories were excellent. The last story was a bit of a letdown.

[Panos Panagiotidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stories

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moral of these tales - be careful what you wish for.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent idea - four novellas, each written based on a single idea, exploring the horror of returning from the dead. How novel!

[Debbi Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book for a while before I finally read it. I should have read it sooner! Great read

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down. Purchased mainly for the Joe Ledger novella but also enjoyed the other novellas particularly A Bad Season for Necromancy by David Liss.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 mediocre tales of raising the dead and an okay Joe Ledger story