Never Dead Enough

The Dead Among Us #3

by J.L. Doty

Creepy Serial Killer Guy (SKG) has relocated from Dallas to San Francisco so he can hunt down Paul and Katherine. The demon in his soul can't rest until it possesses Paul. But in Dallas, Paul and Katherine badly weakened it. So SKG's master needs to gain strength before attempting to take them. He prowls the streets of San Francisco and the Bay Area looking for more Alices.


While creepy SKG hunts Alices, Vasily Karpov conspires with Ag, King of the Unseelie Court. If they can bring over a monstrous legend from the past, even if it doesn't kill Paul, they hope to blame him for the damage and destruction, and discredit him with the senior practitioners.


Paul is haunted by thoughts of a powerful rune sword. Anogh, the newly restored Summer Knight, keeps interfering in Paul's life. Sabreatha, the black fey assassin who tried to kill Paul with the heart arrow, les flèche du coeur, takes an interest in Paul and Katherine. And of course, the Summer Queen and her High Chancellor, Magreth and Cadilus, keep messing in Paul and Katherine's lives.

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2017

About the author

Jim is a full-time SF&F writer, scientist and laser geek (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, specialty laser physics), and former running-dog-lackey for the bourgeois capitalist establishment. He's been writing for over 30 years, with 15 published books. His first success came through self-publishing when his books went word-of-mouth viral, and sold enough that he was able to quit his day-job, start working for himself and write full time--his new boss is a real jerk. That led to contracts with traditional publishers like Open Road Media and Harper Collins Voyager, and his books are now a mix of traditional and self-published.

The four novels in his new hard science fiction series, The Blacksword Regiment, are scheduled for release in July 2020. Right now he’s fleshing out ideas for the next book in The Dead Among Us, he’s writing another episode in The Treasons Cycle, and he’s working on a new fantasy series The Deck of Chaos.

Jim was born in Seattle, but he's lived most of his life in California, though he did live on the east coast and in Europe for a while. He now resides in Arizona with his wife Karen and three little beings who claim to be cats: Tilda, Julia and Natasha. But Jim is certain they're really extra-terrestrial aliens in disguise.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book in The Dead Among Us series, I really enjoyed the first two and they're great reads for paranormal fantasy fans. The third book begins with a demon possessed serial killer headed to San Francisco to hunt down Paul and Katherine. Before it can take on two powerful practitioners, it needs to regain its strength by hunting down its favorite prey, young women.

The two Faerie courts are more threatened by Paul than ever, and they each form their own plan to weaken him. Their attempts to separate Paul from Katherine seem to be working, and she's more distrustful of him than ever. Without Katherine by his side, Paul may not be able to fight all the forces arrayed against him.

I've really enjoyed this series so far. This type of paranormal fantasy, with a magic user that resides in our otherwise normal world, is not my usual read but I liked this author's version of it. He's sold me on his concept of faeries and other fantasy creatures walking unseen on the mortal plane. The writing is descriptive but straightforward, and has plenty of amusing moments to lighten up poor Paul's situation. I always prefer books with multiple points of view, it really keeps things moving, and I genuinely enjoy being in the heads of these characters.

J.L. Doty is both author and narrator for this book, and did a great job with the separate voices for the characters. I thought it was a good performance. I requested a copy of the audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.