Отряд мертвых

The Dying Squad #1

by Adam Simcox, Александр Посецельский (Translator), Хорос Владимир Владимирович (Editor)

Когда детектив-инспектор Джо Лазарус устраивал засаду у фермы в Линкольншире, он думал, что накроет банду наркоторговцев. Но вместо этого детектив находит там следы бойни и… свой собственный труп. А еще духа-проводника – девушку по имени Дейзи-Мэй. Она здесь, чтобы завербовать его в "Отряд мертвых" – призрачную полицию, состоящую из недавно умерших. Вскоре Джо понимает: есть кое-что пострашнее смерти – Чистилище. И чтобы избежать вечного заточения среди полчища неприкаянных, он должен вернуться на Землю в новом теле и раскрыть собственное убийство. Но как, если его воспоминания о прошлой жизни быстро тускнеют и стираются? К тому же теперь опасность представляют не только живые, но и мертвые. В паре с Дейзи-Мей Джо должен найти своего убийцу прежде, чем умрет окончательно.


Меня зовут Джо Лазарус. Я детектив — и должен раскрыть убийство. Мое собственное. Когда детектив-инспектор Джо Лазарус устраивал засаду у фермы в Линкольншире, он думал, что накроет банду наркоторговцев. Но вместо этого детектив находит там следы бойни и… свой собственный труп. А еще духа-проводника — девушку по имени Дейзи-Мэй. Она здесь, чтобы завербовать его в «Отряд мертвых» — призрачную полицию, состоящую из недавно умерших. Вскоре Джо понимает: есть кое-что пострашнее смерти — Чистилище. И чтобы избежать вечного заточения среди полчища неприкаянных, он должен вернуться на Землю в новом теле и раскрыть собственное убийство. Но как, если его воспоминания о прошлой жизни быстро тускнеют и стираются? К тому же теперь опасность представляют не только живые, но и мертвые. В паре с Дейзи-Мэй Джо должен найти своего убийцу прежде, чем умрет окончательно. Уникальный детектив-триллер — в лучших традициях жанра, но с совершенно необычным сюжетом. Детектив, в котором самым тесным образом связаны мир живых и мир мертвых. Триллер, в котором главное — остаться собой, даже если ты умер. «Это одна из тех книг, которые бурлят жизнью». — Стюарт Тёртон «Свежий, изобретательный и забавный, этот роман великолепно продуман и несет в себе такую эмоциональную нагрузку, которую редко можно увидеть в дебютной работе». — М.В. Крейвен «Умный, свежий, с примесью черного юмора, этот роман дико увлекает. Рекомендуется в высшей степени». — Адам Хамди «Адам создал нечто уникальное, соединив фэнтези и криминальный роман не виданным ранее образом». — Джеймс Освальд

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Crime, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, British Literature

384 pages, Hardcover

First published July 22, 2021

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Happy Pub Day!*


So...do you consider yourself a "good" person? Or do you have a teeny devil inside who occasionally whispers in your ear. Well, there's good news & bad news. According to this story, the good news is your life doesn't end when you die. The bad news is you'll be one of the Dispossessed.

First, a bit about the world(s) you're about to enter. The story is based on the concept of where you end up after you die. If you're one of those rare souls who are 100% good or bad, it's fairly straightforward. Upon drawing your last, you'll be whooshed away in one direction or the other.....heaven or hell. But for those of us who did the best we could (most of the time 😈), next stop is The Pen....this author's take on Purgatory. Vast, grey & featureless, it's a type of holding area for those labelled the Dispossessed. These poor souls shuffle around in aimless herds, waiting to learn if /when they'll move on & in which direction.

Back in the land of the living, DI Joe Lazarus has no idea any of this exists. Until he stumbles over his own dead body. That's when he meets tall, skinny pink-haired Daisy-May Braithwaite. He doesn't know it yet but she will be his guide & colleague as he comes to terms with the fact he's dead. It's a lot to take in. One moment he was working a case, the next he finds himself in the Pen. There he meets the Duchess, a no-nonsense woman in charge of the Dispossessed. And she's got a job offer for him.

Turns out even the afterlife needs a police force. Its official name is the Soul Extraction Agency but everyone calls it the Dying Squad. There are crimes to be solved & if he signs up, the first case will be his own murder.
Poor Joe...he has no clue what's waiting for him.

Suffice to say this is NOT your garden variety police procedural. Oh there are plenty of clues, red herrings, suspense & bad guys....all that good stuff that keeps you turning the pages. What makes this unique are the mysteries encountered by our MC's are they travel between two parallel worlds.

Joe is a strong character as he is, in effect, every reader who shares his initial WTF reaction & subsequent grudging acceptance of his new reality. We get to watch as his cranky disbelief & dismissive attitude toward Daisy gradually morph into resignation & a growing appreciation of just how much he needs her. And while Daisy may have a firmer grip on their situation, even she is in for a few surprises as it becomes clear the Duchess has plans for her fledgling police force.

A mysterious sibling, a creepy bad guy called the Xylophone Man & the perils of the Goop...these are just some of the challenges waiting for Joe & Daisy as they unravel the facts behind Joe's earthly demise. Trust me, there are some shockers lurking in the final pages that will have both characters re-evaluating what they thought they knew about themselves. The alternate world created is clever & inventive, making this gritty procedural/fantasy an original & entertaining addition to the crime genre.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! A dead detective solving his own murder. Purgatory as a setting. An imaginative piece of world building with intriguing heaven and hell rules. SO addictive and clever with enough twists and turns to satisfy fans of mystery and a speculative plot that is entirely compelling.

Fairly sure there'll be more to follow and I can't wait

Full review for July publication.

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dying Squad
by Adam Simcox
This is a different kind of ghost story. A detective that is killed and to move on from purgatory he must solve his our murder. His guide is also a ghost and they find her body as they are investigating. Now they are trying to solve both. But someone in charge is trying to stop him from going anywhere.

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus storms into the farmhouse to bring down a drug gang. Instead, he finds his own dead body. What the fuck? A spirit guide, the foul-mouthed and snarky Daisy - May, breaks the situation to him and recruits him into the Dying Squad. Joe must solve his murder before the killer strikes again.

The problem? More than one, starting with the fact that ghosts lose the memory of their former selves (unless they use “gum”) and of the time before they died. Danger lurks everywhere, on both sides of the astral plane.

I love the idea of an experienced investigator investigating his own murder. I love thrillers and supernatural elements, and The Dying Squad offers both. It even throws some purgatorial politics into the mix.

The story follows the investigation until about halfway through the book, then the focus (and tone) changes. As the story unfolds, the reader discovers how the characters’ pasts intertwine. The story gets darker and genuinely surprising. The second half of the book deals with a possible uprising in Purgatory that could turn all the creation upside down.

The relationship between Joe and Daisy May is the highlight of the story, just not in the way you initially expect. We get quality banter and laugh-out-loud moments from these two, but they’re not exactly Sherlock and Watson of the astral plane. Suffice to say, they’ve dealt with drug abuse, child exploitation, and corruption, and their story is more tragic than lighthearted.

I liked the timing and quality of the flashbacks to the events leading up to the deaths of Joe and Daisy-May, they added to the tension and sense of approaching tragedy. By alternating perspectives between characters, Simcox brings them to life as characters whose welfare readers can easily become invested in even if they don’t necessarily deserve it. The easy-flowing narrative kept me immersed in characters’ inner conflicts as they tried to find a way out of one precarious situation after another.

What doesn't work as well is how the author writes bad guys - they feel rather flat and one-dimensional. The story doesn’t resolve many of the questions it raises, especially concerning the afterlife and its logistics and the nature of certain substances. Fortunately, it's the first book of the series and I’ll be looking forward to it to see whether it succeeds in delivering a full resolution in the sequels. Important note: it works as a standalone, it offers closure to the main arcs, it just doesn't answer all the questions you may have about the world.

The Dying Squad is a darkly captivating tale with just the right mix of humor, suspense, and mystery. Despite darker moments, it’s not a depressing read; It contains hope and innocence, strength and determination. I look forward to reading more from Simcox.

[Gram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story opens with Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus checking out a drugs safe house in Lincolnshire when he meets a young woman with pink hair called Daisy-May Braithwaite. When Joe storms the safe house, he finds dead bodies inside - one of them is his own.
Daisy-May explains that she is his guide to the afterlife and the two end up in the "Pen" outside the walls of which are The Dispossessed.
There he meets the Duchess, the warden of the Pen, who explains that he's in Purgatory and is now part of a "purgatorial police force" officially know as the Soul Extraction Agency or "The Dying Squad" as the cool people call it explains Daisy-May.
To escape this place, he has to solve his own murder, aided by Daisy-May who describes them as "the Holmes and Watson of the astral plane".
Together they travel back to the living world and attend Joe's funeral. They're not supposed to physically interfere with the living but Daisy-May does and now The Xylophone Man - a distinctly creepy being with an elephant skull for a head - is on their trail.
Meanwhile, the Duchess is facing a new problem. Her sister Hanna has been stirring up the Dispossessed - a move which could have dire consequences for the Pen and those who inhabit it.
The action races along like a roller coaster with a dozen twists an turns and several shocking discoveries for Joe who realises there are worse things in life than death.
It's difficult to describe this book - part crime thriller, part ghost story, part horror movie script and all mixed together to provide scenes that wouldn't be out of place in a 21st Century version of Dante's Inferno. There are even a few laughs along the way.
This is the first in a series about The Dying Squad and I'll be keen to find out what happens to Joe and Daisy-May.
My thanks to the publisher Orion Publishing Group Gollancz and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in return for an unbiased review.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dying Squad is the very first instalment in the gritty and gripping Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus series of supernatural thrillers. DI Joe Lazarus has always believed he could solve any murder, but that was until it came to his own. When Lazarus storms a Lincolnshire farmhouse, he expects to bring down a notorious drug gang using it as their base of operations; instead, he discovers his own bleeding-out body and a spirit guide called Daisy-May. She's there to enlist him to The Dying Squad, a spectral police force who solve crimes their flesh and blood counterparts cannot and are made up of the recently deceased. Joe soon realises there are fates far worse than death. To escape being stuck in purgatory, he must solve his own murder. A task made all the more impossible when his memories start to fade.

Lazarus reluctantly partners with Daisy-May and returns to the Lincolnshire Badlands, where he faces dangers from both the living and the dead in his quest to discover the identity of his killer - before they kill again. After all, who better to solve a murder than a dead detective? This is a compelling, completely original supernatural mystery thriller filled with wit, intensity and plenty of twisty surprises. It's addictive and I loved just how fresh the ideas were within it as we all know the crime genre can sometimes become a little stale in terms of new, exciting concepts. It also has a real sense of style to it and comes across as cool and intelligently plotted. The dialogue is fresh and witty, and the action zips along, grounding the supernatural with authentic police investigations that will thrill Brit-crime fans. Highly recommended to those looking for something unique.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Halloween fast approaching, I thought this would be a good choice - a crime novel with the twist of a dead detective. When we first meet Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus he is on a stake out in Lincolnshire, waiting to take down a drug gang. The only issue is that he really isn't. In fact, he is lying dead inside the house he is staking out and, when he finally enters, he finds his body alongside two others. He is accompanied by a young girl who turns up, Daisy-May Braithwaite, who happens to be dead too. At first, Joe is disbelieving, but, when the police finally turn up, they look right through him and he is forced to accept that he is, in fact, no longer 'soil-side,' as the expression in this book uses.

This is a somewhat confusing and mixed novel, which involves the Duchess, who runs purgatory (or 'The Pen'), sending Joe and Daisy-May to investigate who killed Lazarus The story not involves Joe and Daisy-May trying to find out why Joe ended up dead and who killed him, but also branches out into the mechanics of the afterlife and issues surrounding duties involved in the running of the Pen. Who was behind the murder of Lazarus was fairly easy to spot, but I feel that this is very much a first in the series and I liked the characters enough to want to try the second. The book worked best when the characters emerged into their past lives and the idea of a ghostly detective is an interesting one.

[Rachel Bridgeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was everything I hoped it would be, and more, and honestly I just want to shout very loudly 'Go Buy This Book!'

The notion of a detective, on a murky stakeout, investigating county lines drug runners, who finds his own dead body, had me hooked. That his name is Joe Lazarus (arisen from the dead, to be beyond the living dead) tickled me a great deal, his guide is a pink haired young girl named Daisy-May and she pulls him through this world, to the Pen, (where the Dispossessed, souls who are unavenged and , well, displaced, reside). The Pen is kept under check by the Duchess, who has her own unique and individual back story, reveals that Lazarus will be freed, if and only if, he can solve his own murder.

A dedicated copper, married to his lifelong best friend,Claire, his other best friend is his partner, Pete, and he is the son of a vicar, and upstanding community member so there are quite a few suspects who would like to see him taken down. Not least the members of the drug peddling community who are using the young people of the Lincolnshire Badlands to peddle their wares.

But when you have no physical body, your memories are being erased by the minute, and you are dealing with the trauma of having been murdered, where do you begin?

And who is the white haired girl who seems to be mobilising the dispossessed to tackle the Pen, and could potentially bring down the fragile link between the soil side, and purgatory?

And let's not even talk about one of the most terrifying creations I have read this year, the Xylophone Man!

Drawing on real life research into county lines drug runners, the story has this dual narrative where the exploitation of the vulnerable by those who should, and could choose to, do better, is so very relevant and well realised. The Dispossessed and the teens affected by lack of opportunity in rural areas , leading them into crime, are so multi faceted that those in higher social classes ascribe characteristics to them that could be ripped off any red top headline.

Exploitation of those with a lack of social mobility due to poverty, life chances, economic instability and lack of social capital, all of these are seen through a fractured lens which allows you to understand how they fall into these traps of addiction, need and ruthless behaviours. The laws of social control, victimisation and 'knowing your place' are what these criminals rely on, and, the investigation into who is behind it, is initially driven by personal redemption and , over the course of the plot, expands to become something so much bigger and far-reaching than just one man's soul.

The imagery is so very striking, and what I admire the most about this novel is not just the fully rounded characters of Lazarus, Daisy-May, sisters Rachel, Mabel and Hanna (perhaps representing the three fates?) and the Xylophone Man , it's the subtle colouring of their moral codes, their motivations and complex personal histories. On top of this, you have the creation of a wholly, different, highly addictive story line of redemption, love and loss played against a background of a totally believable heaven/purgatory/hellscape which at once fees entirely new and yet, as old as time. You simply care about these people, and finish the novel wanting to know more.

How he created this entire mythology and made it entirely natural, as if it had always been this way, and yet invites the reader into it without overly expositional passages, is pure genius. I genuinely felt like I was along for the ride and I can see this becoming a series that is, as my kids taught me this week, 'an instabuy'.

Truly one of my top 10 books of this year, it is so rare that a writer can create an environment in which you are so immersed and delivers a truly satisfying end and makes you keen to read book 2. I hope there is a book 2. And, if it's not too much to ask, a further 3 at least and a 6 part tv show based on 'The Dying Squad'. 

In the great tradition of Stephen Volk, Phil Rickman and Mark Morris, I am predicting big things for Adam Simcox...

[Anna Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, creepy and twisty, this is a book where no one is who they seem, dead or alive. Good people doing bad things, bad people doing bad things, and bad people doing good things. There's a lot going on.
I had a couple of continuity issues towards the end, but then I was reading an arc and I'm sure they got picked up in the final proof.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The big problem with being dead though is that your memory is Swiss cheese at best. The more time you spend amongst the living, the less of yourself you remember. Not the most useful skill when you are attempting to uncover a murderer. It makes Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus a fascinating protagonist. He spends as much time trying to remember who he is as he does trying to solve the case. There is a core of confusion and niggling self-doubt in his own abilities that was refreshing. I love the fact that he has to go old school and carry around a notebook so he can refer to it when the fugue of the afterlife descends. It has a nice Memento-esque quality. The more he investigates the more he finds himself questioning who he is. That growing sense of uncertainty kept me hooked.

Fortunately, Joe is not entirely alone in his journey. As the new boy in The Dying Squad, he has been partnered with someone more experienced in the ways of the dead. Daisy-May is a foul-mouthed teen with a penchant for sarcasm. Her character is a breath of fresh air. Outspoken to the point of bolshie-ness, she is a perfect counterpoint to Joe’s confusion. Daisy-May speaks as she finds, often brutally so. I loved her. Simcox ensures there is depth to the character. We get to learn a some of Daisy-May’s backstory. I often find secondary characters are given short shrift. They don’t get the opportunity to breathe. Not so in this case. Beneath all the bravado and cocksure attitude, there is a strength to the Daisy-May that is so intense seems almost tangible. We get to see what has made her the way she is and how that inner steel guides her actions.

Though I’m Scottish, by a weird twist of fate, I am quite familiar with the wilds of Lincolnshire. It is the perfect setting for the novel. Amongst the seemingly endless fields, there is a stark beauty. The county is just about as flat as anywhere could be and the horizon seems to go on forever. Lincolnshire winters can be pretty damned bleak and I have to admit, having been there at that time of the year, the evocative descriptions of Joe’s surroundings are bang on the money.

I was surprised by just how gritty The Dying Squad manages to be. Through the course of their investigations, Joe and Daisy-May have to rub supernatural shoulders with all manner of low lives. Drug dealers, pimps and junkies abound. Turns out, for a rural location, Lincolnshire is quite the hotbed of crime. The drug trade does not bring out the best in people and there are double-crosses and violent death all over the place. Simcox’s writing never sugar coats any of this. The people drawn into this world are broken down and spat out by it. There is no glamour here. The story manages the feat of blending hard-nosed crime with the supernatural very effectively. It’s impressive stuff, made all the more so when you discover this is the author’s debut novel.

I really enjoyed The Dying Squad. The revelations towards the novel’s end were well handled and I could have happily read more. That’s probably a good thing as things are left wide open for a sequel. Fingers crossed that appears at some point in the future.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joe Lazarus is on a stake-out. It’s raining. He’s hunkered down in a ditch, his expensive coat splattered with mud. Can it get any worse? Sure! He’s only minutes away from stumbling over his own corpse. Supernatural detective story where the dead DI has to find his own murderer? Sign me up!

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as that. The detective story is intertwined with a story-line about politics in purgatory, and both are overshadowed by a dark entity that waits for your dead soul, which is in purgatory already, to cross a certain line of interference just to drag you off into the deepest pits of hell.

The detective part of the story and the interactions between Lazarus and his ‘dead soul’s guide to the afterlife’ Daisy-May kept me turning the pages until I reached about 50% -although it was pretty bog-standard and obvious to me who-dunnit. Obviously the mystery behind Lazarus’s death is just part of a bigger picture. But, because the underworld/afterlife part of the world-building wasn’t fully realised, it bogged down the whole story and left me with many questions that weren’t answered.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps one of the most imaginative detective novels I've read. I can easily see this becoming a Netflix series.
This story is of Joe, a detective on earth, now working with The Dying Squad from Purgatory (aka the Pen). His 'partner' is Daisy-May, a junkie on earth now helping Joe on his quest but also helping him deal with going back to (and being on) the soil side. Joe needs to figure out who killed him.
Not only is the setting intriguing (especially Pen) but also the mystery. There are a lot of twists and turns in this book - a lot of things I just didn't see coming. I really enjoyed the other characters - Ryan, Claire, Pete (earthlings) and the Duchess and Mabel (Pen).
I suspect this book is going to become a series. I hope so.....

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there a finer name for a character than Joe Lazarus, a Detective who rises from the dead (sort of) in order to solve his own murder? He may not have been a benefactor of the talents of Jesus but, as we are set to find out, there is something about Joe that has seen his fates ordained by that other almighty presence, his old Dad Himself. He may not show his face during the course of the book, but that's not to say He doesn't have a hand in what comes to pass. And what that is is a wonderful blend of Detective fiction with more than a touch of the Supernatural that really does bring a smile to my face. It's original, it's quirky, and it features some fabulous, and often surprising, characters.

The story opens with Joe keeping an old farmhouse under surveillance. He expects to be taking part in a raid which will bring down a big drug gang. What he finds comes as somewhat of a surprise to him - but not to readers who are vigilant to have checked out the blurb first. For Joe quickly wrong-footed. First by a pesky young girl, Daisy-May, who seems intent on getting in his way and ruining any element of surprise that he may have had, but, perhaps more importantly, by the discovery of his own body in an upstairs room in the house. What follows is a journey of discovery that leads Joe to Purgatory and then on the hunt for his own killer - and that of his new found partner in crime solving, the smart and sassy, Daisy-May.

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't what I expected at all. I knew the basic premise from the author's description, the idea that this was going to feature a team of ghosts turned crime-busters, but it is so much more than that. Yes, it has all of the hallmarks of a true crime fiction novel - the hunt for clues as to what happened on that fateful night, the double crossing and blindsiding that Joe experiences, and the discovery of some very uncomfortable truths along the way. In that respect it is a true Detective novel, even if the investigators have no jurisdiction and little to now ability to physically make an impact on the perpetrators of the crimes. But beyond that it is a very intriguing sci-fi style novel that takes readers to the 'other side', not to Heaven or Hell, but to Purgatory - a kind of holding cell for the also rans. No sinners and no saints, just an almost senseless, mindless mass of people stuck in a holding pattern that has been their prison for centuries. At least, that's what the powers that be think. There is aback story here, one which I feel will bleed into future novels and I am very intrigued to see how that will pan out.

I really liked Joe and Daisy-May as a team. They couldn't be more different and, as we are set to find out, there are many things about the pair of them which will come as a surprise to everyone, them included. I liked the way in which the author used a clever narrative device to ensure that they began to discover the truth in the same way, and time, that readers did, their ghostly essence being affected by the air that they used to breath. The longer they remain soil-side, the more scrambled their brains and memories become, meaning that keeping on top of the investigation is hard and the revelations hard hitting. Don't get me wrong, Joe could be a pompous idiot, and Daisy-May was sometimes too smart mouthed for her own good, getting a kick out of winding up Joe as, ironically given their former statuses, the more seasoned and experienced investigator. But Daisy-May was a wonderful character - kind and considerate which was a nice counter to Joe's often blunt blundering and less than positive character traits. Then there was the Duchess, the matriarchal figure in charge of Purgatory and the person who set Joe and Daisy-May on their quest. She is quite a difficult character, old fashioned in approach perhaps, and bound by a sense of duty and tradition, but she has a clear affection for Daisy-May, and that made her a more palatable person to get to know.

That pacing in this book is spot on, the revelations perfectly timed to make the biggest impact. Despite this being a very serious subject, and those elements of the story are never trivialised, it has a good vein of humour which kept me smiling, and often laughing, and I felt compelled to keep on reading. The ending was fitting, Joe being able to redeem himself for some of his more unpalatable character flaws, and has left me all the more intrigued by what might be yet to come. Definitely recommended for fans of Detective fiction with a twist.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Orion Publishing for a review copy.
When I read the description of ‘The Dying Squad’ I was immediately hooked, after all who could resist the idea of a police officer having to investigate his own murder?
As the novel begins we join Joe Lazarus on surveillance outside a derelict farmhouse in Lincolnshire. Little does he know but he’s already dead and, unlike his biblical namesake, is not due for a resurrection anytime soon. He is joined by a mysterious spirit guide called Daisy May, a cheeky, funny and very street wise teenager from Nottingham, or at least she was before she died, and her ghost has retained all the sassiness she had in life. She helps Joe to accept the truth of his predicament and they set out to solve his murder together as doing so is the only way for either of them to move on. Little do they know that a great deal more depends on the success of their mission than they have been led to believe.
I enjoyed the book a great deal despite (or perhaps because) it subverts expectation at every opportunity and was not at all the story I was expecting. The closest comparisons which spring to mind are Simon Kurt Unsworth’s Thomas Fool books and Jim Butcher’s Dresden files novel ‘Ghost Story.’ The video game ‘Murdered – Soul Suspect’ also touches on the same themes. In Adam Simcox’s story though, the action focusses as much on the politics and problems of the afterlife as it does on the murder investigation which Joe and Daisy May are undertaking ‘soil-side.’
Adam Simcox has clearly spent a lot of time a wholly unique afterlife for this story and, I suspect that there is a good deal more to be revealed if future novels appear in the series. He has also developed clearly defined ‘rules’ for what his ghosts can and cannot do while ‘soil-side’ which gives the tale a coherence. Acts have consequences even for ghosts.
There are twists and turns aplenty in both the investigation into Joe’s death undertaken by him and Daisy May. The relationship between these two characters also develops as the story goes on and there are some laugh out loud moments as they learn more about each other. As the story unfolds the truth of what happened in Lincolnshire that day, and indeed in the weeks before Joe’s death, gradually unfolds and becomes darker and darker. This is by no means a children’s book – it deals with deeply troubling issues of drug abuse, child exploitation and corruption in a very clever way. There is no preaching here – just a sense of unfolding and inevitable tragedy.
Meanwhile a much larger scale event is taking place in the afterlife which may have ramifications for the whole of creation. I very much enjoyed the way in which those in positions of authority in the afterlife have titles like Duchess and the Xylophone Man but when they speak to each other they revert to their old ‘soil-side’ names. The moment when the terrifying Xylophone Man’s real name was revealed was a welcome moment of humour in a very bleak scene.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a dark detective story and grim fantasy as the two are melded very well here. My only criticism of the book as a whole is that there were one or two phrases which jarred slightly, and felt out of place with the language around them though this was a very minor niggle. As more books are planned I, for one, am looking forward to the chance to see what comes next after the climactic revelations at the end of this volume.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part detective drama and part urban fantasy – or maybe rural fantasy, as much of it is set in the quiet Lincolnshire landscape – Adam Simcox’s The Dying Squad is fun, easy to read and full to the brim with big ideas. He doesn’t want to admit it, despite having seen his own bullet-ridden body, but DI Joe Lazarus is dead. When he finally accepts the truth, Joe finds himself in the Pen – essentially purgatory – where he’s given the task of heading back to the mortal plane to investigate his own murder. With the cheeky, also-dead Daisy-May as his partner he sets out on the trail of the drug gang he was tracking before his death, but it’s hard being an undead detective when, beyond a core awareness of who he was, he can barely remember anything about his life or the people in it. At least he can walk through walls though, and Daisy-May seems to know what she’s doing in this strange afterlife.

While the tone is a bit uneven in places and the crime/fantasy elements don’t always feel like they fit together properly, there’s still more than enough going on here for it to be consistently entertaining, and as the story progresses the whole thing gradually begins to gel a bit more. By the end, while it’s clear that Simcox is setting things up nicely for a sequel, it’s easy to forgive him that – with most of the mysteries out of the way and the characters fully realised, the journey up to that point now makes a lot of sense, and for the most part feels genuinely satisfying. It’s definitely more fantasy than crime, but the central idea of the Pen and the Dying Squad is smart and well thought-out, with considerable scope for further development. If you’re on the lookout for a modern urban (/rural) fantasy with a fun angle on the afterlife – and a dash of crime added in – then you could do a lot worse than check this out.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2021/07/...

[Adrian Scottow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe is a police detective killed in the line of duty and Daisy-May is his spirit guide through the after-life as he tries to solve his own mystery. This is a detective/fantasy mash-up in a most excellent way – harking back to both Douglas Adams with maybe a touch of Neil Gaiman and a hint of Ben Aaronovitch. The detective elements are blended with the fantasy with a light touch. There is some really good world building - purgatory is the “Pen” and the Xylophone man is the nemesis that enforces the rule that the dead are not allowed to interact with the real world. In the real world, the bleak, flat Lincolnshire fens provides an excellent backdrop for a county lines drug plot. Joe is hindered by amnesia that is part of the price of joining the Dying Squad – which gives you the chance to leave purgatory and enter the Next Place – if you solve your murder. The plot zings along with plenty of pace and interest – we get the back stories of both Joe and Daisy-May and some insight into the power struggles that are occurring in the afterlife that they are ultimately dragged into and which could send cosmic balance crashing down. I really enjoyed everything about this book and look forward to finding out more about the afterlife in the next one!

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dying Squad is the start of a new urban fantasy serialized series that follows Joe Lazarus, DI who stumbles upon his own murder and then is tasked to solve who killed him. I think what is going to separate this from other urban fantasies out there is that this is going to deal more with Heaven and Hell and the in-between, or Purgatory. Not so much the supernatural monsters that we have come accustomed to.

With that being said, I really did enjoy this and I thought the story and idea were fresh and well executed and realized. Adam Simcox did enough to lay the foundation while also leaving the readers wanting to discover more. Also Joe and Daisy-May were so good together and the banter between the two felt natural. Really looking forward to reading more of their stories. The weakest element of the book was the story at times became a little chaotic. It was primarily told in 3rd person, but would switch to 1st person which was jarring at times.

All in all I think Adam Simcox's debut was solid. The story idea is fresh, the characters are colorful, the writing was very easy to get into, and I think this series has a lot of potential to go far. I for one am hoping this will have a nice longevity as most urban fantasies do.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dying Squad is a first class debut novel which offered a lot to the reader in a pacey tale of murder, memories and ghosts.

The story has some skillful moments of rug pulling, I can think of at least three where I was caught out completely. Expertly written and totally captivating The Dying Squad is part police procedural, part supernatural horror. Nothing comes across underwritten, and pacing is mostly great although I did find cutting to The Duchess slowed things up a little. I wanted to stay with Joe and Daisy-May, two fantastically well written characters that have scope and depth to run for many books.

And it's at this point I will say the story (although excellent) is secondary to what the author has created in both the different worlds these characters frequent and the rulebook they must live by.

There's so much potential in the sandbox Simcox has created, I can't wait to see where we go in Book 2.

The Dying Squad is the start of something very special.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although not as funny as his wife, Kirsty Eyre’s Cow Girl, it was a fun and complex world that I thoroughly enjoyed immersing in. The characters have stuck with me and I can’t wait to see where they go from here. Lovers of crime and zombies this is for you.

[Marina Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very intriguing concept, but got a little over-complicated in the execution.

[Thebooktrail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meet the author and his version of Lincolnshire in The Dying Squad

A detective who has to solve his own murder? What a premise! It's all set in a very alternate Lincolnshire and the setting chosen by the author reveals a lot about the backstory and the atmosphere he creates in the novel.

A quirky and unusual read but a lot of fun and one you will never forget!

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, great story and didn't want to put it down.

[MariaWitBook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird but the good kind of weird

[Aimee Krech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative plot and setting, well written imagery and dialogue, compelling and charming characters, several surprise plot twists. Very engaging and a captivating read! Some of the deeper elements and issues could have been sussed out further. And I still have questions— may need a sequel!

[Vilena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite creative.

[Carla Warren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you #netgalley and #orionbooks for my eARC of #thedyingsquad in return for my honest review…

After reading the blurb for this book, I just had to read it. It was the plot that sold it to me. A detective, crime, the supernatural, I needed to know how these genres were going to link together.

I really wanted to enjoy this novel by a new author.

The plot was intriguing and I found the start of this book to be very good. Starting at a crime scene with the lead detective to then realise that he’s dead and the crime scene he is in is in fact one of his own murder. Exciting, yes however unfortunately I didn’t find that this excitement continued. I found that as soon as the supernatural world became involved I was actually becoming some what bored and because of this I feel that I am only able to rate this one two out of five stars as unfortunately I was disappointed with the book I was expecting so much more from it. But not bad for a debut and think this author can only get better.

[Unseen Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of The Dying Squad from Hachette Australia to review.

Intriguing new author, Adam Simcox, presents his compelling debut novel, the fun and fascinating supernatural crime fiction read, The Dying Squad, which proves that just because you are dead, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get justice.

The Dying Squad was a fantastic and intriguing first novel from Simcox that contained a fascinating premise about a man forced to solve his own murder as a ghost. I loved the sound of this book when I first heard about it, and I was very glad when I received a copy a while ago.

This was an awesome and intriguing read and I ended up really getting into this fantastic supernatural novel. Set initially in the apparently crime-ridden wilds of Lincolnshire, the novel quickly establishes itself by killing off the protagonist, Joe Lazarus, and introducing him to his co-lead the bombastic and entertaining Daisy-May, a member of the ghost-run investigative unit, known as the Dying Squad, there to recruit Lazarus. The book then jumps to the Pen (purgatory), where Lazarus is given the chance to save his soul by solving his own murder. Returning with Daisy to the real world, Lazarus must investigate his death while facing several limitations, including the fact that the real world is affecting his memories, and he must work to uncover his own past to discover who killed him. At the same time, dangerous events are occurring in the Pen as a mysterious being leads an uprising of the seemingly mindless souls imprisoned there, while back in the real world, a dangerous creature stalks Lazarus and Daisy-May, seeking to drag them down below.

I really enjoyed the cool story featured within The Dying Squad, and Simcox has come up with something particularly unique and compelling here. The author does a great job of quickly introducing all the relevant story elements, and the reader is soon expertly enthralled in the book’s compelling mystery. I loved the unique investigation that takes place throughout the novel, especially as the protagonists must deal with a range of different problems, including the sinister Xylophone Man (he’s a lot more threatening than the name implies), the deceit of living humans, fading memories, and the protagonist’s desire to interfere in events, even when they’re not supposed to. At the same time, the protagonist’s boss back in the Pen is forced to deal with a universe-ending revolt, as desperate lost souls attempt to tear down the walls of reality. While Daisy May and some of the other characters are dragged between these two plot threads, Lazarus continues to follow the trial towards his death by investigating several potential suspects and slowly regaining his own memories. This eventually leads to several startling revelations, including a very clever reveal about who was behind his death and their reasons why. This investigation eventually leads back to the wider universe story about the rebelling souls, and there are some great moments, especially when the protagonists are forced to make some hard and afterlife-altering choices. I really enjoyed this unique blend of storylines, as well as some of the cool characters featured throughout the book, and The Dying Squad ended up being quite a fun and interesting read.

I definitely need to highlight the unique world building featured throughout The Dying Squad. Simcox has come up with a detailed and fascinating scenario, involving supernatural ghosts going back to Earth to investigate unsolved murders. This results in several memorable and compelling settings, including the dark and dreary Pen, a version of Purgatory, where lost and forgotten souls congregate in confusion and apathy (unless roused by a dangerous soul with ulterior motives). At the same time, you also have the setting of Earth, which ends up being an unnatural location for departed souls, even the protagonists. As such, the characters who venture there to investigate encounter all manner of obstacles, from rogue spirits to the very air itself, which drains dead souls of their memories unless precautions are taken. These various elements, especially the memory loss and the typical incorporeal nature of ghosts, are worked into the investigation aspect of the story extremely well, and it added a layer of complexity and uncertainty that really enhanced the mystery. At the same time, Simcox really went for broke exploring the wider universe and the focus on the events in the Pen soon become a major part of the plot. While I deeply enjoyed the potential universe ending event, I cannot help thinking that maybe more of the story could have been spent on beefing up the investigation angle of the book, especially as some of the culprits and twists ended up being a little easy to spot. That being said, it was a fascinating part of the story that ended up being explored extremely well, and it really enhanced the stakes of the plot. It will be interesting to see what the focus of the next novel will be, but I am sure that I will enjoy it.

Overall, this ended up being quite a clever read, and I think that Simcox did a great job of combining a complex murder investigation with complex and fascinating supernatural elements. I had a lot of fun with The Dying Squad, and it is an excellent compelling new debut to check out in 2021.

For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/

[Gabi]

DNF @ 20%

Just not interested. Maybe I'll come back and continue at a later time. But I'm just not vibing with the world building and I'm not caring about the characters at all. Not a fan of Daisy-May ignoring Joe when he says his name isn't Joey, but that's just a pet peeve of mine.

[Richard Swan]

All right! Just finished this last night, after having rattled through the last 50 pages or so. What a ride!

But what is it about, you shriek at the laptop screen, batting at it like a confused and angry ape.

The Dying Squad follows follows Detective Joe Lazarus, a man who is killed about 3 pages in to the book and who abruptly and unceremoniously enters the spirit dimension, a purgatorial plane home to the unwashed masses of souls who live out their afterlives in a sort of livestock-esque manner. Joe’s spirit guide is Daisy May (one of the best characters I’ve read in recent years) a wise-cracking, foulmouthed teenage girl who has all the best lines in the book. Daisy May’s job is to help Joe Lazarus transition from the mortal coil to the immortal coil, and in so doing induct him into the Dying Squad, a sort of detective force of the recently-deceased whose job it is to discover the form and nature of their own deaths. Joe is subsequently repaired to the freezing Lincolnshire countryside to investigate a drugs ring that he was investigating before he was killed, whilst in the afterlife, the purgatorial Dispossessed are starting a revolution courtesy of the realm’s matriarch’s sister, who has recently returned from Hell and is stirring up trouble.

It’s difficult to define what genre this is. It’s interesting because it could, but for a few bits, be a police procedural; but at the same time there is this fascinating afterlife element which puts it more in the vein of urban fantasy. I would have compared it to Charlie Stross’s Laundry Files, or Mike Carey’s Felix Castor series.

“Get a fucking grip, Joe thought. Houses don’t bruise, they don’t need to heal, and nothing haunts them.
Although that wasn’t true, because the fact was […] he’d been killed in this house, and here he was, back at the scene of the crime, trying to find out who’d done it. If it wasn’t an actual haunting, it was a solid homage to one.”

I really liked this book. It just rattles along at such a pace. It’s so tight, everything is in furtherance of the plot. The reveals come thick and fast, some I saw coming, more I didn’t, whilst the supernatural bits add a spooky, at times genuinely chilling element to proceedings. The Xylophone Man in particular, Hell’s enforcer, a man who delights in wearing an elephant skull for a head and devouring naughty souls who’ve breached the barrier between the living and the dead, is a fantastically horrible character, and not overused as must’ve been the temptation. Basically Pyramid Head from Silent Hill, which shitted me right up as a 14 year old.

The writing style is very punky, very wry, almost as though Simcox is stood watching you read with an eyebrow cocked the entire time. It’s got some very amusing, blink and you miss it one-liners:

“A blazing fire separated the group. An elderly man and woman sat on one side, screaming expletives at teenagers on the other, harsh Slavic tones Joe would have identified as Bulgarian if his life had depended on it, or Romanian if it hadn’t.”

But the same time Simcox isn’t above giving us a good lame joke:

“Peeling back the cover, he removed the pen from his pocket, knocking it against his teeth. Just think of yourself as a ghost-writer, Daisy May had said when she’d given it to him, taking a good thirty seconds to laugh at her own joke.”

The book is certainly a bleak one. Were it not for the caustic comic relief provided by Daisy May, it almost would have been too bleak for me. Simcox pulls no punches when it comes to the seedy, sordid nature of the drugs ring and the decaying suburbs, country villages and seaside towns of Lincolnshire. It is also an undoubtedly violent book, and tackles all manner of shitty human behaviour between its covers which may necessitate a more light-hearted read afterwards to cleanse the palate.

Notwithstanding this, I definitely want more. I want to read more Daisy May and I want to spend more time in the afterlife (metaphorically speaking) and learn about the mechanics of it all. Simcox does not overburden us with details of the spirit dimensions, instead drip feeding us bits and pieces, which is just enough to whet the appetite without overdoing it. Without giving away any spoilers, the book is set up nicely for more ghostly crime solving capers - and I will certainly be in line for the next instalment of the series.

My verdict? Buy this now and put some money in Simcox's pocket. I want TDS to become the next Dresden Files!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus stands in a ditch outside a deserted Lincolnshire farmhouse. It’s being used by a gang of countylines drug dealers to store drugs. It's a gang he’s been working hard to bring down and he’s conducting a solo surveillance of the house. But then a teenage girl walks up to his hideout and asks what he’s doing. She seems to know about the operation and so he assumes she’s undercover police or an informant. She accompanies him into the house and there he finds a couple of dead drug dealers and his own dead body. Because Lazarus has himself been murdered and is now a spirit.

So start’s his quest to solve his own murder. The girl, Daisy May, takes him to a bleak purgatory and The Duchess, the woman in charge of this halfway house of the afterlife, tells him if he wants to move on from there and to a better place (or perhaps worse) he needs to return to earth and find out who killed him and why. But there are complications. The air on earth is toxic and rots his memories, and if he doesn’t solve the crime quickly, he will lose his mind completely and be condemned to walk the earth, a mindless ghost.

The Dying Squad is the author’s debut and is a supernatural crime thriller. The book has two strands running through it - Joe’s attempt to solve his murder, which is the crime thriller bit, and the supernatural strand which brings in heaven and hell, and a sinister beast, the Xylophone Man, who snatches souls to carry down to eternal damnation.

This is a well-plotted novel, and the characters are compelling. Daisy May in particular is an interesting character. It also has a surprising twist, and I thought I knew who was behind Joe’s murder until near the end when the surprise was sprung. The narrative resolved itself well and is left open for a sequel, though it equally could remain as a self-contained story if the author wanted to write something else.

An impressive debut by a novelist to watch.