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Working Stiff (Revivalist #1)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 2,450 ratings · 438 reviews

A BRAND NEW ADVENTURE FROM THE NUMBER ONE UK BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES SERIES

What if death could be cured by a drug? What if you needed that drug every day ...or death would reclaim you? It's not hypothetical to Bryn Davis. It's her so-called life. Bryn Davis is new on the job as a funeral director, but even she knows that once you're dead, you ought t...more

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Published (first published April 2nd 2011)

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Aug 05, 2011 Maja rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-can-t-wait-to-read-in-2011, dark-urban-fantasy, favorites, just-another-book-crush, my-flat-army, role-models, urban-fantasy, reviewed-in-2011

I always find it especially hard to review urban fantasy books. I read them, I usually enjoy them, I spend a total of three minutes thinking about them, and after that, there’s really not much to say. But this book and its author Rachel Caine, who in all honesty hasn’t failed me yet, deserve my best effort.

This isn’t my first book by Rachel Caine. I loved her Weather Warden series (at least the first three books that I’ve read so far) and I still moderately enjoy her Morganville Vampires. My ex...more I always find it especially hard to review urban fantasy books. I read them, I usually enjoy them, I spend a total of three minutes thinking about them, and after that, there’s really not much to say. But this book and its author Rachel Caine, who in all honesty hasn’t failed me yet, deserve my best effort.

This isn’t my first book by Rachel Caine. I loved her Weather Warden series (at least the first three books that I’ve read so far) and I still moderately enjoy her Morganville Vampires. My expectations for this were pretty high to begin with and after reading the first book, I'm pretty confident that this will become one of my favorites. Working Stiff is full of small surprises. I can’t really say that it’s unpredictable because, you know, urban fantasy never is, but there were times when the plot went in the opposite direction from what I expected.

After spending four years in Iraq, Bryn Davis understands well the importance of taking care of the dead. As odd as her career choice may seem, she is perfectly happy with her decision to become a funeral director. That is, until she discovers that her new employer is using the funeral home as a cover for some pretty serious and pretty disgusting illegal activities.

Bryn is an amazing character, beautiful, strong, silent and incredibly stubborn. She is caught in an impossible situation, and while she does get overwhelmed by fear and acts foolishly from time to time, she never whines. At least not in a way that would bother me. She also knows how to be funny without being overly sarcastic.

I can’t really reveal the name of Bryn’s love interest because that would ruin one of the small surprises I’ve mentioned. I can, however, say that he’s one of the hottest and most attractive male characters in urban fantasy. I should know, I’ve read them all. He is 100% human which means that he doesn’t have any supernatural powers to hide behind, but he is still more amazing than any vampire, were or mage I can think of. I kid you not. Silent, serious ex-marine type with a tenderness he shows only rarely, he reminded me of Benton Wesley from the Kay Scarpetta series. (I always had a thing for smooth, smart, suit and tie guys like Benton.) He alone would be reason enough to read this book.

If you like urban fantasy, you are going to love Working Stiff. I can’t wait for the next book to come out.
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Oct 10, 2011 Flannery rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, read-in-2011, read-on-kindle, reviewed-2011

There are some kindred spirits working at TNT/TBS/USA who choose which movies to show regularly on the weekends. It's like they somehow know that I will ALWAYS watch Overboard, What About Bob?, Hook, Father of the Bride, and about a billion other movies--and there must be tons more people just like me that regularly think about dressing up as Bob Wiley for Halloween every year because why else would they keep showing the same movies unless people are watching them? Death Becomes Her, which you m...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: assassin-killer-bounty-hunter, contemporary, crime-police-mystery-private-invest, excellent, fantasy-paranormal-sci-fi, fiction-vixen-reviews, first-reads-arcs-won-a-copy, read-2011, series, zombie

I am incredibly impressed to see Rachel Caine offer such a different type of story than her other two UF series, Weather Warden and Outcast Season. Faintly skeezed out, to be honest, but impressed. I was surprised to see Caine dip her toe into the zombie genre, but I willingly followed, based on past success with her writing style. I wasn’t disappointed, but I was surprised. I knew this would be about zombies, but I thought the heroine’s role would be different based on the vague back cover summ...more

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Nov 16, 2012 AH rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to AH by: Catherine

Shelves: zombies, first-in-series, own, zzread-oct-2011, science-fiction, sos-bookshelf-bingo, thrillers, urban-fantasy, babr-reviews

A fresh take on zombies. No eating of brains occurs in this book.

My first impressions of this book were that it was different from most of the urban fantasy books I’ve read. Different, in a good way. Working Stiff is a completely new take on zombies, a far more sinister take than the usual fare.

The premise seems straight out of those medical conspiracy thrillers with Big Pharma as the evil bad guys. Paranoid, secretive characters and evil henchmen round out the cast.

A large pharmaceutical comp...more

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Jul 28, 2011 TheBookSmugglers rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-favorites

Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/07/b...
For twenty-six year old army veteran Bryn Davis, the first day at a new job in a new career is a frightening but exciting prospect. Armed with the best outfit she can afford and a box of freshly minted business cards, Bryn starts her first day as Funeral Director at Fairview Mortuary with the aim to impress her new boss, Mr. Fairview, with her personability and professionalism. Unfortunately for Bryn, things quick...more Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/07/b...
For twenty-six year old army veteran Bryn Davis, the first day at a new job in a new career is a frightening but exciting prospect. Armed with the best outfit she can afford and a box of freshly minted business cards, Bryn starts her first day as Funeral Director at Fairview Mortuary with the aim to impress her new boss, Mr. Fairview, with her personability and professionalism. Unfortunately for Bryn, things quickly go from bad to worse when one of her first consultations ends with a grieving teenage daughter killing herself in the mortuary bathroom. Then, after the mess is cleaned up and reports are filed with the police, Bryn finds herself in the middle of a holdup when another of her consultation clients for the day returns with a gun. To add to that misery, Bryn ends up inadvertently stumbling across Fairview’s dirty, if lucrative, side business: drugs. Not just any drug, but a black market designer serum called Returné – which can bring the recently dead back to life, and keep them young, alive, and virtually invincible so long as they keep receiving regular daily doses.

Naturally, Fairview is not pleased with Bryn’s meddling and her hell of a first day comes to an even worse end: Bryn is murdered in cold blood.

Of course, what kind of book would Working Stiff be if our intrepid heroine died and never returned after the first couple of chapters? In short measure Bryn finds herself born again, revived by the very drug whose discovery led to her own death. Brought back to life by a pair of suits, Bryn finds herself automatically enrolled in pharmaceutical juggernaut Pharmadene’s ultimate employee loyalty program – she’s informed by her new cohorts Joe Fideli and Patrick McCallister that she represents an investment for the company, and one that’s expected to pay out very soon. In return for daily doses of Returné – the only thing keeping Bryne from decomposing and dying a slow, painful death – Bryn has to take over her old boss’s black market business to help the company find Fairview’s old supplier. Things are never as simple or straightforward as they seem, especially with a drug with as much potential for power as Returné, and soon Bryn finds herself mired in a corporate espionage plot with terrible, far-ranging consequences.

There are a few things I have come to expect from every new book from Rachel Caine, namely awesome worldbuilding, a tightly written plot rife with high-stakes action, and a strong and wholly winsome heroine. I am thrilled to report that true to form, all of these elements are present in Working Stiff, resulting in one hell of a first novel in what looks to be a new must-buy Urban Fantasy series. From a worldbuilding and plotting perspective, Working Stiff completely rocks. The story itself is as high-action and high-stakes as the Weather Warden books, though on a much more secretive and corporate level. There are twists and turns, and a significant amount of uncertainty when it comes to characters that Bryn can trust, and all these elements are handled effortlessly by Ms. Caine.

Premise-wise, I loved the concept of Returné and the lengths that a company like Pharmadene would go to in order to keep it proprietary, even to the point where the company would kill its own employees only to revive them (it’s on hell of a way to guarantee employee loyalty, and also brings a fun double meaning to the notion of “corporate zombie” – or the titular “working stiff”). And it’s not just the concept of a drug that can bring someone back from the dead that impressed me, but the idea that Returné is something that needs to be taken on a daily basis in order for the revived to continue living. With this unique little twist thrown in the mix, there’s a very real and present danger over Bryn’s head from the onset of the book as she needs the drug every day, without fail, in order to stop decomposition. Hell, she can’t even really DIE thanks to the serum (even a shot to the head or the shattering of all her bones wouldn’t stop the nanites in the injection from repairing her body). Short of complete dismemberment, Bryn is basically invincible so long as she gets her shots on time – but this also means that without a constant source of Returné, she’s going to survive and be conscious for her body falling apart around her. Needless to say, it’s a terrifying thought for Bryn, and it makes her decisions about what is almost certainly a short future lifespan even more important.

From a character perspective, Bryn is everything anyone could ask for in a series heroine. Smart, earnest, and capable of making the tough moral decisions when she has to, Bryn is a new kind of badass (and, if you’re a Caine fan like myself, thankfully remarkably different from Jo Baldwin or Cassiel). Even though Bryn has been in the army and is trained in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat, she’s not some automatic killer/ninja badass, which immediately sets her apart from the slew of Urban Fantasy heroines on the market. No, Bryn has no special abilities or superpowers beyond the ability to painfully heal after being beaten or shot, granted to her by the nanites in her bloodstream. She needs help, she gets into a lot of trouble, but Bryn also steps up when she needs to. In this reader’s humble opinion, Bryn is an incredibly real, believable young woman, and a heroine worth rooting for.

Beyond Bryn, there’s also a bevy of secondary characters that are also fully developed and wonderfully realized. Patrick, the love interest, is a strong hero with ambiguous loyalties and a shady past that is revealed gradually throughout the book – complete with a good amount of sexual tension (this is UF after all). Joe, Bryn’s other cohort, is hired muscle but a surprisingly caring family man with more going on beneath the surface. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as there are secret allies, sadistic and power-crazed villains, corporate zombies and double-agents all thrown into the mix.

In short, I loved this book – Working Stiff is an awesome start to a fantastic new series. Rachel Caine has done it again, and I cannot wait for next August.(less)

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Sep 20, 2011 Felicia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-paranormal, vaginal-urban-fantasy

OKAY! So I'm not as objective as I could be, because I know the author (But ONLY because I love her work, we connected over Twitter because I'm a fangirl, haha). Any Rachel Caine book has good stuff for me, but to be honest, I didn't really wanna read this book because I HATE ZOMBIES and whenever I see a book with zombies I immediately think of how bad they'd smell and then don't read. HOWEVER this book deals with the "undead" in a much more interesting, scientific way that I really enjoyed! It'...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Tatiana rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Starts very well - morbid, entertaining, fast-paced, with an interesting zombie twist.

Then gradually becomes dull. This book is not UF, but rather a mystery, but as such has nothing to offer in terms of paranormal. The heroine is humorless, with a very unconvincing military background and remains rather vanilla throughout the story, and her love interest has no charisma.

I need my UF to be more fun and have spunkier characters.

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May 04, 2012 All Things Urban Fantasy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-by-julia

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

From page one, WORKING STIFF was a wonderful surprise. I did not expect to fall in love with the heroine so quickly; Bryn's careful, quiet personality is so winning and fierce I was captivated. She has a life and a job history prior to working at the funeral home, and that made her all the more human and interesting. This rapport with Bryn is the gateway into her world, and gives emotional heft to the rest of the story.

And oh, what a story. So many fami...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Kwoomac rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, signed-copy, reviewed, sci-fi, undead

Goodreads giveaway. pretty cool premise: a pharmaceutical lab accidentally creates a drug that can revive the dead. Our protagonist works at a funeral home and stumbles upon her boss misusing the drug to revive dead clients who have the money to pay him to stay live. Not really stay alive as they are already dead when he first meets them. A family member who can pay requests the deal. Anyway, she gets murdered, brought back to life, and then gets involved in trying to figure out who all the play...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Sofija rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Strangely I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I am a huge fan of Ms.Caine works. I’ve read all of her series and enjoyed them immensely.

But “Working stiff” was not to her usual standards. Her style and ability to tell a story was still excellent, but this time the story was lacking compelling characters.

I can’t help to compare Bryn with other Ms.Caine heroines. Bryn wasn’t a badass as Joanne. I hated that she had her ass kicked all book long. She was in the army for four yea...more

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Jun 14, 2011 Feistygodwin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not sure what to think about this book. I finished it a couple of days ago and I still can't decide whether or not I love it or hate it, so I've decided it's somewhere in between and those usually turn out to be the best books in my experience.

This book alternated between riveting my attention to the page and creeping me the hell out. There were spots in this book where I couldn't NOT turn the page to find out what happened next! But there was a definite 'ick' factor to the book.

Bottom lin...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Kale rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Talk about rigor mortis. What a chore this book was to read.

Bryn Davis is an ex-military newly licensed mortician who stumbles upon the black market dealings of her employer. Turns out her boss sells more than death's accessories but a drug for an afterlife. Reanimation is all but impossible and Bryn is going to find out first hand as she's thrown into a second life filled with corporate espionage and dependent on finding the back ally dealer suppling the stolen drugs.

This whole book was stiff...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Heidi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First I would classify this book more as a Sci-Fi Thriller than a Paranormal Book. I think the labeling of this book as a "zombie" book is inaccurate and here is why...The main character Bryn is killed and brought back to life by a new wonder drug called Returne. This drug can restore a dead person to life but of course there is a catch and that is the person must receive a daily dose of the drug in order to maintain the facade of a normal functioning human being. Without the drug the body begin...more First I would classify this book more as a Sci-Fi Thriller than a Paranormal Book. I think the labeling of this book as a "zombie" book is inaccurate and here is why...The main character Bryn is killed and brought back to life by a new wonder drug called Returne. This drug can restore a dead person to life but of course there is a catch and that is the person must receive a daily dose of the drug in order to maintain the facade of a normal functioning human being. Without the drug the body begins to decay and rot within a week the "dead individual" is a living, rotting, maggot infested corpse.
Ms. Caine had two separate descriptions of this state in her book that I loved and will quote for you. ~
The first is "She was an animated, breathing mimicry of life" and the second quote from the book "The drug maintains you. It doesn't bring you back to life, just supports your vital functions. If you wanted to get poetic, I'd say it replaces your soul." ~
These two quotations best sum up the basis of the book. So if you are looking for the next zombie book this in my opinion does not fit the bill. However, there are many good reasons to read this book.
What I liked:
* The entire premise; the ability to bring people back from the dead with a drug is intriguing to say the least. The implications of this possibility are dangerous, mind-numbing. Not to mention the far reaching consequences. I was horrified at the perverse manipulations of the drug. We should hope that this drug Returne remains in the fiction classification.
* The morgue setting. The book begins with Bryn starting her first day as a funeral director at a mortuary. I was fascinated as I was dragged into the macabre of the funeral industry. Her boss and the mortician provide extra creepiness and chill factors. Then after an emotionally charged first day on the job to top it all off she is killed; talk about your bad first day. The roller coaster ride starts off thrilling.
* The good guys Joe Ferari and Patrick McCallister. I wasn't sure of their standings but each character has layers of complexities and as the book progresses and new facets to each of their personalities are provided I decided that they are affable and heroic.
Mr. French the lovable bulldog provided a little comic relief. I was disappointed that he just dropped out of the story.
* The twists and turns of this book were surprising. This book took me on an unexpected adventure and ended up being completely different from my expectations.

And the not so much:
* This book has a complex plot it starts out fast and thrilling but it is convoluted and the middle portion of the book dragged for me.
* I am not convinced that this can evolve into a best selling series. I enjoyed the book; it is a great stand alone story. Yes, there are plot lines that are designated as the basis for future novels but I can honestly say I am not sure if I will continue with this series. I am satisfied with the resolution. I am not compelled to madly rush out and purchase the next novel when it releases. I may read another book in this line or I may not. Too early too say.
* I was intrigued by the sinister characters of Fast Freddy and Mr. Fairview but they were taken out of the story prematurely. I thought they had more potential. Instead the bad guy turns out to be someone unexpected and it just didn't quite work for me.
* Finally I had problems with the idea of Bryn being a normal functioning human even though she was dead. The building of an intimate relationship between her and another character is unnerving. How could a normal living guy not be disturbed by intimacy with a dead girl? I am not certain that this is a viable possibility due to the many complications of Bryn being deceased.

Final thoughts, Working Stiff was an interesting book with a chilling concept. A good stand alone novel. It is not a zombie book. It works more as a sci-fi thriller. If you are looking for paranormal books with zombies and the supernatural this is not your book. I enjoyed the story but found the plot had several divergent paths that may be distracting for some readers. Yes, it got a little slow in the middle but then it picks up with surprises and thrills to the end. I would rate it 3 1/2 stars.(less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: other-reviews, arc-are

So far I have largely avoided the trend for all things zombie and perhaps that's why I overlooked the imminent release of Working Stiff, the first in a brand new series named Revivalist by Rachel Caine. I was a huge fan of her Weather Warden series so when I ran across the description of this novel I put aside my natural aversion to shambling mindless brain eaters and added it to my TBR. I figured that Caine might be the author to change my mind and convince me zombies had a place on my reading...more So far I have largely avoided the trend for all things zombie and perhaps that's why I overlooked the imminent release of Working Stiff, the first in a brand new series named Revivalist by Rachel Caine. I was a huge fan of her Weather Warden series so when I ran across the description of this novel I put aside my natural aversion to shambling mindless brain eaters and added it to my TBR. I figured that Caine might be the author to change my mind and convince me zombies had a place on my reading list.
Bryn is ex military and starting her civilian life as a funeral director. I like what we learn about her, she is smart, considered and strong but Bryn's first day does not go well. A teenage girl mourning her father commits suicide in the bathroom, the morgue attendant attempts to molest her, a gunman is roaming the halls and then she is murdered by her boss when she stumbles upon his nasty secret, an illicit trade in a drug called Returne that reanimates a deceased person and can keep them alive indefinitely as long as they continue to inject it. Hoping that Bryn can answer some questions, Patrick McCallister authorises the use of Returne to revive her and Bryn discovers she is now a pawn in the corrupt machinery of Pharmadene, the developer of the drug.
The actual idea of this drug is almost too horrifying to contemplate, and Caine instigates some twists that make it a particularly terrifying prospect. Unless Bryn receives her daily dose, for example, her body will begin to deteriorate while her mind will remain intact. Caine's description of the process isn't too graphic but my imagination shudders at the idea of slipping skin and leaking fluids. Really though, it's the emotional implications of Bryn's new status which gives her character an edge. Caine is quite brutal in exposing the issues Bryn now has to struggle with including the loss of her identity and ability to make life choices. Bryn is constantly under pressure, and the result is a raw, gritty intensity that provides depth to her character.
McCallister is the rich, mysterious, Alpha hero with all the appeal that implies but the developing romance is slightly awkward, after all Bryn is technically dead and McCallister is an ordinary human. If you can get past the connotation of necrophilia, then the partnership is actually fairly standard for the genre. Patrick is a little too dominant for my tastes but Caine does hint at emotional depths that I am sure will be revealed as the series progresses.
To be honest, zombies still creep me out but Rachel Caine has convinced me that Working Stiff is the start of an entertaining and exciting new series. This is a fast paced, action packed story with a strong premise and interesting characters and I am sure its going to quickly find a fan base amongst urban fantasy readers looking for something a little different. I'm looking forward to the next one already.(less)

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Jul 29, 2011 Kt from A Book Obsession.. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: received-for-review, signed, hardcopy

Bryn Davis knows being a funeral director won't be a very glamorous job, but it's a steady paycheck and she doesn't really mind death, or more accurately corpses. She's very happy to be starting her new job at Fairview Mortuary, but all that changes when she learns things aren't as cut and dry as they seemed. There's an extortion ring going on behind closed doors with deadly consequences. She teams up with Patrick McCallister to try and destroy the drug company behind it all, but things get a li...more Bryn Davis knows being a funeral director won't be a very glamorous job, but it's a steady paycheck and she doesn't really mind death, or more accurately corpses. She's very happy to be starting her new job at Fairview Mortuary, but all that changes when she learns things aren't as cut and dry as they seemed. There's an extortion ring going on behind closed doors with deadly consequences. She teams up with Patrick McCallister to try and destroy the drug company behind it all, but things get a little tricky as she also needs them to survive. Bryn will have to avoid being sucked down the rabbit hold too far or she will lose more than her life, or unlife as it were.

With Bryn's military background, and her nonchalance around corpses, I had assumed that she would just be another typical hard case urban fantasy heroine. So many of them are overly tough and have a laundry list of skills that sometimes seem to stretch the believable. I was very happy to find that my initial assumption about Bryn was very wrong. While she does has an amazing inner strength, she also isn't afraid to show emotion. You can really feel just how much everything effects her, and that sucked me right into caring for her plight. Now the other thing that make Bryn such an amazing character is that while she did have her breakdowns when things just got to be too much to bear, she never once let the situation get the best of her. She would cry it out and then "keep on trucking" as they say. The sheer determination it took to keep going was nothing short of admirable and I was rooting very hard for her every step of the way.

The world behind Working Stiff was truly spellbinding, yet also quite terrifying. With everything centered around the extreme corporate corruption, it makes you wonder how much of the events in the book parallel things that could happen in real life. The resurrection drug may be a little far fetched in our reality, but if you just picture some other "miracle" drug in place of it, I imagine things could really get that deadly in the end as everyone scrambles to control it. However, putting the corruption aspect aside, what truly makes Working Stiff such an incredible read is the depth of emotion in the characters. Somehow they are still able to form real connections, despite the extreme paranoia and lack of trust. What should have been survival of the fittest, with an every man for themselves mentality, became shaky alliances and then steadily into something a little more. By choosing to trust one another in the unbearable situations, they proved their humanity and truly solidified my attachment.

Working Stiff took off with a bang and never once slowed down. Typically a book takes a little while to really gain the reader's interest and attachment to the characters, but in Working Stiff, I found myself captivated from almost the very start. There was plenty of action, with even the slower parts being full of danger, suspense and paranoia. I can honestly say that I have never read anything quite like this book, but I absolutely loved it. In fact, Working Stiff may just be Rachel Caine's best work yet, and trust me that is saying something. As soon as I finished it I was already looking for more, and I simply cannot wait to see what happens next. If you are looking for a fast paced read full of action and danger to keep you more than entertained, the Working Stiff is perfect for you.
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Aug 24, 2011 Christen *Goldilox And The Three Weres* rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

"There were so many layers of reality to the world. Nothing stopped for death; nothing stopped for grief or horror or tragedy."

Working Stiff is the first in Rachel Caine's new Revivalist series. Prior to this, I had only been exposed to Caine's writing through the first in her Weather Wardens series, which I had mixed feelings about. After reading Working Stiff I'm ready to dive into anything she's written! I really really liked this book! I really don't know how to classify it though. I think...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, paranormal

I was thoroughly surprised by this book. I wasn't expecting the twist on the living dead that Rachel Caine has provided us with in Working Stiff.
In the beginning of the book, it took me a little bit to get in to it b/c I wasn't connecting very well with our main character, Bryn. The story was a little slow and then around chapter 3 or so, it all changed for me. The action spiked up and the next thing I know, I am well engrossed and didn't want to put the book down. To top it off, I am very intr...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Renu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Bryn, my job is to make sure you don’t do anything stupid. So yeah. I followed you. When you leave your house in the middle-class version of ninja clothes, I pay attention. You didn’t look like you were running out for milk and kibble."

As a fan of Caine's Morganville Vampire series I had high expectations going into this and I'm happy to say it did not disappoint...

Working Stiff introduces us to Bryn Davis, a women who has spent the past four years in Iraq as part of the military, but by no mea...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Nic marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

New series, I can't wait. I wonder if this is to take over from Morganville when it ends :( I'm going to miss that series (especially Shane)

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Oct 31, 2011 Marg K. marked it as did-not-finish · review of another edition

Did Not Finish

You know those cliched horror movies in which a beautiful young woman is home alone, and after hearing strange ominous noises coming from the creepy dark basement, she decides to go investigate it on her own despite every instinct in her body telling her to run in the opposite direction as fast as humanly possible? And do you recall how frustrated you felt watching that scene all the while yelling, "Don't go to the basement, you effin' idiot!"?

That's basically what happens at the b...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

reviewed by http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blo...

I was pleasantly surprised with WORKING STIFF. I'm not crazy about the cover so I wasn't overly excited to pick this book up but I saw some 5 star reviews from reviewers I usually agree with so I traded for it. Bryn is former military and decides to work in a funeral home. On her first day everything starts out ok until she ends up working late and seeing things she isn't supposed to and is murdered. Only she doesn't stay dead, she is resurrect...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Slayashell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read lots of conflicting reviews for this book and was wondering if i should pick it up, but i thought it was a very different story as i get bored with the same old thing i did decide to read it so this was not my usual book no sexy vampires etc but the lead male is strong and for once is not the one that comes in to save the day the female lead character is also strong finding her way in a world that has not changed where as she has changed with a death only in this case it was her own in th...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Yolanda Sfetsos rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, zombies, thriller

I'm a big Rachel Caine fan, so when I heard she had a new series coming out, I had to get the first book. And man, am I glad I did! Even though I've still got the last two Weather Warden books on my TBR bookshelf--on purpose, because I'm just not ready to say 'goodbye' to that series yet :(--I knew this one wouldn't sit there for long. I wasn't wrong. ;)

When Bryn Davis goes to Fairview Mortuary for her first day of work, she sure as hell didn't expect it to become the day from hell! Seriously. S...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Sabrina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For some authors, I reverse my usual logic in the star-assignment process: they've proven to be consistent in their good jobs, so I just assume a starting point of a maximum rating and eventually go down from there.
Rachel Caine surely has a place in this empyrean of trustworthy authors. So why the missing stars? What did go wrong in this book?
Nothing major.
But from Rachel Caine I would have expected more.
God, I'm sounding like my literature teacher back in high school. But I felt a bit let down...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, urban, arcs, dropbox

This book surprised me from page one, Bryn's careful, quiet personality is so winning and fierce I was captivated. I love that she has a life and a job history prior to working at the funeral home, it made her all the more human and interesting. As much as I was interested in Bryn as an individual, the world in which she moved was captivating. So many familiar themes of immortality, loss and vulnerability were woven into this most delicate balancing act of rebirth. This book felt so much more li...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Shelley aka Gizmo's Reviews rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-releases, genre-urban-fantasy

*Rating* B-
*Genre* Urban Fantasy

*Review*

Having read the entire Weather Warden series, as well as the Morganville Vampires YA series by Ms. Caine, I really didn't have much hesitation in starting Working Stiff, the first book in the Revivalist series.

Caine’s main protagonist is Bryn Davis a 26 year old Iraq war veteran who isn’t afraid of dead bodies. Let me stop here for a minute and say to those that have served or are still serving in that country; thank you very much for your service, your d...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Maria V. Snyder rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The premise for this novel sounded intriguing and it's written by Rachel Caine, so reading this was a no brainer for me :) I liked the world and the supporting characters were cool, but I had some problems with the main character, Brin. She had such potential, but there isn't enough plot to really show what she can do, and she's very passive throughout the book. Lots of things happen to her, but rarely does she initiate anything - the plot problems are solved by others. She does get pro-active a...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Sevie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 02, 2013 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: men-in-uniform, paranormal-mystery, zombies

Working Stiff
4.5 Stars

I'm not really a fan of Zombies but Caine's version is unique and compelling. The plot is excellent with numerous unpredictable twists and turns and the heroine comes across as very real despite her circumstances.

The books deals with some interesting concepts, such as the idea of death as a business and the types of people involved in the funeral industry. It also offers a criticism of the cold, corporate entity willing to do anything for the bottom line and a government m...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

This book was profoundly disturbing. The gravity and depth of the issues that were woven into the plot overwhelmed what would otherwise have been another well-written and innocuously entertaining Rachel Caine book. In no particular order, we are hit with the question of what constitutes death, whether souls exist (and if not, what is it that animates your body), what makes you you, whether your rights of personhood terminate upon death, who has rights to your body after you die, the ethics of ad...more This book was profoundly disturbing. The gravity and depth of the issues that were woven into the plot overwhelmed what would otherwise have been another well-written and innocuously entertaining Rachel Caine book. In no particular order, we are hit with the question of what constitutes death, whether souls exist (and if not, what is it that animates your body), what makes you you, whether your rights of personhood terminate upon death, who has rights to your body after you die, the ethics of administering expensive experimental drugs and who should bear the cost, whether treatment should be continued or discontinued if the patient can no longer afford it, who should profit from a radically new and effective treatment, who should benefit from this treatment (and who decides who receives it), and whether a new treatment should be suppressed if it will undermine society as we know it.

On a lighter note, we also get to examine the business of death (from a funeral parlor perspective) and whether you are serving or exploiting the grieving survivors, what sorts of people work in the funeral industry (vultures, freaks, or true believers), the lack of oversight in private pharmaceutical research facilities, and the (un)trustworthiness of the FBI and government enforcement agencies and their propensity to "cover up" problems instead of solve them. You also spend a good portion of the book with "woman as victim", abuse at the hands of sociopathic men, a drug which has built into it the means to remove free will and to enslave the users, and several highly dysfunctional families.

By reading the cover blurb, you will immediately learn that the protagonist will be killed, and brought back to life by means of an experimental drug. Caine's choice to set this up as a full death, followed by resurrection, upsets our comfortable familiarity with other fictional life-after-death or dependent-on-substance-to-survive scenarios. With vampires, we understand death is involved, but it's highly sanitized, and usually leaves you chock full of supernatural powers, enhanced beauty and strength, and a built-in social structure. You may need blood or death every night to survive, but it is readily available, not a tightly controlled commodity. In the case of someone who has been poisoned, and henceforth depends on someone for the antidote, well, they aren't really dead, are they? So as long as they line up their dose before it wears off, they're going to keep on living--and they will probably find a cure before the end of their story. But here? Here we have rot. There is no cure. Dead is dead is dead.

Since the book is subtitled "Revivalist #1", Caine doubtless has a three- to five-book arc planned; however, this is one series that I will wait for completion before reading further. The only questions that I am curious about are whether Caine will somehow get the genie back into the bottle (will the drug miraculously be eliminated or transform to be useless?), and will she take the easy way out and find a permanent cure for the protagonist (a mutation to her nanites, perhaps?), rather than letting her rest in peace at the end.(less)

1 like · like · see review

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About Rachel Caine

Rachel Caine is a pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad.

She has also published as:
Roxanne Longstreet
Roxanne Conrad
Julie Fortune
Ian Hammell

Her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/rachelcainef...

More about Rachel Caine...

Books by Rachel Caine

Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires, #1)

Feast of Fools (The Morganville Vampires, #4)

Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires, #3)

The Dead Girls' Dance (The Morganville Vampires, #2)

Carpe Corpus (The Morganville Vampires, #6)

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Quotes from Working Stiff

“There were so many layers of reality to the world. Nothing stopped for death; nothing stopped for grief or horror or tragedy.” — 12 people liked it

“I get maudlin. Some people drink; some get depressed; some run around having sex with anyone with a pulse. Me, I get philosophical. It’s healthier.” — 10 people liked it

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Working Stiff (Revivalist #1)

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