Dead To Me

published	2008 by Ace
binding	Paperback
isbn	0441015786 (isbn13: 9780441015788)
pages	368
setting	New York
description	A new urban fantasy featuring a man working on the right side of law-with talents that come from left field. Psychometry-the power t...more [close] A new urban fantasy featuring a man working on the right side of law-with talents that come from left field. Psychometry-the power to touch an object and divine information about its history-has meant a life of petty crime for Simon Canderous, but now he's gone over to the good side. At New York's underfunded and (mostly) secret Department of Extraordinary Affairs, he's learning about red tape, office politics, and the basics of paranormal investigation. But it's not the paperwork that has him breathless. After Simon spills his coffee on (okay, through) the ghost of a beautiful woman-who doesn't know she's dead-he and his mentor plan to find her killers. But Simon's not prepared for the nefarious plot that unfolds before him, involving politically correct cultists, a large wooden fish, a homicidal bookcase, and the forces of Darkness, which kind of have a crush on him.
date added	09-03-07 edit book

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Schnaucl rated it:

03/18/08

bookshelves: fiction, owned, read_2008, urban_fantasy

Read in March, 2008

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

I nearly stopped reading this book several times. I'm not quite sure why I didn't except that I hate to leave a book unread and the books I'd ordered haven't arrived yet.

My first problem is with the language. I'll freely admit that I have a bias against using Internet slang. For the most part I don't even like it all that much on the Internet and I hate it in prose. So when the main character describes himself as a noob, I was irritated. Newbie is used a few times and I find that less gr...more I nearly stopped reading this book several times. I'm not quite sure why I didn't except that I hate to leave a book unread and the books I'd ordered haven't arrived yet.

My first problem is with the language. I'll freely admit that I have a bias against using Internet slang. For the most part I don't even like it all that much on the Internet and I hate it in prose. So when the main character describes himself as a noob, I was irritated. Newbie is used a few times and I find that less grating. But characters are also described as sharing a "WTF look" and "?!" is rarely acceptable punctuation.

The language really contributed to the characters feeling like juveniles. It really had very little to do with the main characters' inexperience and everything to do with their attitudes. For example, one of the major female characters has a diary entry that's filled with "dearest diary" and multiple exclamation points. She sounds like she's 12. But then, so does he, so at least it's not a gender issue.

The main character, Simon, also thinks in very simplistic terms. When he's having dinner with someone from a rival organization he thinks of her as The Enemy and refers to her as such. Again, it makes him seem not like he's inexperienced, but like he's 12. He also has trouble controlling his temper. When does it become acceptable for a grown man to go into an office building and beat someone's desk with his bat? Grow up. Then again, the world Strout created is almost as black and white as Simon believes, despite his attempts to make it seem like there are shades of gray. Jane is working for evil because evil has a great benefits package. But she's never really evil herself. The only even slightly morally ambiguous character is an undercover agent and even he is pure good even if he is a jerk.

The world building is also not handled very well. Strout can't seem to decide if the world at large knows about the paranormal or not. There's a vast machinery in place to deal with it and no one is supposed to know, and that's fine, but then he has a reporter asking with a straight face about ghosts.

I think he tried to make it a comedy, although sometimes the book does try to take itself sort of seriously. Unfortunately, the book is neither funny nor witty. Things that started off amusing are brought up so often they start to feel like an SNL skit, going on long after they stopped being funny. Yes, pamphlets for everything is kind of funny if used sparingly, not if it's referenced a few times nearly every chapter. Also, we get it, people in New York are strange, so strange they might or might not be involved in the paranormal.

I was disappointed in the book because I think the premise is an interesting one. If treated in a more serious manner it would have been interesting to explore the problems a man with Simon's power would have. But serious is not what the author was going for and that's fine. But I don't think he pulled off a comedy, either.

It's a first novel, so maybe I should cut him some slack but it does read more like original fiction you'd find on the web than a published novel. I think it would have worked a lot better as a young adult novel. Certainly it would be a better fit for the maturity level of the characters....less

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Dead To Me

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