Book Review: Wrong Side of Dead by Kelly Meding
The fourth and most recent volume in Meding's Dreg City series takes everything that she had built in the first three books, shakes it up, flips it and drops it on its head. Following her escape from torture at the hands of crazed scientist Walter Thackery, Evangeline "Evy" Stone returns to find an alliance forged between humans, vampires, and Therians (shape-shifters that change from animal to human form) united against a common foe, Thackery.
The devious geneticist is determined to find a cure for the infection in humans caused by vampire saliva. Years before, Thackery's wife and son had been attacked and bitten by half-human vampires (known as "Halfies"). When he was unable to find a cure for the raging, murderous insanity that consumes Halfie victims, Thackery had been forced to kill his family. Now, his obsession for finding the antidote has driven him far beyond the bounds of compassion and medical ethics and into ruthless barbarism. After a fruitless attempt to find it through sadistic experimentation on Evy Stone, whose uncanny ability to spontaneously heal was thought to be the answer, Thackery turns his attention along a new path of research...
The adventure begins when Boot Camp, a brutal military-style academy for training human Hunters, is attacked and destroyed by monstrous genetically-altered creatures created by Thackery himself. Evy Stone had been trained there as well as dozens of other Hunters who, upon graduation, are grouped in teams of three known as Triads and assigned to a Handler. The Handler is responsible for sending his or her Triad on missions throughout the city, typically to kill non-human creatures of the night when they get out of line.
This untested and dubious alliance of humans and non-humans makes its headquarters in an abandoned shopping mall, now retrofitted with a war room, crew quarters, infirmary, holding cells, cafeteria and gymnasium. A magic spell surrounds the area, subtly dissuading passersby from paying the slightest attention. The facility is dubbed "The Watchtower." No sooner does this new order set up shop than seven Therians are reported missing from their homes, thought to be kidnapped by agents working for Thackery.
To make matters worse, in a recent incursion with Halfies on a bus, one of their own Hunters, Felix, fell victim to their bite and has himself become one of them. He had managed to escape and is now at large. Due to the danger they pose to society, Halfies are hunted with extreme prejudice and killed on sight. Yet when Evy and her Therian allies corner Felix on the rooftop of a nightclub, they are surprised to find that he is rational, cogent and rather...well...sane. Rather than kill him, they capture and imprison Felix at the Watchtower for questioning where he admits to working with Thackery and that the scientist has found a drug that inhibits the madness caused by Halfie saliva. Unfortunately, before Felix can answer any further questions, a bomb implanted inside his body by Thackery detonates.
Although only Felix is killed, the bomb releases an airborne toxin that infects the pure-breed vampires living and working in the Watchtower. Worse, it is discovered that Thackery has employed not just one, but a pack of werewolves known as Lupa, long thought to be exterminated by the other Therians centuries ago. While on a mission, Evy and her Handler-turned-lover Wyatt Truman are attacked by one of the Lupa and Wyatt is bitten. It is not long before his body and mind are ravaged by the poison from the werewolf's saliva and the Watchtower's CMO is forced to induce coma to stabilize him.
With the odds now stacked against them, will the alliance be able to track down Thackery and the missing Therians before his new line of research leaves yet another trail of bodies in its wake? And what of Wyatt? Will he be cured of the poison that is turning man into beast, or will Evy lose him forever?
And is there an even deeper conspiracy at work? One that calls into question the very founding of the Triads, Boot Camp and the Hunters?
Like the other books in the series, Wrong Side of Dead is a quick, action-packed read that ties up a few loose ends in the previous books without actually resolving all of them—and introduces two or three more. Clues and hints, cleverly sprinkled throughout the series, bear fruit here and are clear evidence of thorough world-building and plotting. Word has it that although Bantam Dell has canceled the Dreg City series, Meding will self-publish the fifth installment. As of this writing, I have not heard of a release date.
Overall, it has been an enjoyable saga thus far. As far as protagonists go, Evy Stone is at times amazing and other times infuriating and unreasonable. However, like any good hero, she undergoes an obvious change from hard-ass killer—who actually enjoys her job—to rape and murder victim only to be resurrected in a new body and slowly transform into a woman still more than capable of handling herself, but also of expressing love and kindness in a life that has precious little of either. As the review states in the cover image below, Meding is a real storyteller who knows how to move the story along, write dynamic action scenes and develop strong, memorable characters.
The devious geneticist is determined to find a cure for the infection in humans caused by vampire saliva. Years before, Thackery's wife and son had been attacked and bitten by half-human vampires (known as "Halfies"). When he was unable to find a cure for the raging, murderous insanity that consumes Halfie victims, Thackery had been forced to kill his family. Now, his obsession for finding the antidote has driven him far beyond the bounds of compassion and medical ethics and into ruthless barbarism. After a fruitless attempt to find it through sadistic experimentation on Evy Stone, whose uncanny ability to spontaneously heal was thought to be the answer, Thackery turns his attention along a new path of research...
The adventure begins when Boot Camp, a brutal military-style academy for training human Hunters, is attacked and destroyed by monstrous genetically-altered creatures created by Thackery himself. Evy Stone had been trained there as well as dozens of other Hunters who, upon graduation, are grouped in teams of three known as Triads and assigned to a Handler. The Handler is responsible for sending his or her Triad on missions throughout the city, typically to kill non-human creatures of the night when they get out of line.
This untested and dubious alliance of humans and non-humans makes its headquarters in an abandoned shopping mall, now retrofitted with a war room, crew quarters, infirmary, holding cells, cafeteria and gymnasium. A magic spell surrounds the area, subtly dissuading passersby from paying the slightest attention. The facility is dubbed "The Watchtower." No sooner does this new order set up shop than seven Therians are reported missing from their homes, thought to be kidnapped by agents working for Thackery.
To make matters worse, in a recent incursion with Halfies on a bus, one of their own Hunters, Felix, fell victim to their bite and has himself become one of them. He had managed to escape and is now at large. Due to the danger they pose to society, Halfies are hunted with extreme prejudice and killed on sight. Yet when Evy and her Therian allies corner Felix on the rooftop of a nightclub, they are surprised to find that he is rational, cogent and rather...well...sane. Rather than kill him, they capture and imprison Felix at the Watchtower for questioning where he admits to working with Thackery and that the scientist has found a drug that inhibits the madness caused by Halfie saliva. Unfortunately, before Felix can answer any further questions, a bomb implanted inside his body by Thackery detonates.
Although only Felix is killed, the bomb releases an airborne toxin that infects the pure-breed vampires living and working in the Watchtower. Worse, it is discovered that Thackery has employed not just one, but a pack of werewolves known as Lupa, long thought to be exterminated by the other Therians centuries ago. While on a mission, Evy and her Handler-turned-lover Wyatt Truman are attacked by one of the Lupa and Wyatt is bitten. It is not long before his body and mind are ravaged by the poison from the werewolf's saliva and the Watchtower's CMO is forced to induce coma to stabilize him.
With the odds now stacked against them, will the alliance be able to track down Thackery and the missing Therians before his new line of research leaves yet another trail of bodies in its wake? And what of Wyatt? Will he be cured of the poison that is turning man into beast, or will Evy lose him forever?
And is there an even deeper conspiracy at work? One that calls into question the very founding of the Triads, Boot Camp and the Hunters?
Like the other books in the series, Wrong Side of Dead is a quick, action-packed read that ties up a few loose ends in the previous books without actually resolving all of them—and introduces two or three more. Clues and hints, cleverly sprinkled throughout the series, bear fruit here and are clear evidence of thorough world-building and plotting. Word has it that although Bantam Dell has canceled the Dreg City series, Meding will self-publish the fifth installment. As of this writing, I have not heard of a release date.
Overall, it has been an enjoyable saga thus far. As far as protagonists go, Evy Stone is at times amazing and other times infuriating and unreasonable. However, like any good hero, she undergoes an obvious change from hard-ass killer—who actually enjoys her job—to rape and murder victim only to be resurrected in a new body and slowly transform into a woman still more than capable of handling herself, but also of expressing love and kindness in a life that has precious little of either. As the review states in the cover image below, Meding is a real storyteller who knows how to move the story along, write dynamic action scenes and develop strong, memorable characters.
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