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Necromancer for Hire
April Sullivan is a young woman with a special gift. She can raise the dead. This collection of stories introduces you to the April's world, the world of a professional necromancer. Her days and nights populated with vampires, werewolves, and demons as well others of her stock in trade, April must use all the tools at her disposal, mystical and otherwise, not only to ply her trade, but to stay alive. This first collection gathers the initial seven April stories, from their homes in various anthologies, into one volume for the first time. "Necrodance" - April teaches a serial killer a lesson on the difference between being the hunter and being the hunted. "Bonds of Blood" - Sibling rivalry takes a new spin as April and her vampire brother meet to "discuss" the affairs of their ailing mother. "Solstice" - April must combat the necromancer who taught her everything she knows before he can raise an army. And the army he intends to raise: Arlington National Cemetery. "Class Reunion" - April attends the funeral of the first boy she ever loved, but dark events converge to ensure he doesn't rest in peace. "Solomon" - April plays a dangerous game of chance with a demon with her immortal soul as collateral. "Symphony of Wolves" - April's boyfriend takes her to the symphony on the night of the full moon. What could go wrong? "The Fall and Rise of Julian LaMorte" - An origin story of sorts for April's once mentor now nemesis. This book clocks in at just over 150 pages and is perfect if you're looking for a quick, fun read in the urban fantasy genre. And in case you really like, never fear, for more April is on the way!
158 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2012
5 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Darin Kennedy
37 books79 followersDarin Kennedy, born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Bowman Gray School of Medicine. After completing family medicine residency in the mountains of Virginia, he served eight years as a United States Army physician and wrote his first novel in 2003 in the sands of northern Iraq. His debut novel, The Mussorgsky Riddle, was born from a fusion of two of his lifelong loves—classical music and world mythology— and is slated for publication by Curiosity Quills Press in Fall/Winter 2014. His short stories can be found in various publications, as well as two short story compilations available on Amazon, and he is currently hard at work on his next novel. Doctor by day and novelist by night, he writes and practices medicine in Charlotte, North Carolina. When not engaged in either of the above activities, he has been known strum the guitar, enjoy a bite of sushi, and rumor has it he even sleeps on occasion. He is represented by Stacey Donaghy at Donaghy Literary Group. Find him online at darinkennedy.com.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 30, 2022
“This… necromancy stuff. Like you said, it’s what you do, but never forget it isn’t who you are. Don’t get so wrapped up in death that you forget to live your life, understand?”
Life and death must remain in perfect balance in April Sullivan’s life, let she lose herself. This is severely complicated when she makes enemies who want nothing more than to see her dead. Or perhaps they want to see her suffer a fate worse than death?
Necromancer For Hire is a series of short stories written by Darin Kennedy. Lest it seem like an anthology, they are all connected through a few central characters who are intertwined in a difficult and delicate dance.
April is the kind of woman you love to root for. Sharp and sexy, she is the perfect protagonist in many ways. And yet, a darkness resides inside of her which cannot be removed from her personality. It is part of who she is.
Her gift, a natural talent, she hires out to the anyone with the money to pay. She can answer unresolved questions, ask your uncle bob where he hid his will, search for treasure someone buried in the back yard, or just give that loved one a chance to say goodbye. Again, all at a price.
And yet, she values life over death. Which is the thing, on balance, which keeps her on the path of good over evil. Enter Gavin, her new boyfriend who also adds to her positives on the balance sheet. A police officer with a moral compass, he sticks by her side. Even if it could mean his own life.
Necromancer For Hire is well written and enjoyable. It’s short story format really is easily digestible. A fun work, I very much enjoyed the differing flavors of the stories as well as being able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Out of all of the stories, I really enjoyed Symphony of Wolves the most. But that is just me. There was a quirky and fun flavor to it which allowed me to read the story for the sheer enjoyment of reading the story.
Well written, well edited, and just fun. I can highly recommend Necromancer For Hire by Darin Kennedy. I really am looking forward to reading more of his works in the future.
Life and death must remain in perfect balance in April Sullivan’s life, let she lose herself. This is severely complicated when she makes enemies who want nothing more than to see her dead. Or perhaps they want to see her suffer a fate worse than death?
Necromancer For Hire is a series of short stories written by Darin Kennedy. Lest it seem like an anthology, they are all connected through a few central characters who are intertwined in a difficult and delicate dance.
April is the kind of woman you love to root for. Sharp and sexy, she is the perfect protagonist in many ways. And yet, a darkness resides inside of her which cannot be removed from her personality. It is part of who she is.
Her gift, a natural talent, she hires out to the anyone with the money to pay. She can answer unresolved questions, ask your uncle bob where he hid his will, search for treasure someone buried in the back yard, or just give that loved one a chance to say goodbye. Again, all at a price.
And yet, she values life over death. Which is the thing, on balance, which keeps her on the path of good over evil. Enter Gavin, her new boyfriend who also adds to her positives on the balance sheet. A police officer with a moral compass, he sticks by her side. Even if it could mean his own life.
Necromancer For Hire is well written and enjoyable. It’s short story format really is easily digestible. A fun work, I very much enjoyed the differing flavors of the stories as well as being able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Out of all of the stories, I really enjoyed Symphony of Wolves the most. But that is just me. There was a quirky and fun flavor to it which allowed me to read the story for the sheer enjoyment of reading the story.
Well written, well edited, and just fun. I can highly recommend Necromancer For Hire by Darin Kennedy. I really am looking forward to reading more of his works in the future.
December 16, 2025
"Necromancer for Hire" by Darin Kennedy was a nice and easy read. It was a collection of short stories and introduced me to April's character. I like the scene where Gavin pulled April over for speeding. Gavin is wondering what he got himself into. I will definitely read more in this world when Darin writes them. Darin is a new to me author, and I am enjoying his writing style.
May 7, 2024
I love anthologies and those that revolve around a single character are somewhat hard to write well enough to keep a reader interested over multiple, loosely connected vignettes. Darin Kennedy does it magnificently. This book of seven short stories about a necromancer who not only has the necessary gift for her trade, but also has compassion for both the living and the dead is an amazing collection of tales. I thought that the introduction of a love interest happened too early, but that character adds a necessary viewpoint to each of the stories in which he appears. I am waiting to read more about April Sullivan.
June 1, 2020
4.5 — and although I know Darin, this is an honest review.
The book is a collection of short stories featuring April Sullivan, necromancer. Sometimes she raises the dead for people to have a last word. Sometimes she finds other people raising the dead to do bad things and kills them. Here she battles vampires, evil necromancers, a serial killer and a werewolf. As the stories were written for different anthologies, they're all a little different in viewpoint and tone but it works.
The book is a collection of short stories featuring April Sullivan, necromancer. Sometimes she raises the dead for people to have a last word. Sometimes she finds other people raising the dead to do bad things and kills them. Here she battles vampires, evil necromancers, a serial killer and a werewolf. As the stories were written for different anthologies, they're all a little different in viewpoint and tone but it works.
September 12, 2022
I got to meet Darin at Dragon Con, and looking over his books this one called to me. I love short story collections, especially single author ones in a shared world. Each of these stories are fairly standalone, but definitely build on each other. The last tale has me looking forward to the next set, as it's perfectly set up for the series to continue. Fantastic work.
July 15, 2019
Super fun fast read! I hope Ms. Sullivan will be featured in another novel soon!!!
February 2, 2020
A first peek into an interesting character and world. I can't wait for the next work featuring April.
March 30, 2024
3.5 stars. Fun, fast read of a series of short stores in the necromancer, female crime fighter genre. Lots of action - would love to see a full length book in this universe.
September 26, 2019
What a great book.
The author pulls you into the world of April Sullivan, Necromancer for Hire, with a series of stories that are impactful and fun to read. Lots of good twists and turns in these stories.
A must read!
The author pulls you into the world of April Sullivan, Necromancer for Hire, with a series of stories that are impactful and fun to read. Lots of good twists and turns in these stories.
A must read!
May 9, 2016
A collection of short stories on a reoccurring character, April Sullivan -- Necromancer, by Darin Kennedy. Some of the collection are amazing, most are good, and all hit the mark. Seven stories in all published over a period of three years, four of the seven were published in other anthologies before the rights reverted to Dr. Kennedy.
"Necrodance" introduces us to April Sullivan in a creepy story where you are never certain who is the hunter. (4 stars)
"Bonds of Blood" give us a bit of insight into April's family life and her full abilities. (4 stars)
"Solstice" has switching POVs between April and a cop who pulled her over for a routine speeding ticket and gets far more than he expected. There is reasons cops are worried during every pullover - the danger is real. Though usually not involving a century-old necromancer raising entire graveyards of soldiers during a lunar eclipse. (Story has to take place December 22, 2010 - the only time since 1638 for a lunar eclipse on the Winter Solstice. - Yep, this story wasn't just made up because it was cool. Mr. Kennedy chose an actual event.) (4 stars - plus a bonus star for getting the eclipse right)
"Class Reunion" is the best of the story stories because the emotions of everyone involved. Each and every character has agency, personality, and impact to the outcome of the story. Everyone changes because of the story, even April a little. This story is unique to the collection and hadn't been published before. (5 stars)
"Solomon" - I first read in the Big Bad anthology, and I think it works better in the mix of that anthology then in this collection. When I read it as part of the anthology, I was jamming on the Big Bad of the story - when I read it as part of the collection, I focused on our necromancer anti-hero. Interesting how you can read the story and have two completely different take-aways based on what other stories surround it. (3 stars in this collection; 4 stars in the anthology)
The final two stories - "Symphony of Wolves" and "The Fall and Rise of Julian LaMorte" - were written for this collection. Symphony is as action packed as Solstice, while Fall and Rise is perhaps the weakest of the lot because it's more a prologue for the upcoming novelette than a stand-alone story. (4 stars and 2 stars respectively)
Average 4 stars. As Goodreads rating states "I really liked it."
***
If you are interested in the technical side of writing, each short story of the collection has a different point of view (POV) style. "Necrodance" is first-person POV (not April!). "Bonds of Blood" is third-person POV. "Solstice" is alternating first person POV (April and the cop). "Class Reunion" finally has the typical urban fantasy first-person POV on the main character. "Solomon"'s first person POV again returns to the adversary of April we saw in "Necrodance". "Symphony of Wolves" is third-person, and "The Rise and Fall..." is first-person adversary.
Hmmm - I liked "Class Reunion" the best, could it be because it follows the traditional formula the closest? Again, if you are interested in the technical side of writing looking over this collection written by the same author and same character with the same "voice" but with different POVs can help give you a feel of how POV can change things.
"Necrodance" introduces us to April Sullivan in a creepy story where you are never certain who is the hunter. (4 stars)
"Bonds of Blood" give us a bit of insight into April's family life and her full abilities. (4 stars)
"Solstice" has switching POVs between April and a cop who pulled her over for a routine speeding ticket and gets far more than he expected. There is reasons cops are worried during every pullover - the danger is real. Though usually not involving a century-old necromancer raising entire graveyards of soldiers during a lunar eclipse. (Story has to take place December 22, 2010 - the only time since 1638 for a lunar eclipse on the Winter Solstice. - Yep, this story wasn't just made up because it was cool. Mr. Kennedy chose an actual event.) (4 stars - plus a bonus star for getting the eclipse right)
"Class Reunion" is the best of the story stories because the emotions of everyone involved. Each and every character has agency, personality, and impact to the outcome of the story. Everyone changes because of the story, even April a little. This story is unique to the collection and hadn't been published before. (5 stars)
"Solomon" - I first read in the Big Bad anthology, and I think it works better in the mix of that anthology then in this collection. When I read it as part of the anthology, I was jamming on the Big Bad of the story - when I read it as part of the collection, I focused on our necromancer anti-hero. Interesting how you can read the story and have two completely different take-aways based on what other stories surround it. (3 stars in this collection; 4 stars in the anthology)
The final two stories - "Symphony of Wolves" and "The Fall and Rise of Julian LaMorte" - were written for this collection. Symphony is as action packed as Solstice, while Fall and Rise is perhaps the weakest of the lot because it's more a prologue for the upcoming novelette than a stand-alone story. (4 stars and 2 stars respectively)
Average 4 stars. As Goodreads rating states "I really liked it."
***
If you are interested in the technical side of writing, each short story of the collection has a different point of view (POV) style. "Necrodance" is first-person POV (not April!). "Bonds of Blood" is third-person POV. "Solstice" is alternating first person POV (April and the cop). "Class Reunion" finally has the typical urban fantasy first-person POV on the main character. "Solomon"'s first person POV again returns to the adversary of April we saw in "Necrodance". "Symphony of Wolves" is third-person, and "The Rise and Fall..." is first-person adversary.
Hmmm - I liked "Class Reunion" the best, could it be because it follows the traditional formula the closest? Again, if you are interested in the technical side of writing looking over this collection written by the same author and same character with the same "voice" but with different POVs can help give you a feel of how POV can change things.
January 31, 2013
The obvious draw for the April Sullivan Chronicles would be the main character. A kick-ass female protagonist who can communicate with the dead? Yes please! Sign me-up! Plus, she also happens to have a vampire for a brother. The plot thickens. What many readers will find intriguing is how Darin Kennedy has chosen to tell April's tale by incorporating multiple viewpoints for the various installments that will be added to this collection. The move is risky as well as unique. Kennedy's prose shows dedication to the craft, as well as an ability to render action on the page in a way that sucks the reader in. On all counts, from imagery to dialogue, this is a read that won't disappoint, and it's only going to get better as the author adds more!
July 5, 2013
Disclaimer - I'm obviously a big fan of April as she is my creation. I wanted to put the book on my "already been read" list. The five stars merely represents my five-star effort to bring you the best set of stories I can. Whether it earns five stars from you, the reader, I guess we'll both have to wait and see. In any case, hope everyone enjoys April's tales! -Darin
August 28, 2015
A fun, fast paced collection of stories
This is an enjoyable collection of stories about a clever heroine. Great urban fantasy without a lot of gore. Intelligent and well written, it's definitely worth your time.
This is an enjoyable collection of stories about a clever heroine. Great urban fantasy without a lot of gore. Intelligent and well written, it's definitely worth your time.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews