brandonsears

Sam is a collector. A collector of souls! You see, Sam's wife had contracted a strain of TB and in a moment of desperation, Sam accepted a sketchy employment opportunity from a gentleman named Dumas. While Dumas promised a complete recovery on the part of Sam's wife, he remained closed mouth on the true nature of his employment. Unfortunately for many, deals of this nature are extremely short sighted and if Sam possessed the foresight to know what his future would entail, he may have taken a little more time to come to his decision.

Dead Harvest is what you get when you fill a casserole dish with equal parts detective noir, supernatural sci-fi, cover it with some snappy dialogue, pop it in the oven and broil the shit out of it. What you get is a recipe that will not only satisfy your palate but leave you hungry for more.

I feel like Chris Holm had some excellent ideas here and you can tell he was influenced by some similar work that came before him (Hellblazer comics, Supernatural TV series, ). While I enjoyed the first installment in what looks to be a lengthy series, I'm more so excited of what's to potentially come. I'd like to think Holm can take what he's established here and build upon it, giving us a more complete picture of this world he's created. It's not too often that I walk away from a debut novel with such anticipation for future books.

A lot of the supporting players came of a little bland at times, at least in comparison to Sam and Kate. That being said, there were times when Kate seemed like your average girl-in-peril. However, Holm lets her grow along with the story giving her a few chances to shock the reader.

I'm really digging Angry Robot so far. This is the second book I've devoured that they've published and if this is par for the course for what they're releasing, I may have stumbled upon a cornucopia of entertainment. They certainly have some smart people over there - stay golden, pony boy.

*Oh, and there's a nod to Lawrence Block.
A few rooms in, a uniformed cop sat slouched beside an open door, his nose buried in a Scudder novel.