An autistic necromancer, his undead love, and a covenant that must be broken.
Oliver Barlow never knew what happened to his parents. With a note from his mother as his only lead, Oliver had given up hope of ever learning the truth. But when the dead start rising in the town of Aldorhaven, Oliver jumps at the chance to take the case if it means he can investigate the last place his parents were seen alive.
Felipe Galvan would like to be anywhere but Aldorhaven. Between protecting Oliver and Gwen, dealing with distrustful townsfolk, and an unexpected letter from his estranged parents, Felipe is already stretched thin. But when he is suddenly plagued by whispers from the woods and nightmares from his past, Felipe fears he is only one misstep away from becoming the monster he was meant to be.
Far more sinister things than the dead lurk in Aldorhaven's woods. A centuries old bargain has been broken, and the only thing that can satisfy it is Oliver's blood. Together, Oliver, Felipe, and Gwen must finish what Oliver's parents started or they too will be ensnared by their devil's bargain
PUBLISHER: Fox Collie Publishing
YEAR: 2024
LENGTH: 360 pages
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Historical, Romance
RECOMMENDED: Highly
Queer Rep Summary: Lesbian/Sapphic Minor Character(s), Gay/Achillean Main Character(s), Genderqueer/Nonbinary Minor Character(s), Trans Secondary Character(s).
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
The forest in a small town is spooky and maybe sentient, and the dead are taking revenge. In walks an autistic necromancer and his undead love (plus his librarian best friend), going to solve a mystery and maybe meet some of the necromancer's (previously unknown) family.
As the third book in an ongoing series, THE REANIMATOR'S REMAINS finally delves into Oliver's past and reveals some of Felipe's, when a mystery too big to ignore presents itself to the Society. There's a problem in a place that's charmingly known as a "murder town", somewhere that the density of the paranormally weird is so high that the locals would never call for help, and where even the person who finally reaches out only did so after the fifth murderous corpse.
Oliver realizes that he has a connection to this town and brings Felipe and Gwen with him to try and find out what's goin on. Meanwhile, Felipe is having terrible dreams about his family, plagued by events he's never recounted to Oliver.
THE REANIMATOR'S REMAINS only moderately wraps up something which was left hanging. Oliver had very briefly discussed the absence of his parents and being raised by his grandmother, but it wasn't teased in a way that treated it as a huge mystery. To anyone who was on edge and wants those answers, they are integral to this story. Felipe's background had been more extensively teased in the series so far, but it also isn't fully addressed here. This isn't the final book, and it leaves readers wondering what's going on with Felipe's family, but with more questions to ask.
There's enough context and explanation (conveyed without being tedious) to let someone understand most of what's going on even if they started here and hadn't read the first two books. As nearly always, I don't recommend doing that, it's best to start with THE REANIMATOR'S HEART. But, this takes place mostly in a new location with a limited number of recurring characters, which makes it a friendlier midway starting point than THE REANIMATOR'S SOUL would be.
The first three-quarters is moderately paced, with a pleasing amount of tension and a nice exploration of the new setting. The ending happened a bit suddenly, right as things were getting very tense it was over and the story wrapped up very quickly. Aside from that small pacing issue, this is great, well worth reading. I loved the chance for Oliver to find out about his family, and I'm eager for what the fourth book probably bodes for Felipe.
If you like this you may like:
- Haunted Hearts by A.K. Faulkner
- Caroline's Heart by Austin Chant
Graphic/Explicit CW for sexual content.
Moderate CW for homophobia, bullying, alcohol, blood, violence, gun violence, injury detail, child abuse, self harm, suicidal thoughts, parental death, murder, death.
Minor CW for vomit, pregnancy.
Bookshop Affiliate Buy Link
Fantastic Fiction
Indie Story Geek
Comments
Post a Comment