Saturday, 13 June 2015

Bookathonic Review 5 out of 5 stars: The Graveyard Shift #1 (Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc)



 Author Angela Roquet



Blurb:

The Inferno has Evolved… Lana Harvey is a reaper, and a lousy one at that. She resides in Limbo City, the modern capital of the collective afterlives, where she likes to stick it to the man (the legendary Grim Reaper himself) by harvesting the bare minimum of souls required of her. She’d much rather be hanging out with Gabriel, her favorite archangel, at Purgatory Lounge. But when a shocking promotion falls in her lap, Lana learns something that could unravel the very fabric of Eternity. If the job isn’t completed, there could be some real hell to pay.

Review:

This was a fabulous novel which I absolutely loooved. It was sooo funny, I enjoyed every moment. Yep, lots of overuse there, but I’m finding this a convincing expression for the moment.
Our leading lady is compassionate, dry, droll and dizzying all at once. She has some great kick-ass moves and doesn’t get on with her boss, who by the way is none other than Grim himself. And yep, office politics continue to play a difficult part in life (or afterlife?). The support characters are engaging and provide a great juxtaposition to our winning heroine.
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This story has amongst the best creativity I have read in a long time. The use of more than one type of the many religions and their accompanying deities & gods is done with verve and sublime humour. Don’t take any of this to heart, the book does not use religion for any particular standing point nor as a subject in itself for some grand slamming and posturing. It’s all part of the comic charm of the novel itself and is merely utilized as background humour and comic content. Everyone and everything is included, for example, archangel Gabriel (and I shan’t give away is place in the novel, he plays a fine part and his character is essential to the book’s humour), Horus, Shiva, Lucifer and Apollo. And let’s not forget the adorable Hell Hounds.
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The beginning gives the reader a good launching point, and carries on with a consistent pace. All the many environments are described without becoming too detailed to bog any of the novel down, but create a positive atmosphere that is constantly changing and never a dull moment. The book morphs through sexy men, annoying people contentious gods and deities with much political maneuvering and conspiring events. And yes, politics is still a messy business wherever you are.
Another fine point to make about this novel, is it is the first book in a series that is up to book 5 so readers can keep on keeping on.
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