Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Self Published

Genre:  Gay Romance

Tags: Supernatural/PNR – Necromancer- Series Book #1

Length: 226 Pages

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon

Blurb:

Even death can’t stop fate.

Professional thief, Bellamy, might have bitten off more than he can chew this time. Jobs have gone wrong before, but never this wrong. His moral code might be greyer than most, but it exists, and he finds himself facing an impossible choice that could cost him everything.

Necromancer, John Averill’s day just got ten times worse. One more job, his boss says. Well, that job sucks, because not only does he find himself with a gun pointed at his head, but the man he’s been hired to raise temporarily from the dead is none other than his fated mate… the man he’s been searching for all his life.

Their love story is over before it ever began. Or is it? Fate still has a few tricks up its sleeve, and the impossible might just become possible.

Deader than Dead is a 57k Fated Mates MM paranormal novel featuring villains who will stop at nothing to get what they want, a stolen artefact, kidnapping, betrayal, lies, and two men determined to overcome death itself to be together.

Content warning for death and mention of suicide.

Please note that this is a revised version of a novella first published in the Fated Mates charity anthology. The story is now dual POV with 28k of added content. There have been some small changes to the story.

Review:

I didn’t read this when it first came out as part of an anthology but this revised version for a novel sized story sounded good and I like H L Day as a writer – it was a no brainer. 

John Averill feels there is a mate out there for him and he’s holding out for him. He’s a necromancer who works for an outfit called the Paranormal Problems Bureau, or PPB for short. Everyone in the workplace is enigmatic – the boss, the bosses PA, the other two necromancers who work alongside him. Even though he’s less than enthusiastic about his colleagues and workplace, working for his boss, Cade, gives him more opportunities to get work as opposed to setting up on his own, and he’s paid fairly well, so he stays at the PPB.

Bellamy is a thief who makes a nice enough living as a contractor for hire. He tells his family he’s in antiquities. The latest job he’s hired for is another paying well but things seem off and take a strange turn when the artefact he’s stealing is easy to access, there are no guards or security systems involved, and the particular object seems impossibly basic. Why would someone pay good money for this and why is it all too easy? However, he hears his name being whispered and it seems like it might be the artefact he’s stealing. Weird.

John and Bellamy pretty much intersect in a stressful way on the job, so to speak.

Deader than Dead is supernatural/PNR and a fated mates light book. Meaning it’s insta-attraction, which is fine in fated mates stories, and it’s a very uncomplicated, easy to read story. Day gives a little sidestep here and there as well which makes the tale all the better for it. It appears the primary antagonist from this book will be crossing over into the next one. Overall I read Deader than Dead really quickly, there’s something about the author’s writing that seems to allow me to do that. I also know I’ll be reading the next in the series fairly soon because it promises to be interesting – maybe some mystery/investigative elements, it’s following the PNR theme and the PPB. If it’s like this one, it won’t be particularly dark or dramatic either. Enjoyable reading. 4 Stars!