Dead Man Rising

Originally posted at FanLit. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/

Dead Man Rising is the second book in Lilith Saintcrow???s DANTE VALENTINE series. Dante, a freelance necromance, has lived through her first assignment for the devil. (She didn???t want to work for him, but the devil can be very persuasive.) Now Dante???s brooding because her demon lover is dead and she???s just had a nasty surprise about her own heritage. When her friend Gabe, the police investigator, calls to tell her that her old school friends are being brutally murdered, Dante, with the help of her ex-boyfriend Jace, sets out to solve the crimes. Thus not only does Dante have to deal with her current grief, but she has to face her horrible past, too.

I didn???t like the first DANTE VALENTINE book, Working for the Devil (reviewed here), but I decided to give Dante another chance since Brilliance Audio sent me the whole series to review and it wasn???t costing me any money. The narration by Tanya Eby is excellent.

Unfortunately, I liked Dead Man Rising even less than I liked Working for the Devil. It takes a long time to get going and Dante spends most of her time in this book brooding about her childhood and whining about the dead (maybe) demon and her injury. She???s wallowing in self-pity and it goes on and on both inside her head and out her mouth until she???s nearly incapacitated. (You???d think that someone as tough as Dante Valentine could manage to cope a little better). Meanwhile, Jace is pining for her (I have no idea why) and she lets him be her sidekick, move into her house and sleep in her bed all the while telling him they???ll never be together. What a bitch.

The reason I didn???t like the first DANTE VALENTINE book was because I didn???t like Dante. She???s rude, mean, and bitchy. She???s even less likeable now that we add cold-hearted drama queen to the mix. Since Dead Man Rising spends more time listening to Dante whine than kill demons, it???s just unpleasant in every way.

This time around Dante needs to come face to face with her haunted past at Rigger Hall and the atrocities committed against its students, including Dante. We see how the twisted school helped forge the badass yet damaged Necromance, and just how deep the scars run. Dante would prefer to never be reminded of the Hall, but someone is murdering former students and Gabe turns to her for help. Saintcrow quickly became a favorite author of mine due to her characters. They are deeply flawed and strive to redeem themselves on a daily basis, shoving aside the perverse past that is never far from their mind. But Dante isn't just battling her own demons, guilt is bogging her down and the confusion over her new abilities as well. Everywhere she turns people are seeing her half demon self as revolting, not that it was much different as a human Necromance, but she's battling to accept herself and her new limitations. Despite Dante's grief stricken inner monologue, we are still able to see the strong woman inside and recognize that everyone breaks down at some point. And when Dante snaps back, there's hell to pay. Another quick fun read, filled with action, gut wrenching emotions and satisfying redemption and revenge.