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grahamclements's review against another edition
4.0
Set in Brisbane (where I lived for five years so I was familiar with much of the settings), it's a horror novel with some wit. The reluctant hero Steve is a "pomp". The souls of the recently departed must pass through a pomp to travel to the afterlife. The trouble is, someone is killing all of Australia's pomps. What is worse, stirrers (angry murderess souls) are jumping into the bodies of anyone who dies and causing havoc. With the aid of the soul of a beautiful recently killed pomp, Steve has to discover who is killing the pomps and why, while preventing the stirrers from causing regional armageddon.
The novel is told in the first person, which I found refreshing. It is also full of witty dialogue. The world that the author has created is thoroughly believable. Tension is maintained throughout the novel which rarely has a quiet moment. And the novel reaches a very satisfying conclusion. It is not a nasty horror story, it is one told with a positive brightness. If you liked the television series Dead Like Me, you will probably like this.
A very enjoyable read. I will be buying the sequel.
Graham Clements.
The novel is told in the first person, which I found refreshing. It is also full of witty dialogue. The world that the author has created is thoroughly believable. Tension is maintained throughout the novel which rarely has a quiet moment. And the novel reaches a very satisfying conclusion. It is not a nasty horror story, it is one told with a positive brightness. If you liked the television series Dead Like Me, you will probably like this.
A very enjoyable read. I will be buying the sequel.
Graham Clements.
mamap's review against another edition
2.0
PG-married.
Interesting take on death and the rolls of the reapers.
Still...kinda depressing.
Interesting take on death and the rolls of the reapers.
Still...kinda depressing.
mlcreads's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fun fantasy. Steven is a pomp and his life is a bit of mess. He is thrown into a world where nothing is as it should be but he fights to keep the balance. The story is non stop action and drama but it also full of humour. The ending is an interesting twist and I look forward to finding out how he will change the organisation now he is in charge.
eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars. This is a variation on the zombie apocalypse theme and was quite decent. I'll probably read more in the series.
jennyreadsromance's review against another edition
4.0
Hmm...where to begin. It's not often I read books where the main character is male. I started with Jim Butcher's Dresden Files a few months back and really enjoyed reading from the male POV so goodreads recommended lots of other books in this writing style. One of the first ones I put on my TBR list is this one, Death Most Definite. It took me forever to find it and I when I finally did I was incredibly excited to start reading it. I was not disappointed.
Jamieson creates an unusual world where the souls of the dead need a conduit "pomps" to make it to the afterlife. Steven de Selby's adventure is quite interesting, there's both action and romance and I really like that in a book.
The only thing I can say that may be weird to people who are not used to reading romance-y stuff is that the romance in this book seems kind of spontaneous but it flows fairly well. Oh and I think Jamieson would be a fair romance author...just sayin.
Jamieson creates an unusual world where the souls of the dead need a conduit "pomps" to make it to the afterlife. Steven de Selby's adventure is quite interesting, there's both action and romance and I really like that in a book.
The only thing I can say that may be weird to people who are not used to reading romance-y stuff is that the romance in this book seems kind of spontaneous but it flows fairly well. Oh and I think Jamieson would be a fair romance author...just sayin.
pollyno9's review against another edition
4.0
Relative to other books in this genre, this is one of the best ones I have read in a long time. My complaints are very minor, and are generally of the dismissable type, because the journey was fun, so I'm being generous with this rating (it might be a 3, but my expectations were low going into this).
cmbohn's review
3.0
Not my typical genre but I found this at the thrift store last year and it sounded good. Lots of action but some plot holes. It was a quick read though that kept me reading all day.
schomj's review
3.0
Corporate style grim reapers and corporate efficiencies, zombies, ghosts, love, loss, betrayal, geek humor, first person present POV.
It took me a few tries before I could get into this, and even when I did, the first part was kind of a slog. The second part, however, was awesomesauce -- fast-paced and imaginative. Despite not loving the first half, the strong ending makes me tentatively optimistic about the next book in the series.
It took me a few tries before I could get into this, and even when I did, the first part was kind of a slog. The second part, however, was awesomesauce -- fast-paced and imaginative. Despite not loving the first half, the strong ending makes me tentatively optimistic about the next book in the series.
melbsreads's review
4.0
Well. Death really IS most definite in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it though. The action starts from the first page, and by the end, I pretty much just wanted to give Steve a cup of warm Milo and tell him that he deserves a good lie down.
Steve is in the family business - pomping the dead. Basically, he's a reaper, transporting the souls of the dead from this dimension to the next. When other Pomps (including basically everyone he knows) start turning up dead, he's left running for his life.
Steve is the slacker of the business - he does what he has to do to get his pay cheque, but he doesn't really have any aspirations. Despite that, he's a likeable character. There's a LOT of violence - dead bodies can be reanimated by evil beasties called Stirrers, so Steve's basically fighting off dead family members. A blood sacrifice is required to banish them, so the poor guy is wandering around with a craft knife and slicing his palm open at regular intervals. He's helped throughout by the spirit of a dead Pomp from the Melbourne office (it's set in Brisbane) called Lissa, who he promptly falls for, despite the fact that she's dead.
Despite the occasional moment of "Ew, please stop talking about opening a vein", I really liked it and I'll definitely be trying to track down the two sequels.
Steve is in the family business - pomping the dead. Basically, he's a reaper, transporting the souls of the dead from this dimension to the next. When other Pomps (including basically everyone he knows) start turning up dead, he's left running for his life.
Steve is the slacker of the business - he does what he has to do to get his pay cheque, but he doesn't really have any aspirations. Despite that, he's a likeable character. There's a LOT of violence - dead bodies can be reanimated by evil beasties called Stirrers, so Steve's basically fighting off dead family members. A blood sacrifice is required to banish them, so the poor guy is wandering around with a craft knife and slicing his palm open at regular intervals. He's helped throughout by the spirit of a dead Pomp from the Melbourne office (it's set in Brisbane) called Lissa, who he promptly falls for, despite the fact that she's dead.
Despite the occasional moment of "Ew, please stop talking about opening a vein", I really liked it and I'll definitely be trying to track down the two sequels.
celiaedf12's review
3.0
Steven is a Pomp, who deals with the souls of the dead. And one day, he gets shot at, a dead girl warns him to run - and his day gets progressively worse from there.
This novel has a really big scope - Steven is fighting for his life, suffering great losses, and falls in love at the same time. The love story wasn't my favourite part, and at times it felt a little rushed. However I really liked this epic mythic story, and some parts of it were just incredibly devastating. And I particularly liked the really strong Brisbane settings - the whole story begins in the Wintergarden food court! Fantastic.
This novel has a really big scope - Steven is fighting for his life, suffering great losses, and falls in love at the same time. The love story wasn't my favourite part, and at times it felt a little rushed. However I really liked this epic mythic story, and some parts of it were just incredibly devastating. And I particularly liked the really strong Brisbane settings - the whole story begins in the Wintergarden food court! Fantastic.