The Mystery of Grace

Grace loves old cars, rockabilly music, and her boyfriend, John. The fact that she's dead does not diminish these feelings. Twice a year Grace crosses over to the living world, where she and John can be together. Still, Grace knows she must find a way to go to the afterlife, even if doing so takes her from John. Tai Sammons and Paul Garcia share narration duties for both Grace's and John's point of view. Sammons has a warm, rich voice; her Grace is tough, smart, and likable, while her John is tender and reserved. Garcia's gentle tenor has sharp edges that keep one riveted. Between them, they make this a charming love story. G.D. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

January 12, 2009
Prolific Canadian fantasist de Lint, recently focused on YA (Dingo
), returns to adult fiction with a supernatural love story set in the American Southwest and an odd afterlife. Following her death, auto restorer Altagracia “Grace” Quintero awakens in a timeless realm inhabited by her recently deceased neighbors. Briefly returned to our world during Halloween night, Grace falls in love with John, a young artist, and he returns the feeling even when he discovers her condition. As the obvious pun in the title indicates, this tale of attachments formed and relinquished is also about belief and hope. De Lint doesn't endorse any particular religious system, but he writes passionately about the individual's ability to discover an effective personal magic. The story develops through comforting, warm compassion to reach the inevitable, mostly satisfying solution.