Unnatural Acts

November 15, 2012
Another full caseload for Dan Shamble, the zombie detective who was just warming up when he solved his own murder in Death Warmed Over (2012). Dan's reputation in the Unnatural Quarter has made him the shamus of last resort for any number of monsters. A golem named Bill begs him to help emancipate a hundred of his fellow golems from their servitude making toys for Maximilian Grubb, aka Maximum Max. The ghost of bank robber Alphonse Wheeler wants the help of Dan's partner, still-human lawyer Robin Deyer, in making sure he can live off the money he served 20 years for stealing. Neffi, the mummy who runs the Full Moon brothel, summons Dan to find some rent-a-goons to protect her establishment from the violent followers of conservative Sen. Rupert Balfour, whose Unnatural Acts Act threatens the rights of all the undead. Dan's old nemesis Harvey Jekyll insists that Robin file an anti-discrimination suit when he's barred from moving out of the Unnatural Quarter. An actor who insists that his name is William Shakespeare hires Dan to find the person who set his outdoor theater on fire, and crusading social worker Hope Saldana asks him to help her zombie assistant, Jerry, track down the heart and soul he pawned to Snazz, the gremlin owner of Timeworn Treasures. It's this last case that produces a fresh corpse when Dan breaks into Snazz's cluttered shop, intending to look over the ledger that identifies the party who purchased Jerry's heart and soul, and finds the pawnbroker strangled to death under circumstances that look very awkward indeed for the zombie sleuth. As exhaustingly inventive and jokey as Dan's debut. Think of the entire first season of True Blood on fast forward.

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November 15, 2012

Zombie PI Dan Chambeaux (or Dan "Shamble"), along with his human partner, activist lawyer Robin Deyer, and his ghostly girlfriend Sheyenne, tackle an illegal sweatshop that employs golems as slave labor, confront a senator who condemns the "unnatural" lifestyles of the supernatural creatures that now populate New Orleans's Unnatural Quarter, and investigates the security problems that beset the mummified madame of a local brothel. Having already solved his own murder in the series opener, Death Warmed Over, Shamble and his allies continue to act as a force for justice and coexistence in a world that has grown increasingly diverse since the Big Uneasy broke down the barriers between the mortal and supernatural worlds. VERDICT The coauthor (with Brian Herbert) of the new Dune series and author of The Last Days of Krypton continues his foray into urban fantasy and tongue-in-cheek noir mystery with another satisfying tale of detective derring-do that should please fans of fiction revolving around zombies, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures.

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