Finn Fancy Necromancy--The Familia Arcana, Book 1

November 10, 2014
Phinaeus “Finn” Gramaraye entered the family trade of necromancy, was framed for dark magic, and endured a 25-year exile to the Other Realm. Now Finn wants to pick up the pieces of his life, but sinister forces are still at work against him, and a betrayal and murder may send him back into exile forever. Henderson’s debut is written from the unusual viewpoint of a teenager full of 1980s memories thrown into an adult body in the present day, and Finn faces peril at every turn. Rife with absurdity, this whodunit tries to make an adventure out of investigation. The comedic combat frequently undermines any sense of tension, risk, or urgency that might otherwise have been built. Henderson also makes his mystery unsolvable by intentionally obscuring facts and misdirecting his characters, so the sleuth work lacks impact. The entertaining style and breakneck pace nonetheless make it easy to fall into Finn’s world for a fun, if flawed, getaway. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maas Literary Agency.

November 15, 2014
A fast-paced fantasy mystery set in a mostly well-realized world stuffed with magical eccentricities. Henderson's debut novel is somehow lighthearted despite the doom and gloom inherent in its premise: A necromancer from a family of magical undertakers has just three days to prove he's been framed for terrible crimes or he'll lose his body and be exiled to the Other Realm-again. Phinaeus "Finn" Gramaraye was first framed for an assault using dark magic when he was 15. Now, 25 years later, on his first day back in his own body, somebody's trying to frame him for murder. He's accompanied in his search for truth by a motley crew that includes a brother who thinks he's a werewolf, an ex-magical cop with a habit of going Viking-style berserk, and two women from his past. The quick turns of the mystery plot make this a speedy and enjoyable read, and Finn's world is a lively one, packed with all manner of weird and wonderful ghosts and goblins. But the idea that our hero is essentially a 15-year-old trapped in a 40-year-old body isn't fully realized. Finn's pop-culture references are amusingly dated, but his relationships with his neighbor Dawn and high school crush, Heather, seem to pick up right where they left off, without much indication that these women have matured any more than he has. And the prospect that someone from Finn's own family might be involved in setting him up reads more as a frustrating complication than a deep betrayal. Genre fans looking for a fix will enjoy the gleefully ghoulish setting and engaging, suspenseful plot. But readers who crave characters with rich, fully inhabited emotional lives should look elsewhere.

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December 1, 2014

During his transfer back to the mortal plane, Finn Gramaraye is attacked, and the swap with the fae changeling is botched, leaving Finn without any helpful memories for the 25 years he was in exile. Only 15 when he was framed and convicted on charges of dark necromancy and sentenced to the Other Realm, Finn returns as a 40-year-old man with no real understanding of the modern world. He wants to patch things up with his family; however, the people who set him up are still out to get him--Finn just needs to figure out why. VERDICT Funny and exciting, this first novel does sport some rough edges, especially in the dialog. The family dynamics between Finn and his brothers are well done, and the author (winner of Writers of the Future's 2014 Golden Pen Award) excellently shows Finn as an emotionally stunted teenager suddenly middle-aged and having to deal with the family and friends he left behind. A promising writer to watch.

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