Dead Harvest (The Collector #1) / Chris F. Holm

Let’s admit this right now….Even had I not known anything about Chris F. Holm, Dead Harvest, or, Angry Robot I still would have immediately bought this book for the cover art alone.

Brilliant.

Publishers take note: readers often do judge a book by its cover.

So you best make them matter.

In Dead Harvest Mr. Holm gives us Sam Thornton, a fine character whose past crimes have sealed his future: an eternity of collecting souls from other doomed fools. But when Sammy boy is sent on his latest collection he thwarts the system by refusing to collect. Hey, even Heaven and Hell have official game rules. And when they’re broken?

Well, that is bad.

For when angels and demons both think you effed up you know you done slung a heap o’ shit in the celestial fan.

But we’re going to let that fan keep spinning. Why?

Because Dead Harvest is more fun than a subway tunnel full of demons, has more panache than a fallen angel’s wings, and has more grrr than a bobcat growl.

But what I enjoyed most were not the slam-bang escapist thrills but Sam’s flashbacks that leaked his history throughout the novel, teasing the reader along, whetting your appetite for the ending’s big reveal.

And it’s a doozy.

Me like.

You will too.