Book Review: Dead Streets by Tim Waggoner

[disclosure: I was sent this book to review and yes I am planning on buying a copy ]

I have a soft spot for pulp fiction noir styled detective novels so when I was given the choice of books to review I was always going to opt for the story of an Undead Detective who works the monster crowded streets of Nekropolis.

Matt Richter the Zombie Private Eye (un)lives in an alternate-reality city populated by monsters of every fictional contrivance possessed cars , were-whatevers, vampires ( which thankfully never sparkle ) and plenty Elder and Dark Gods. Nekropolis technology  ranges from the conventional to reanimated body parts sewn together to create devices like mobile phones ,surgical operating tables  or door entry speakers. Whilst  there is nothing new in this book when it comes to a genre and the plot  plods along like its undead protagonist, it is not until the end of the first act that you realise the story has an inevitability which will  keep you reading just to stay ahead of that plot Zombie. Sure your going to work out the  whom the villian  is but thats not going to stop you getting to the end of the book. Like all good pulp fiction your not in this to be invested in the characters your in it because the whole world feels, bloody gritty.

Dead Streets is like a lot of other books on my shelf in that it is the soul food of my reading. It is  the book equivalent of ‘mac n cheese’ and it is the sort of book your pack to read on the train then lend to a friend [1] .

Thanks for reading

Dead Streets by Tim Waggoner is available online and through Angry Robot Books

[1] don’t do that though because loaning books is copyright theft! [2]
[2] yes I have a sense of humour , who knew ?

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