DEAD TO ME rests firmly in a genre that is somewhere between Harry Potter and noir. Harry Potter for the slightly whimsical sensibility and the magical world populated by oblivious mundanes. Noir for the hard-nosed detective, following a trail of clues into a dark underworld. Rests firmly because, while good, it doesn't rise to the level of its premise, or to the level that the author tries to reach.

Simon Canderous is the hero of DEAD TO ME, a psychometrist newly recruited into the New York City government's Department of Extraordinary Affairs. A newly disembodied ghost and a stolen fish leads Canderous down an occult rabbit hole that leads to politically correct satanists, perky servants of evil and obscure art movements.

I'd like to say that DEAD TO ME is brilliantly clever. I'd like to describe it as a paranormal-flavored noir mystery thriller, that takes the tropes of the best of noir and gives them an occult twist. It certainly tries to do so, and it almost succeeds. It comes desperately, maddeningly, disappointingly close. There are flashes of brilliance - the femme fatale is in fact, dead, for example. But such are the exception, not the rule. Instead, the author achieves a book that is a pastiche of genres and ideas, all of which are almost - but not quite - effectively realized. The humor is almost funny. The plot is almost noir. The satire is almost biting. The hero is almost heroic. DEAD TO ME is almost really good.

Book Summary

A new urban fantasy featuring a man working on the right side of law-with talents that come from left field.

Psychometry-the power to touch an object and divine information about its history-has meant a life of petty crime for Simon Canderous, but now he's gone over to the good side. At New York's underfunded and (mostly) secret Department of Extraordinary Affairs, he's learning about red tape, office politics, and the basics of paranormal investigation. But it's not the paperwork that has him breathless.

After Simon spills his coffee on (okay, through) the ghost of a beautiful woman-who doesn't know she's dead-he and his mentor plan to find her killers. But Simon's not prepared for the nefarious plot that unfolds before him, involving politically correct cultists, a large wooden fish, a homicidal bookcase, and the forces of Darkness, which kind of have a crush on him.