Book Review: DeadTown By Nancy Holzner

Title: DeadTown
Author: Nancy Holzner
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Why I Read DeadTown: Because I read about it’s release and thought it sounded good.
Means of Possession: I Bought the Book

Buy From: Amazon Independent Bookstore

Blurb: They call it Deadtown: the city’s quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents. Most humans stay far from its borders — but Victory Vaughn, Boston’s only professional demon slayer, isn’t exactly human…

But now Vicky’s got bigger things to worry about. The Hellion who murdered her father ten years ago has somehow broken through Boston’s magical protections. The Hellion is a ruthless force of destruction with a personal grudge against Vicky, and she’s the only one who can stop the demon before it destroys the city and everyone in it.

The Good: The above blub is really good and is exactly what DeadTown is about. DeadTown had me at:

Two rules I live by: Never admit to being a shapeshifter on a first, second, or third date with a human. And never, ever bring along a zombie apprentice wannabe on a demon kill.

That is the opening line and it embodies this adult urban fantasy. A single twenty-something woman trying to make a living and a relationship. This is really kind of a mix of a contemporary chick lit with Vampires, Witches, Zombies, Warewolves and shapeshifters. This book is written in the first person which I don’t really like sometimes but this was done well. I connected with the voice. I understood Vicky, saw her point of view. She is a woman who has to deal with the death of her Father that she blames herself with, a sister who Vicky believes has turned away from her heritage and is downright ashamed of her heritage and trying to keep her identity between work and a boyfriend who wants her to be someone she isn’t. wheew. The easy way Ms. Holzner took you through the day to day of Vicky’s life made you feel like you were there. I saw and felt everything, the surrounding, the feelings everything. Well Done.

The world building is also very good. I’m new to Zombie’s. I am yet to fall in love with Zombie’s as others have. However, the origins of Zombie’s in this book is very well done. One day all the humans in a section of boston fell dead in an instant. 3 days later the dead rose as zombies, with green skin and all. A reanimation of the previous person in a dead body but not a detereoating body. When the dead rose, everyone was happy until they spent time with said Zombies. Then, even families defected and there arose an Anti-zombie, anti-non human behavior. I think this theme speaks to the fear of others not like us. DeadTown touches on the rights of non humans. Because you are in the head of a non-human you feel the wrongness of the discrimination by humans of something no one can change. Ms. Holzner addresses it without it being a civil rights lets go protesting book. This seems like a series and there are a lot of things open that could be done in later books and I would defineatly pick up the next in the series.

The Bad (Or not So Great)

Honestly, there weren’t many. As an urban fantasy, it’s not a romance so there is not much done in the way of romance (If you were looking for any). There was a lot of foreshadowing in the book and I kind of figured out what was happening before Vicky did…lol. The end was slightly un-climactic for me but that’s because I’m so smart (Just kidding). I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because of the end wasn’t exciting as I thought it would be. A really good book none-the-less.

Verdict
This is a fun, action packed contemporary urban fantasy with a kick-ass heroine who is kicking demons butts and taking names. You end up cheering for Vicky and success in her endeavors. A nice collection to the urban fantasy scene and I hope to read more from Ms. Holzner.