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Reclaiming the Dead James Patrick Brotherton 9781466428454 Books

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Reclaiming the Dead James Patrick Brotherton 9781466428454 Books

The first part of this story shines. In fact, I envisioned a movie with Kevin James playing Coaler and a younger George Clooney playing Merton, and a cameo role by Steve Buscemi. The vampire could be Christopher Walken. That would be killer (pun intended). The movie would be a classic Coen Brothers film, sort of dark and funny with deep and meaningful themes that are approached in artful and surprising ways.

I was taken aback by the middle section. Not the person that embodies the vampire, but the bizarre power he wields. It was a different pace from the beginning section, but deepened the themes of redemption and the feeling of being irredeemable. The graphic nature of this section was a fitting change of pace, but was maybe carried a bit too far. The only other feature that was a little disconcerting was the occasional switching of POV in certain scenes.

The final section brings the story full circle, and the ending makes you believe that all along, the redemption, the journey, the feeling being lost, the entire sense of being in a fugue, was all brought to the conclusion of a love story. The story begins with a break up where the protagonist finds that his blood is being sucked from him both figuratively and literally. The story ends with a redemptive conclusion that rejoices over a sacrifice made with wood and is finalized when the protagonist once again finds love: food and women.

Where the novel was a success in its quirky take on vampire lore and was certainly funny and poignant in large parts, it was not without weak spots. The sheer number of dead and undead lurking about without alarm--an entire hospital wiped out at one point--was more than a little disconcerting. The issue with the POV switching was minor, and admittedly one of my personal peeves. Overall, it was an easy, fun read. I enjoyed it very much. I would definitely read another by Mr. Brotherton.


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Reclaiming the Dead James Patrick Brotherton 9781466428454 Books Reviews

Randomly came across this quick read and came away so pleasantly surprised. Definitely a unique take on vampires/vampire hunting, and more than anything a fun character study. Funny, smart and oddly inspiring. I'll definitely be recommending this one to friends. If you like Neil Gaiman or Christopher Moore, you'll love James Patrick Brotherton.
This is an extremely odd vampire book. We start with Merton Daniels, a nerdy kid who is not really functioning well, and his roomate Coaler. Merton is one of these guys who can’t strike up a conversation with a girl, has snot running from his nose, does everything wrong. And he suddenly gets fired from his job. The first part of the book is really fun; the conversations between Coaler and Merton are right out of The Big Bang Theory and laugh out loud funny. After Merton is fired form his job, and totally down and out, he meets someone who tells him that he has a job for him - reclaiming the dead. He is told he will be notified of his assignments. He gets addresses to go to where he finds vampires asleep; he can kill them and pillage all their possessions. He is totally freaked at first, and he and Coaler botch a few attempts, but he begins to get it down, and he slowly learns his trade, although he doesn't find himself able to stake them, so he sets fires and uses other methods. The second part of the book gets weird. We meet a creature who seems to be out of the ancient world, perhaps Judas the traitor of Jesus’s deciples. He has been turned into a vampire, and a strong one. He can morph into all kinds of creatures, and we watch him kill and rampage. His powers are almost too much. In part three, we return to Merton, who finally stakes a vampire, but also must confront this terrifying creature. Merton matures; he strikes up a conversation with a girl. He becomes a whole person. We never know if he continues with his job as a slayer. But he finds peace somehow. The middle section didn't work for me, but having read more than 250 vampire novels, the idea is totally unique.
It is risky for writers to stray from the formulas that make genre fiction successful. More often than not, it fails. After all, the formulas exist for a reason. In Reclaiming the Dead, Brotherton threw the vampire hunter plot formula out the window- and pulled it off. While this book contains the requisite protagonist, antagonist, conflict, resolution components inherent in all good stories, Reclaiming the Dead delivers the necessary pieces in atypical order, unusual ratios, and to positive effect.

What makes this book interesting is that the good guys are not all good and the bad guys are not all bad. Unconventional heroes, Merton and Coaler drew me in and got me rooting for them. In many ways, they are sad individuals that require a certain amount of empathy in the beginning. The central arch-nemesis has an intriguing and well-crafted backstory. While being creepy and terrifying, "the creature" also warrants empathy once we are granted a view into how he came to exist.

This book is well written. Brotherton's writing style includes realistic details that make the action easy to visualize. The pacing is spot on. Just when character development and back-story begin to flirt with tedium, the reader is subjected to fast-paced, terrifying, gory action. And then there are the unexpected instances of light-hearted humor sprinkled sparingly throughout the book like small rays of sunshine piercing the darkness.

My only complaint about Reclaiming the Dead pertains more to the genre than this book specifically A certain suspension of reality is required. For example, it is a bit far-fetched to believe that the protagonists could go around doing the things they do without attracting the attention of police. It is a little unbelievable that a town in Iowa could sustain the level of vampirification depicted without friends and family members realizing that hey, Aunt Millie never stops by anymore and now she spends her days sleeping in a coffin... I should probably call someone about that. Again- this is more a complaint about the genre and Brotherton did such a good job creating the setting that these complaints only registered in my mind while I was thinking about the book- not while I was reading it.

If you want a cookie-cutter, formulaic vampire story, skip Reclaiming the Dead. If you are looking for an interesting, unconventional, character-driven book that blurs the line between good and evil, give it a read. I think you will find that it is time well spent.
The first part of this story shines. In fact, I envisioned a movie with Kevin James playing Coaler and a younger George Clooney playing Merton, and a cameo role by Steve Buscemi. The vampire could be Christopher Walken. That would be killer (pun intended). The movie would be a classic Coen Brothers film, sort of dark and funny with deep and meaningful themes that are approached in artful and surprising ways.

I was taken aback by the middle section. Not the person that embodies the vampire, but the bizarre power he wields. It was a different pace from the beginning section, but deepened the themes of redemption and the feeling of being irredeemable. The graphic nature of this section was a fitting change of pace, but was maybe carried a bit too far. The only other feature that was a little disconcerting was the occasional switching of POV in certain scenes.

The final section brings the story full circle, and the ending makes you believe that all along, the redemption, the journey, the feeling being lost, the entire sense of being in a fugue, was all brought to the conclusion of a love story. The story begins with a break up where the protagonist finds that his blood is being sucked from him both figuratively and literally. The story ends with a redemptive conclusion that rejoices over a sacrifice made with wood and is finalized when the protagonist once again finds love food and women.

Where the novel was a success in its quirky take on vampire lore and was certainly funny and poignant in large parts, it was not without weak spots. The sheer number of dead and undead lurking about without alarm--an entire hospital wiped out at one point--was more than a little disconcerting. The issue with the POV switching was minor, and admittedly one of my personal peeves. Overall, it was an easy, fun read. I enjoyed it very much. I would definitely read another by Mr. Brotherton.