Book Review: A Reaper’s Tale

My friend Adam Slade’s book “A Reaper’s Tale” is a fun ride through the afterlife as well as the nooks and crannies that come before and after death. Available as an e-book from Lyrical Press, the freshman effort proves Adam’s writing chops are good and worth watching as he continues to tell more tales. It also has the distinction of being the first book I read on my iPad (via Amazon kindle software).

The book tells the story of Mal, a grim reaper who’s managed to stay out of the afterlife for 31 years. He enjoys his in between life, which allows him to heal any wounds and help those making the journey to either heaven or hell a bit easier. After a pair of “reaps,” a troubled young woman’s soul becomes bonded to his. As souls are something of a commodity, the black market folks want it. Worse, if Mal can’t free himself from the soul, then he’ll share her destination, whether that be heaven or hell.

One representative assigns Mal the souls that need helping to heaven, Morgana, while another works the dispatches across the River Styx, Xyla. Adam writes both to character, giving Xyla somewhat more appeal and making Morgana the frosty one. Both play integral roles throughout the book.

Plenty of things to love about the book. First, the characters. Mal is the the buddy I can watch football with and not have to have a conversation. He’s an every man’s grim reaper.He’d be the guy who I’d want helping me toward the correct door when the 16 ton weight smashes down on me. The barkeeper and the pawn shop owner are former friends from my military life. There’s also a host of demons and Adam excels at the description and character. Adam’s initial description of D’agryn in demon form is fantastic. I could hear the scales scraping together. Adam gave me a perfect sense of the demon’s volume in the description.

I also like that there’s a system of commerce in the afterlife. Souls have a value as commodity like Uranium or pork bellies. Mal gets the leftovers on the bodies (sometimes), including jewelry and cigarettes. However, I would have liked Adam to expand more on what’s done with a black market soul and how there might be someplace else processing souls for some other use, like a supernatural organ harvesting.

Adam’s writing feels like a comfortable sweatshirt, yet his writing is tight and sure. It gets you to where you want to go. I don’t want to give too much away, other than Mal and the soul coupled to him move quickly into some difficult situations, and Adam keeps you guessing at every turn.

This is a fine first effort. If you’re a fan of the supernatural or want to have a bit of fun, Adam Slade’s “A Reaper’s Tale” is for you. The tale runs the gamut of detective novel to suspense and supernatural while throwing in some ground-level religious and spiritual themes. Adam writes tight. Adam writes clean. Adam makes you want to turn the page (or, in my case, swipe your finger across the screen) and keep reading. It’s a fine outing and you will not be disappointed.

(A Reaper’s Tale is available from Lyrical Press for $4.50 at this link. Amazon also has it here)

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