Cheeky, but a bit predictable in several places, this is a lovely, light hearted romp though the urban fantasy/supernatural noir set up. It telegraphs a lot of things very early (Harvey Jekyll? I mean, really?) but it's still a fun read if you enjoy things like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files but want a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the whole thing. I liked it. Didn't love it, but liked it.

A fun book. Not especially great, but enjoyable summer read if you don't want something especially gripping and heavy. It's not going to grab you and hold your attention, but it'll be fun to pick up now and again and through to the end.

I'll definitely read the rest of the series, and see how the other books fair, but they're not 'must read right now', going off this book. ( )

Honestly, I was disappointed in Death Warmed Over by Kevin Anderson. I was familiar with Mr. Anderson's writing through the Dune series of books he's written with Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert. I love those books, so I was certain I'd enjoy the tale of Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. But, unfortunately, no joy . . .

The story starts out slow, with a lot of repetitious information, back stories and descriptions followed by obvious puns and flat jokes about being a zombie. There was also a lot of cliché P.I. phrasing and corny Humphrey Bogart dialog.

The main character, Dan Chambeaux, is recently deceased and risen as a Zombie, while his girlfriend, Sheyenne, is recently deceased and reappears as a ghost, so there's a lot (and I mean A LOT) of agonized longing, because they can't touch each other. Sheyenne can, weirdly, "poltergeist" objects and works as Dan and his human attorney-partner's executive assistant. She makes coffee, types, files, answers the phones and she can knock other ghosts on their asses, but she can't touch Dan - Go figure. However, I soldiered on.

Finally, just after the halfway mark in the book, the story picked up a little. By that time, there'd been a couple of amusing characters introduced and a surprise situation or two, so it did become slightly more entertaining. These did not, regrettably, save the story.

The ending, of course, was predictable. You could see how it was going to shake out a mile away. I'll confess - I struggled to finish this book, and I did finish it, albeit with a sense of relief. I won't be reading any of the other books in this series, and I can't recommend it as a "read-worth" story. ( )

Very enjoyable. ( )

This book was tons of fun as well as being a satisfying mystery. Sure, there were a few blatant clues, but that didn't diminish the story for me at all and I was on board until the end. I'll definitely check out more books featuring these characters. Light and fun despite the rather gruesome aspects of a setting populated mainly by undead and unnaturals, I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys humorous fantasy. ( )

Well executed and fun, this set up a schtick and didn't disappoint. ( )