Dead Last

An Urban Fantasy Noir Novel

De: Samuel Brower

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

An Urban Fantasy Noir of Demons, Crime, and Detroit Streets

Frank Xavier has taken his share of beatings—first in the boxing ring, then as a stuntman, and finally as an ex-con nobody remembers. But when a mugging leaves him dead for three minutes on an operating table, Frank wakes up with a curse: he can see what shouldn’t exist.

Demons. Ghosts. Things that hunt in the dark. And every one of them knows he can see them.

Before madness takes him, Frank strikes a deal with Raina Whatley, a sharp-tongued mortician with more secrets than corpses. She’ll teach him how to control his new sight—if he agrees to guard her. Not from gangsters or crooked cops, but from the supernatural crime families tearing Detroit apart.

Dragged into a war of sorcerers, witches, and monsters wearing human skin, Frank has one shot to survive: fight back with everything he’s got. Because in Detroit’s underworld, you don’t just end up dead last—you end up dead for good.

Perfect for fans of Richard Kadrey, Mike Carey, and gritty urban fantasy with a noir punch, Dead Last delivers hard-hitting action, sharp humor, and supernatural crime at its darkest.

Be Patient

The story starts off slowly, but gets better. Good action once the story gets going. The virtual voice narration was not good. It sometimes pronounced the same word in various ways making the story a little confusing at times. I would still like to hear the next installment if there is one.

Eric Carter fans should like this

(4.0 Stars)

This reminded me of Eric Carter meets Sandman Slim... it had elements from both of those works, and really came together. Yes, there were a few little things that bothered me more than they should (like... dude, modern guns work even after they get wet), and some of the "magic" went against standard norms, but nothing too outrageous. The story was good, the concept was interesting, and the character growth was decent. I'm definitely going to read more by this author.

Now, I really need to address the elephant in the room. I read the audiobook version of this work. What's that you say? There is no audiobook listed? Yes, that is true. I'm not sure why, but this is an Audible audiobook narrated by "virtual Voice". So, not an actual person... Is it perfect? No. There are weird little quirks. mispronunciations, odd inflections, random other glitches. But to be honest, it is nothing I haven't also encountered with a "real" person. Although, I did find it a little odd that a book being told from the viewpoint of a "guy" is narrated by a virtual "female". I just thought that was a weird choice. Also, every character's voice and tone is the exact same.

So, given my druthers... I'd much rather have a book narrated by a real person, preferably a member of SAG AFTRA, ideally one that "gets" inflection, sarcasm, humor, anxiety... But if the alternative is not being able to consume a book... then I'll take it, albeit begrudgingly.