Nekropolis

Matt Richter is a private detective in Nekropolis, an underworld where all types of monsters walk the streets. But he is also a zombie, who continually works to keep his body from deteriorating. When a beautiful half-vampire asks his help to find a missing artifact, Richter puts himself in more danger than he has ever faced before. Plenty of people want him dead. But being already dead has its advantages. Richter is a great character, akin to old noir P.I. novels. And that he's a zombie, in constant need of repair, is a wonderful twist. All of the characters are larger than life, and often humorous in nature. With plenty of twists, surprises, and undead smack-downs, Nekropolis has made my list of top reads of the year. The setting is a lot like Simon R. Green's Nightside series with mystery, dark humor, and horror. Though I found myself enjoying this novel even more. The story is darker, a bit more complex, with likeable characters. It's fresh and fun; and I didn't want it to end. Fantasy and horror fans, don't miss this fantastic release.

Necropolis is not your average city, and Matthew Adrion, once Earth Police officer, now zombie private investigator, is not your average protagonist. Tim Waggoner has created a city of night, populated it with werewolves, vampires, witches, and every other imaginable denizen of the night. He has also populated it with character. Centuries ago, when Earth became too difficult a place to inhabit, the denizens of the night found the encroachment of humankind too much of a threat, the journey was made through dimensional portals to a land of perpetual shadows and night, and there the city of Necropolis was founded. Since that time, a thriving civilization has sprung up with culture and problems all its own. Solving those problems is Matt Adrion's job, and it isn`t an easy one. What begins as a pretty wild premise develops into a page-turning adventure with ease and grace. The world of Necropolis is filled with intrigue, scheming villains, and heroes. Every city needs a hero, even if he is paid for his services. Someone has stolen the Dawn Stone, and intends to put an end to the eternal night that is key to the very world that makes Necropolis possible. With this stone, sunlight can be unleashed, and it's up to Adrion, along with the attractive half vampire, half human woman, Devon, who has hired him, to fight their way through the murky underworld and save the city. This is a very entertaining romp of a novel with slight leanings toward cyberpunk, and a nod to the universes of role playing games, while maintaining an integrity and mystery all it's own. The humor is spot-on, and the antics and banter of the characters draw the reader from adventure to adventure at breakneck speed. Waggoner's prose is smooth and infallibly entertaining. Highly recommended.

Unlike the previous reviewer, I have never read Cook's works, so I can make no comparisons. Free of the need to make comparisons, I can give this five stars with pleasure. Necropolis was one of those impulse buys bookworms (like myself) tend to make when they see something that will appeal to a friend as much as themselves (so, y'know, if we don't like it as much as we'd hoped, we could probably send it to a friend saying, "You might enjoy this"). Well, all I could do was recommend this book to my friend because I want to keep my copy! This piece of escapism has a nice mixture of parody/humor, detective/mystery, horror, adventure, and fantasy. The characters are all interesting and many of them extremely likeable. This is a book Hollywood would probably like to get their hot little hands on, because I think it'd make a killer-fun movie. If you like your zombies, vampires, weres/lycanthropes and demons with a touch of humor, you can't go wrong with this book.