Review: Deadraiser Part 1: Horror in Jordan's Bank by Stephanie C. Lyons-Keeley and Wayne J. Kee

Published: September 2016

Synopsis: “Necromancy is an ancient black magic used for the purposes of communing with the dead. It is believed that practitioners of the dark art may harness the ultimate power of life and death and raise the departed for their own nefarious, malevolent purposes. It also is alleged that a true necromancer may realize the ultimate gift of mortality.

DEADRAISER is the tale of a present-day practitioner who achieves what others have been unable to do for centuries -- to raise the dead. The problem is that he must sacrifice innocent victims in order to maintain his power.

Enter Fanchon (Frankie) Manning, daughter of the late movie star Erika Manning. She is the ideal sacrificial lamb for the Necromancer's perverse desires. The only thing that stands between the Necromancer and the girl is Christopher McGuire, a lost soul who long ago has ceased believing in anything. In order to save the child, he must somehow rediscover his faith and summon the courage to take on the darkest, most sinister being imaginable.”

Rating: *****

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I received a free copy of Jordan's Bank in exchange for an honest review.

I really really enjoyed this. Jordan's Bank was written very well with authentic small-town characters and dialogue and creepy descriptions. I enjoyed the chapters being written from the perspective of main players within the town, and liked the sections from Chris's unpublished manuscript. I thought this broke up the story well, providing relevant backstory and more of an insight into Chris's thoughts and motivations.

I feel the blurb was slightly misleading, as the descriptions about the necromancer seemed to be more relevant to book 2 in the series, by I cannot wait to read the rest of the series and find out what happens!

I have always been curious about books that have been written by 2 authors, how do they collaborate? How do they divide the work between them? I was particularly interested about how husband and wife writing team Stephanie C. Lyons-Keeley and Wayne J. Keeley managed to write Deadraiser as it was completely and utterly seamless. Deadraiser had that movie feel to it, which I believes is Wayne J. Keeley’s previous experience coming through, the action was fast paced and was so easy to follow and for the reader to visualise as they read.

A definite must-read for fans of horror, with a perfect ending that leaves the reader eagerly awaiting what happens next.