Read or Die: Book Reviews by Emily

(Grade 10 and up) Sam LaCroix isn’t the kind of guy that many people notice. After dropping out of college, he works at Plumpy’s, the kind of forgettable fast food place that people step in and out of, indifferent to their surroundings even as the food they’ve just eaten clogs their arteries. But one night, a guy named Douglas comes in. At first, Sam thinks that Douglas is angry because he and his friends may have accidentally broken a headlight on the guy’s expensive car. Sadly, the truth is far scarier: Douglas is a necromancer, and so is Sam, though no one bothered to mention it to him. Soon, Douglas and his thugs are hunting Sam and his friends, and Sam will have to brave the strange perils of a preteen Harbinger, a naked girl in a cage, and the severed head of a friend if he’s going to survive long enough to enjoy his newfound talent for raising the dead…

This is yet another one of those books that I looked forward to reading for a long time (in fact, as I am oft wont to do, I hoarded it like Burgess Meredith in that episode of “The Twilight Zone,”), and I was right to have high hopes. “Hold Me Closer, Necromancer” is extremely funny, creepy, surprising, and just all around entertaining; it’s as good as the reviews imply (better even, depending on the review), and now I can’t wait to get the sequel, coming in September. Also, since the title of every chapter, like the title of the book, is rooted in a song, look for a playlist inspired by this novel soon. (4.5 out of 5 stars)

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (October 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805090983
• ASIN: B0053U790G (Source of Publication Data: Amazon.com)