Dead Souls: A Novel

by J. Lincoln Fenn

From the award-winning author of the acclaimed novel Poe comes an edgy and bone-chilling new novel.

When Fiona Dunn is approached in a bar by a man who claims he’s the devil, she figures it’s just some kind of postmodern-slash-ironic pickup line. But a few drinks in, he offers her a wish in exchange for her immortal soul, and in addition, Fiona must perform a special favor for him whenever the time comes. Fiona finds the entire matter so absurd that she agrees. Bad idea. Not only does Fiona soon discover that she really was talking to the devil incarnate, but she’s now been initiated into a bizarre support group of similar “dead souls”—those who have done the same thing as Fiona on a whim, and who must spend their waking hours in absolute terror of that favor eventually being called in...and what exactly is required from each of them in order to give the devil his due.

• ISBN10: 1501110942
• ISBN13: 9781501110948
• Publish Date: 20 September 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Gallery
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Fiona Dunn for all her career success hasn’t had the greatest go with relationships. When she sees her boyfriend get into a taxi with a blonde woman in pink when he is supposed to be on a business trip she falls apart. Feeling dejected she stumbles into a bar and orders a drink before realizing that she forgot her purse and keys to her apartment. She can just add those to the list of things that go wrong because Fiona is about to sell her soul to a faceless man named Scratch.

While the premise is nothing new, Lincoln twisted it and weaved in vibrant, complex characters to engage the reader. When Fiona awakens the next morning, she is completely flabbergasted that she sold her soul even when she discovers her wish was granted. Scratch controls a corps of dead souls in Oakland. All have given their soul and can recognize each other by a darkness or shadow surrounding them. Each carries a card from Scratch, that contains the date they sold their soul and the words Favor followed by a blank space. The favors have devastating consequences and we learn of some very infamous historical figures who owed the devil a favor making us cringe in anticipation. When your favor is called it will appear in the blank space.

Fiona befriends other damned souls. They meet in an old converted church. Ironically, the church is now a bar. They meet each week to share their woes an AA meeting for the damned. Eventually their conversation gets around to escaping their fates. Alejandro is their leader. A photographer who is the oldest damned of the bunch, through him Fiona learns and plots. When Fiona learns of the “double-deal”, she sets her mind to work.

Fiona is the perfect protagonist for this tale. She is flawed, successful, strong and clever. Yet she is insecure and at times desperate. She was easy to root for and identify with even when she is shocking. Fiona is looking for a way to outwit the devil, and get the happily ever after she wants.

We get to witness twists turns and high body counts as Fiona heads towards the day when her favor is called in. Lincoln makes this horror story seem plausible in today’s work by weaving in actual events and people when explaining the devil’s existence and man’s wiliness to sell his soul. As we get further into the story, favors are called and horrific tragedies make the news.

The narrator Julia Whelan was new to me, but I enjoyed her voice. Fiona reminded me a little of Georgina from the Georgina Kincaid series and the narrated picked up on Fiona’s unraveling. I won't hesitate to listen to another book if she narrators.

Audio provided by publisher, This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[chymerra]

Before I start my review, I would like to thank Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and NetGalley for allowing me to review Dead Souls by J. Lincoln Fenn.

**All opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone. I received Dead Souls from Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books through NetGalley as an e-ARC for my honest review.**

Now onto my review:

What would you do if you were approached by the devil, offered your heart’s desire and all you have to do is give him your soul and perform a special favor for him? Would you take him up on his offer or would you walk away?

That is exactly what Fiona ran into in this book. After seeing her boyfriend of 3 years hugging another woman at the airport, she returns home to find that she has locked her keys in the apartment. Upset, she heads to the local bar….where she approached by a man who claims to be Scratch and he wanted to know if she would give him her soul in order to get what she wanted (to be invisible) and all she had to do was perform a special favor. At this point, I personally would be calling over the bouncer to have him escorted off the property. But for some reason, Fiona didn’t and she agreed.

So imagine her surprise when she wakes up, with a hangover and naked, in her bed…in the apartment that she locked her keys into. And imagine her surprise when her neighbor approaches her with her clothes and an envelope with her name on it. There is a card inside with her name, date and favor.

Then things start to get super creepy. She starts going to a support group of people who have also made a deal with the devil. They ranged from a college student who wanted to levitate to a lesbian who wanted to be straight (yes, you read that right, even I did a WTF there…lol) to a couple who desperately wanted children to a mysterious photographer. They meet once a month to see if they are all still there and to check their cards.

This is where I am going to shut up because the book got really creepy and very surreal. Lets just say that the favors got called in….on everyone in the group.

The ending of the book was surprising. I mean, I expected some of it but I didn’t expect the other thing what happened. Totally didn’t expect it and it kinda threw me off…lol.

How many stars will I give Dead Souls? 5

Why? This was a fantastic book to read. The author did a great job keeping me on the edge of my seat and guessing what was going to happen next

Will I reread? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Extreme violence and some sexual situations