Deadtown Review

Welcome to Deadtown, the quarantined city of paranormals who have almost no rights and are treated like animals. Werewolves are sent off on a three day retreat during the full moon, vampires are only allowed one pint of blood, shifters can only shift three times a month, and zombies must have a permit to go into most establishments.

When the plague happened in Boston, many residents died, only to come back as zombies. Now they are restricted to living in Deadtown and are not permitted to leave there. Victory (Vicky) Vaughn is a shifter and a demon slayer. She’s been trained since she was a kid on how to slay demons. After her father was killed by a Hellion, Vicky has been determined to put an end to his murderous ways.

Vicky’s boyfriend Alexander Kane is a werewolf lawyer and is never around to spend time with her. He wants her to use one of her shifts to go on his retreat with him as a werewolf. No matter how many times she tries to explain to him that she isn’t a werewolf and would feel like a fake and doesn’t want to do that, he just doesn’t get it.

But when Vicky takes on a job slaying demons for someone Kane despises, the arguments really heat up between them. When a sexy norm cop named Daniel starts paying Vicky some attention, she revels in it and doesn’t think twice about seeing him also.

When not training her apprentice, a zombie teenager, Vicky is training to slay the ultimate demon. The Hellion is back and he’s coming for her and Vicky will be ready this time. Will Vicky be able to put an end to The Hellion once and for all?

Deadtown is the first book in a new urban fantasy series by Nancy Holzner. Every paranormal entity that you could imagine is in this book; vampires, zombies, shifters and werewolves all in the same town. Most urban fantasy and paranormal books romanticize paranormals and have them live amongst humans and they are accepted and treated as equals.

But in Deadtown, the paranormals can’t even leave the town without being in fear for their lives. The police barge into their homes and treat them like monsters even though they abide by their laws. With an election under way, Vicky may lose even more rights if the wrong man wins.

There is great characterization in this novel with each person fully fleshed out. The zombies are like regular people, the vampires are self absorbed, the werewolf is a workaholic, and the shifter is a kind hearted demon slayer out to save the town. There’s plenty of action, suspense and humor in Deadtown that will keep you reading long into the night. I am thrilled with this first book and can not wait to return to Deadtown for more adventures with Victory Vaughn.