Books › Secondhand Souls
Secondhand Souls
510 pages
A hilariously macabre romp through San Francisco where the afterlife is just another bureaucratic nightmare managed by lovable misfits.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like strapping into a haunted carnival ride operated by a crew of well-meaning but deeply incompetent monsters. It is a brisk, laugh-out-loud experience that balances macabre body horror with an unexpected, gooey center of found-family warmth. The prose is snappy and relentlessly irreverent, bouncing between profane observations and bizarrely profound truths about mortality. You are immersed in a zany, neon-lit version of San Francisco where the supernatural is just another daily inconvenience. It delights readers who love their urban fantasy laced with slapstick comedy, bureaucratic absurdity, and a cast of lovable weirdos just trying to keep the universe from completely falling apart.
- Mood
- zany
- chaotic
- macabre-yet-cozy
- Tone
- irreverent
- absurd
- darkly comedic
- affectionate
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the absurdity of death · found family · bureaucratic afterlife · existential comedy
- The writing
- Snappy, dialogue-driven, and laced with profane, laugh-out-loud observations and bizarre metaphors.
- The arc
- Moves from chaotic confusion and bizarre predicaments to a surprisingly heartwarming resolution of misfit camaraderie.
- Who it's for
- Fans of urban fantasy who prefer their supernatural elements served with a heavy dose of slapstick, satire, and lovable weirdos.
Content notes
- death and dying
- crude humor
- mild body horror
- profanity
About the book
Something really strange is happening in the City by the Bay. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone, or something, is stealing them and no one knows where they are going, or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Death Merchant Charlie Asher is just as flummoxed as everyone else. He's trapped in the body of a fourteen-inch-tall "meat puppet" waiting for his Buddhist nun girlfriend, Audrey, to find him a suitable new body to play host.
Description from Open Library.
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