PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Last year, I reviewed Dead Jack And The Pandemonium Device, the debut novel from writer James Aquilone (you can read my review here). Ever since, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the sequel. The time has finally come. Dead Jack And The Soul Catcher was released this week. Did it measure up to its predecessor? Fair warning, this review will contain some minor spoilers for the first book.
In the second book in the Dead Jack series, the zombie detective hits rock bottom, binging on fairy dust and formaldehyde 24/7. Reluctantly, he sets out with a fellow zombie, the narcissistic Garry, to find his long-lost soul. But a new threat emerges: a neo-Nazi group that hunts down the depressed corpse, believing his sidekick, Oswald, has the power to capture all the souls in Pandemonium. Again, the wicked world needs saving, but this time, can Jack also save himself?
Dead Jack and The Soul Catcher picks up shortly after the first novel, with Jack wallowing in misery and self-loathing, refusing to admit he misses his homunculus sidekick, Oswald. After some prodding from fellow zombie Garry, he agrees to go on a quest to hunt down their missing souls, and in the process, potentially resurrect Oswald. To aid them in their quest, they team up with someone Jack has teamed up with before: fan favorite Zara Moonbeam, the badass half witch/pixie with the ability to manifest her tattoos as weapons, with her trademark being a large sledgehammer.
Dead Jack and The Soul Catcher is everything I want in a sequel: the characters I loved returned, and the story advanced, deepening the characters while revealing major revelations and unearthing new mysteries and raising the stakes.
I loved that Jack evolved as a character. He’s still the same sarcastic zombie detective I love, but he is given much more depth and shows a broader range of emotions as more of his twisted and heartbreaking past is revealed. One of the novel’s finest feats is the character interaction. With Jack not having Oswald to lean on, he has to grudgingly rely on other friends, and I love seeing the evolution of his relationship with Zara Moonbeam as they going from reluctant allies in the first book to genuinely becoming friends in the second one, knowing they can count on each other. Much like the first novel, Zara is, by far, my favorite character, and she is practically begging for a spinoff. I don’t typically read stories that aren’t finished, but the Dead Jack series is one I can’t help but read as soon as the next book releases. I’m already anxiously awaiting the follow up, Dead Jack and The Old Gods.
Final Thoughts
Dead Jack and The Soul Catcher is a more than worthy follow up in the Dead Jack series, and is everything you could want in a sequel. It’s packed with humor, Nazi-punching action, and twists aplenty. If you love supernatural creatures, noir detective stories, and humor tinged urban fantasy, you can’t go wrong with the Dead Jack series.
