She spent years avoiding the dead. Now they’re coming after her.Three years ago, Max Norton left home to open a tea leaves and tarot shop. It seemed like a good trade: escape the King of Hell and live a low-key life free from scrutiny and death threats. For a Scythe, a half-human paranormal entity who can open literal portals to Heaven and Hell, and who’s hounded by creatures both light and dark, … by creatures both light and dark, it’s a dream come true. Until an annoyingly handsome ghost shows up and demands that Max help him solve his murder.
She wants nothing to do with it, but when zombies start attacking children and demons are sent to kill her, she knows this is one fight she can no longer avoid. Her ex-boyfriend, a charismatic wolf shifter, tells her about a dead zone in the forest where a necromancer is practicing black magic.
The only way to stop him is with the forbidden powers she ran away from; powers that will put a target on her back, because they mark her for a destined role in Hell she has no intention of fulfilling.
Saving the world from the zombie apocalypse may literally mean challenging the armies of Hell and facing the past she ran away from. With time running out, Max and Luke have to figure out who’s raising the dead and turning them into bloodthirsty monsters before they kill the few people left that she actually cares about. Hiding in the shadows, a mysterious enemy holds a secret that could change Max’s life forever…
Assuming she lives long enough to hear it.more
Wow! This was a fantastic story. It is my first book by Chanda Stanford and the writing just pulled me in. I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what secrets Max is keeping and who is going after who. It has me on the edge of my seat as I navigated through this journey with Max and Luke. The characters are stunningly developed. Max at times has you thinking she is not really strong no matter if emotionally or magically, but, then she will do something that just has you blown away. The personalities are felt throughout the story and it adds such an amazing element to it. I loved the writing and descriptions. While some may have been grotesque they still fit perfectly in the story. I absolutely can not wait to see what happens next. While the story itself didn’t end in a cliffhanger per say it ends in a way that leaves room for another book. It is an absolute must read!!!!!!
Max is a scythe, a reaper witch, who keeps a low profile and hides what she really is. However a ghost turns up in her flat, Luke is a cop, newly killed by a demon to keep him from solving a case he was working on. He worked at the supernatural branch and what he was working on was scary as hell. Max happened to know Barty, the demon who had killed him, and once she became interested in Luke’s case she could not in all conscience let go before getting to the bottom of what the hell was going on. A mystery person was gathering an army of zombies and attacking normal people and turning them too. Max had the power to work with the dead but did not know of anyone able to do what was being done other than herself. She could have taken Luke’s hidden cache of money which he gave her and fled the scene, but when a school was attacked she became too involved to do this. Dave, Luke’s partner cop, harnessed her to aid them in their search and no matter how hard she tried to keep her abilities hidden it became impossible to do so. She in turn asked Remi, her ex who was a werewolf shifter and alpha of his clan for help, which they willingly gave but all were in danger of the psychopath and his zombie army. I love this badass heroine, who faces danger head on and who worked so long with the dead that she had acquired a gallows sense of humour which no one else appreciated. When her father’s life is threatened she flies to the rescue and what she discovers is a real shock to her, one she never expected to find. I love that she accepts to partner with Luke to get to the bottom of the mystery and that she adopts albeit unwillingly the lovely Al, her father’s deathhound puppy who I hope to see more of in the next book which I just have to continue reading asap as Max, Luke and Al venture into hell! This is a thrilling urban paranormal magical series and quite different to the usual zombie apocalypse books.