Review: Working Stiff by Rachel Caine

Title: Working Stiff (Revivalist #1)
Author: Rachel Caine
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Heat Index: 2 out of 5
Release Date: August 2nd, 2011
Word/Page Count: 306 pages
Format: Purchased

Bryn Davis knows working at Fairview Mortuary isn't the most glamorous career choice, but at least it offers stable employment--until she discovers her bosses using a drug that resurrects the clientele as part of an extortion racket. Now, Bryn faces being terminated--literally, and with extreme prejudice.

Wit the help of corporate double-agent Patrick McCallister, Bryn has a chance to take down the bigger problem--pharmaceutical company Pharmadene, which treats death as the ultimate corporate loyalty program. She'd better do it fast, before she becomes a zombie slave--a real working stiff. She'd be better off dead...

Arai's Review:

I'll admit, I had a hard time getting over the zombie stereotype that movies have put in my mind (I'm looking at you, Zombieland). But the author puts forth an amazing effort to get you to think outside of the box and attempts to give zombies at least as good a street cred as the vampires have, lucky ducks that they are. I would rec the book simply to explore this different approach by the author.

The book was well-written without a lot of the inner monologue and blocks upon blocks of text telling you instead of showing you that quite a few books seem to suffer from recently. I also really appreciated how the author wasn't afraid to shy away from the darker, more manipulative side of human nature. It was uncomfortable to read in the sense that you could easily see people acting the same way should this situation happen, but you have to commend the author on a realistic interpretation.

Unfortunately, what stuck with me at the end of this book was more the situation the character was in than the character herself. I came back to this book a few months later and couldn't even tell you the names of any of the characters which, for me, is not a good sign. Still, I'll check out the second one for the universe and set-up alone.