Published Date: April 22, 2012
Publishing Co.: Angry Robot
Pages: 381
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
If you touch Miriam Black, skin to skin, for even a second, she can see your death. The exact year, day, hour and manner of how you die. Just the one vision, one time, but she never forgets. Miriam doesn’t try to change fate. She tried that once upon a time and it doesn’t work. She hangs around like a vulture, waiting for you to die. Then, she takes the earthly things you don’t need any longer; money, credit cards, etc. She crowns herself a scavenger and she accepts her lot in life.
Until she foresees a death that is a direct result from the person knowing her. Finally, something shakes her from her complacency. She doesn’t like the idea of someone dying because they know her, but she can’t change fate, right?
Miriam isn’t a very likable character. I can enjoy a good anti-hero, but she just doesn’t have very many redeeming qualities, at least until the end. The actual villains were quite good. Creepy, intimidating. Running from them made sense.
There were a few very Stephen King elements to this book. I should have written them down when I thought of it, but I was too confident in my memory. I do remember that it was so glaringly similar that it almost felt like a complete duplication.
Currently, I am undecided whether I will continue this series.
They say memory is the first thing to go 😉
How many books are in this series and is it completed? That might help you decide if it’s worth it to continue or not…
D:
Looks like six and it is completed. Also, looks like ratings jump from book one to two. Perhaps I will give book two a chance and see what happens. 🙂
I do dig the idea that she is basically a human scavenger bird. It’s a cool concept. Fun side note: I was advising a student many years ago on her senior project, which is a presentation. She said she wanted to fly high like an eagle, not take advantage of other people’s work like a vulture. I hated to tell her that both eagles and vultures are carrion birds, but we got all patriotic about the eagle.
Sometimes you just gotta let people have their dreams lol. Even scavengers have a purpose.
Oh, absolutely, but the carrion ways are why Benjamin Franklin wanted the symbolic bird of the U.S. to be the turkey instead.
Omg that would have been hilarious.