Publisher's Weekly Review
Ever since Harper Connelly survived a zap from a lightning bolt, she's been able to find dead people, a skill that makes the protagonist in the first installment of Harris's new series a tad more bizarre than the mind-reading heroine of the author's Sookie Stackhouse books (Dead as a Doornail, etc.). Harper travels to the Ozark town of Sarne, Ark., to find a missing teenage girl's body, accompanied by her stepbrother, Tolliver, who acts as her manager and bodyguard and with whom she shares a thinly disguised physical attraction that they manage to keep at bay by engaging in casual sex with various partners. Finding the body takes no time at all, but leaving town afterward isn't so easy. When Harper's life is threatened and Tolliver ends up in jail on trumped-up charges, it quickly becomes apparent that something sinister is going on in Sarne. Harris delivers a knuckle-gnawing tale populated with well-developed, albeit edgy characters. A nifty puzzle toward the end will challenge the most jaded mystery buffs. Agent, Joshua Bilmes at Jabberwocky. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The creator of telepathic Sookie Stackhouse (Dead as a Doornail, May 2005) and other paranormals sets her latest heroine the unenviable task of finding undiscovered corpses. Arkansas socialite Sybil Teague and her lawyer, Paul Edwards, hire Harper Connolly because of her unique talent for finding dead bodies--a skill Harper's had ever since she was struck by lightning at age 15. But once she locates Teenie Hopkins, who vanished with Sybil's son Dell, and confirms that both teenagers were murdered, her employers join the rest of two-bit Sarne, Ark., in regarding her gift with revulsion--and Harper wants nothing more than to get into her stepbrother Tolliver Lang's Subaru and drive far, far away. Even a budding romance with deputy Hollis Boxleitner, who uses Harper's powers to learn that the drowning of his wife Sally, Teenie's sister, was no accident, can't convince her to stick around. But after the beating death of Helen Hopkins, Sally and Teenie's recovering-alcoholic mom, Sarne Sheriff Harvey Branscom forces the siblings to stay put, despite minor harassment by Vernon McCluskey, owner of the motel where they're stuck for the duration, and more serious persecution from highschooler Scot Briscoe, who's irked by the crush Dell's sister Mary Nell develops on Tolliver. Branscom's so busy busting Tolliver for a broken taillight that solving the case themselves might be the beleaguered pair's only ticket out of town. Despite her nifty gimmick, Harris's whodunit is unlikely to raise the dead. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Prolific author Harris debuts a series that just might surpass all her others in popularity. Harper Connolly is honest, ethical, loyal, and, in many people's eyes, quite odd. Since being hit by lightning, Harper has a strange gift: she can find dead people and reveal how they died. Harper is so down-to-earth and delivers the story in such a straightforward way that even the most hardened realist eventually will accept the premise. In this first outing, Harper and her manager and stepbrother Tolliver travel to a small town in Arkansas to determine what happened to a local teenager. Once there, they learn that someone is willing go to great lengths--even murder--to bury a secret. While absorbing the usual mixture of awe, revulsion, and fear that her gift inspires in the locals, Harper tries to uncover the secret they are trying desperately to hide. Future stories may shed more light on Harper and Tolliver's relationship, which seems curiously close for a sister and stepbrother. A strong debut that will have readers dying for more. --Jenny McLarin Copyright 2005 Booklist
