Pretty Little Dead Things
A Thomas Usher Novel
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3.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
"Gary McMahon’s one of the darkest – which is to say brightest – new stars in the firmament of horror fiction.”
RAMSEY CAMPBELL
Thomas Usher has a terrible gift. Following a car crash in which his wife and daughter are killed, he can see the recently departed, and it’s not usually a pretty sight. When he is called to investigate the violent death of the daughter of a prominent local gangster, Usher’s world is torn apart once more. For the barriers between this world and the next are not as immutable as once he believed.
The award-winning GaryMcMahon's new novel series recasts horror in terms of a gritty police procedural, like The Wire in the Blood meets The Ring.
“Gary McMahon’s horror is heartfelt, his characters flawed and desperate, and this book is a rich feast of loss, guilt, and redemption. His vivid ideas are given life in beautiful prose, and the book leaves you staring into shadows that weren’t there before. His talent shines, and is set to burn brighter still.”
TIM LEBBON
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Years ago, a car accident killed Thomas Usher's wife and daughter and left him with an unwanted gift: the ability to see the silent shades of the restless dead. Now a psychic detective, Usher takes a mundane job for night club owner Baz Singh, keeping an eye on Baz's daughter, Kareena, an assignment that ends when Usher finds Kareena's corpse. Usher soon learns that Kareena's death is just the latest in a series and that the murders, the kidnapping of a little girl, and even Usher's own past are all elements in the cheerfully malevolent Mr. Shiloh's vast occult plot. McMahon's prose is serviceable; Usher is a competent-enough example of the paranormal gumshoe, from tragic backstory to gloomy worldview; and there is the necessary unresolved shadowy menace. Unfortunately, the novel never ventures past these basic ingredients.
