When the exciting and impressive first installment in the Dreg City series opens, Evy Stone wakes up on a morgue table – especially disturbing and problematic as she has no idea how or why she got there. Catching a glance at herself in the table’s surface, she sees a face she does not recognize. Stunned to learn that she now resides in a strange body whose name was Chalice Frost, Evy also discovers that she appears to be self-healing. When spotting the date on a newspaper, Evy realizes that she has completely lost a week, her last memory from seven days earlier, when she set out to find Wyatt, her Handler.

Part of a team, or Triad, of bounty hunters, Evy and others like her track down and eliminate Dregs, or paranormals, who murder humans or other peaceful Dregs.

The last events Evy remembers are the deaths of the rest of her Triad during a Halfie (those creatures caught in the stage between being human and being vampire) attack, running from other Hunters who believe her guilty of the death of her teammates, leading to the destruction of the peaceful shapeshifters who gave her sanctuary, and attempting to find her Handler. Seeking to learn both how she died and why she was resurrected, Evy contacts Wyatt. When they meet, Wyatt explains that Evy was brought back via a spell so she could tell him what she had learned about a possible vampire/goblin alliance to wipe out humans. This information surprises Evy, as those two races typically do not mingle, but finding out that she only has three days to recover her memories of that knowledge and to stay alive comes as a shock. Evy and Wyatt set out to discover the truth, experiencing both deception and assistance in places they do not expect.

With tactile imagery, Meding populates her world with a myriad of paranormal creatures that while fantastical, seem very real to the reader. Though a suspense-filled thrill ride from the first page to the last, vivid, three-dimensional characters exhibiting emotion and heart sustain the narrative. In a story teeming with life that skillfully examines death, Meding provides food for thought on what exactly makes us who we are. During the course of her journey for answers, Evy begins to feel a merging with Chalice: “It still felt strange to say her name like she was an individual. More and more, we were becoming the same person. One unique identity, rather than two sharing one space” (137). All of these excellent features coalesce into a fascinating whole that will keep the reader riveted to the page for the duration of the book. This exceptional and worthy addition to the urban fantasy genre has this reviewer anxiously awaiting the next installment.

Book Stats:

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Dell (November 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553592866
• ISBN-13: 978-0553592863

To purchase a print copy of Three Days to Dead from Amazon click here.

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To purchase a print copy of Three Days to Dead from Barnes & Noble click here.

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