Read the first book first.

I got a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Jeff Hays, the narrator, sent me a nice e-mail offering to substitute the first book instead, since I’d be missing a lot of back story. I think I should have listened.

It’s not that the author doesn’t give plenty of cues to previous events; it’s that I had a hard time liking Connor Baron, the main protagonist of this book. He’s a former surgeon who has cancer. The prognosis is dire, but he’s staying alive with the help of a very rare and expensive drug. His primary motivation seems to be getting enough money to pay for his drugs and stay alive. And, oh, he now also finds himself being able to raise zombies.

In this book, Baron is hired to recover the very stone that he stole in the previous book. But the plot is a lot more complicated than those few words imply. You’ll just have to read it for yourself and see.