Reaper Review: Something Deadly This Way Comes by Kim Harrison

The memory of fire trucks that existed only in the future seemed to haze over my sight as I looked across the busy road to the three-story apartment complex. Having watched-no, lived- Tammy and Johnny dying in a fire had more than shaken me. It had rocked me to my core. I’d thought that I’d made a difference, but all I’d done was made things worse. Josh, at least, got home safely. He’d been gone only five minutes, and I missed him already. I worried that he was going to drift away, looking for someone who wasn’t being yanked across the continent to save someone she didn’t even know, someone who didn’t have to lie to her dad all the time, someone who had friends other than angels- and someone who could eat a friggin’ bowl of popcorn with him. Why couldn’t I just be normal?


In the conclusion to this trilogy by Kim Harrison, we delve deeper into the chaotic life of Madison Avery, conflicted — although not entirely unwilling — Dark Timekeeper and default leader of the Dark Reapers.  She still disagrees with the practice of killing people before their time in order to save their souls, but does not know how to make the changes to the heavenly system that she thinks are necessary.  With the help of vaguely Light reaper Barnabus and pretty much Dark reaper Nakita, can she find a way to show the heavenly host that human choice has meaning?

Fluffy.  With spikes.  That’s what comes to mind when I think about this book:  Harrison’s rather goofy humor is threaded throughout, but the issues dealt with therein are very serious.  What is the meaning of human choice?  When is it okay to lie?  What does it mean to have a soul?  Given the chance to forget something terrible, would you?  Or, given the chance for normalcy, would you give up the chance to be either a stupendous success or an utter failure?

Rating:  4/5.

Written by That Guy.

Christie: Agree with all his points. Nakita and Barnabas make for a compelling read, and Harrison builds Madison’s world completely- including having a 17-year-old dark reaper still worried about getting caught in California past curfew. Recommend pairing with books like the Croak series, or Darnyda Jones’ series Darklight, or Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job.

Filed under: Book Reviews, grim reaper, Kim Harrison, Something Deadly This Way Comes