The Deadliners by Rachel Medhurst Review and Giveaway

I have to say I feel very lucky as I am one of the first people to get my hands on 'The Deadliners', the debut book written and self published by Rachel Medhurst.

The book begins :

As the motorbike spun, the screeching of metal on concrete seeped into her ears. The brutal abrasive surface ripped at her skin, beating her body with its unrelenting hardness. This wasn't good. She stopped. Everything stopped. The sound of traffic, people speaking, sirens and crying, attacked her ears. She let it sink into her head. She knew it would be too late for her; she couldn't feel her body. The numbness crawled over her muscles, towards her brain. Her mind was the last thing to die.

This book gives us something to think about, a different idea of what happens to us when we die.

We are introduced to the deadliners, spirits who play a part in what happens to humans when they are due to die. Each deadliner is set 'assignments', every time they are helping clear the karma of the one whose time is almost up but the twist is that each deadliner can bargain with another to give their 'assignment' more time, so they are essentially playing with fate.

What you have to remember when reading is that although technically not human anymore, the deadliners still feel human emotions and even spirits can learn a lesson or two along the way.

The story follows a particular group of deadliners. Danny (the leader of the group), Anna, Milly, Charlie and Reese. I would describe them as not just collegues but family too, although somewhat dysfunctional at times.

Each character has their own little separate stories going on. Anna has to find a way of guiding her mum to the other side. Milly faces the hardship of watching her daughter grow up without her. Charlie comes across as a fun, laid-back guy, a ladies man but he has his eye on a certain lady. Reese died young and he comes across as someone with much still to learn. And Danny struggles with letting his wife go.

When one deadliner has to take Danny's wife over to the other side and it becomes apparent that there may be a bad spirit among them, everything changes, lives will be affected, not only the deadliners lives but human lives too.

Rachel has managed to come up with a concept that is unique and although we know it is fictional, the way it is written comes across as believable. The story flows well, it was nice to know more about each characters lives, not just from one point of view. I was pleased that even though there were quite a few characters, it didn't get too complicated, it was easy to follow and the story flowed nicely.

With a mixture of emotions, friendships and the thought of the unknown, I was left wanting more, I actually read the book in 4 hours. There are no big cliffhangers but I felt a connection with the characters and I'm hoping there will be more written about them as I would like to find out where their journey takes them next.

You can pre order Rachel's book here and you can find Rachel on her website, twitter and facebook.

The Deadliners will be officially released on the 12th May this year but while you wait I'm pleased to tell all you lovely readers that Rachel has allowed me to giveaway an ebook copy of The Deadliners. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is fill out the rafflecopter form below. The giveaway will close on the 11th May 2014 at 11.59pm. It is open WORLDWIDE so anyone can enter and the winner can choose which format the book is sent by either mobi, epub or pdf.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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