Once Dead, Twice Shy: A Novel

Harrison, Kim

ISBN 10: 0061718203 ISBN 13: 9780061718205

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2009

Synopsis

My name is Madison Avery, and I'm here to tell you that there's more out there than you can see, hear, or touch. Because I'm there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.

Madison's prom was killer—literally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.

Now she's stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn't know why the dark reaper is after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.

With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.

Well, if she believed in that stuff.

About this title

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison was born and raised in the upper Midwest but has since fled south to better avoid snow. She spends her time tending orchids, cooking with some guy in a leather jacket, and training her new dog. Her current vices include good chocolate and exquisite sushi. Kim is the author of the bestselling Hollows series, including The Outlaw Demon Wails, and she contributed to the paranormal collection Prom Nights From Hell.

Nacida en el Midwest, Kim Harrison ha sido acusada de ser bruja (entre muchas otras cosas), pero jamás ha visto a un vampiro. Le fascinan los cementerios, el jazz a medianoche y se viste siempre de negro.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10–With her purple-tipped hair and Goth style, Madison didn't fit in when she was alive, and she has real problems now that she is dead. She went to the prom with popular and handsome Josh, but when she found out that her dad had arranged the fix-up, she ran off with the dangerously charming Kairos. This was a bad idea. Kairos is a dark timekeeper who needed to strike down Madison because his own time was about to run out and when he tried, she stole his amulet. This event sets off a unique adventure in which Madison is stuck somewhere between life and death. Caught up in a world of dark and light reapers, seraphs, and guardian angels, she has to fight to get the correct amulet and to reunite her body and soul so that she can live out a life cut short. The characters and their specific jobs and places in the hierarchy of heaven and earth are hard to follow, perhaps because this first book in the series is the setup for those that follow. The final chapters are by far the best as readers finally get a handle on all of the intricacies of the story and become attached to some of the characters, such as Grace, a funny and charming guardian angel who often speaks in limericks.–Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland, CO
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Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0061718203
• ISBN 13: 9780061718205
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240