Review: Dearly, Departed

Author: Lia Habel
Format: eBook
Print Length: 482 pages
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: October 18, 2011

Love can never die.

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

My Thoughts

Finally a novel that should actually be turned into a movie. The sense of urgency, fear and confusion runs rapid in this novel. A book that would make an amazing date night movie. One in which the girls get a budding relationship and the guys get- well zombies of course.

Nora- the central character- is finally coming out of mourning for her father’s death. There is an attempted kidnapping on her that leads to a real kidnapping by the Victorian army. She is taken to a remote location to keep her safe. It is then that she finds out that her daddy didn’t’ really die- well he did but then he reanimated.

She is a girl of remarkable common sense and an astute brain in her head. It does take a while for her to accept zombies. Bram has a lot to do with her acceptance. The best thing about her is that she does not tip toe around them. She treats the zombies just like humans. This endears her to them.

Bram is a zombie in the New Victorian Army. He was already a little in love with Nora before he met her. Being rather close to her father, he learned and heard many stories about her. He will be the one to save her life and worries about her. Mostly of acceptance of her among the zombies and acceptance of the zombies by her. Ultimately, he is highly protective of her.

It is a race against time to find her zombie daddy, her human best friend and to figure out who is sabotaging the Laz project. Can Nora and Bram solve the mystery in time? Or will more die?

My Rating 5 out of 5 stars

Other Characters

Pam- Nora’s best friend
Michael- a potential suitor for Pam
Chas- girl zombie in Bram’s company- she has spunk
Tom Todd- grenadier zombie and Chas’ boyfriend
Captain Wolfe- a human captain in the army- kinda a jerk