Working Stiff (Revivalist, Book 1)

Bryn Davis is ex-military, just trying to fit into her new civilian job . . . at a funeral home. Not exactly a `normal' job, offering people casket packages and floral arrangements, but a job nonetheless.Except Bryn thinks there's something strange(`r' than you'd expect) happening at Fairview Mortuary. Desperate people come to this place after hours, and the funeral director seems to be selling more than just bereavement packages. And as it turns out, Bryn is right. Because Fairview is selling immorality and reanimation - for a hefty price.Bryn soon finds herself in the middle of a corporate upsurge with a company called Pharmadene - more than that though, she has become their own personal lab rat. Complete with handler, Patrick McCallister and a do-or-die mission.`Working Stiff' is the first book in Rachel Caine's new paranormal series, `Revivalist'.I love Rachel Caine. Honestly, between `Morganville Vampires' and `Weather Warden' she has fast become an automatic-buy for me and a guaranteed book-pleaser. So her new series was heavily anticipated . . . and, of course, it totally lived up to expectation.In `Revivalist', Rachel Caine is exploring the current hot-topic of zombies. But in typical Caine fashion she is setting herself apart from all other zombie paranormal's that have gone before her. Because in `Revivalist' zombies are a by-product of clever business marketing -tied up in big Pharma and corporate espionage.I was reading `Working Stiff' while also viewing the new season of `Torchwood', and their new `Miracle Day' storyline. Caine and Torchwood are exploring similar ideas very differently - and I found that my reading/viewing was a nice, harmonious complement. With Caine, we observe the grass-roots of a corporate pharmaceutical takeover. In `Torchwood', we are watching the global fall-out if such a pharma problem was allowed to thrive. And at the root of both concepts - what if we couldn't die? I love it. I love that both Caine and Torchwood have taken the fairly blasé concept of `zombies' and `immortality' and put a clever and real-world spin on it.One of the best things about all of Caine's series is her tendency to put her main (female) characters into tough predicaments early on. In the first `Weather Warden', Jo is an accused murderer on the run with a demon mark on her person. In `Morganville', Claire is quickly under ownership by the biggest, baddest town vampires and left to serve them. Likewise, in `Working Stiff', Bryn is quickly thrown into a bad situation that sees her become a Pharmadene puppet, and almost completely reliant on them. It's such an interesting dynamic for our heroine to be in - literally `owned' by someone else. And everything that comes after is the repercussions of her being between a rock and a hard place.Caine also excels at writing swoon-worthy romance - Jo and David, Claire and Shane. Well, in `Working Stiff' we have a slower-to-burn romance between Bryn and her handler, McCallister. It's one of those romances where you're really not sure if what you're reading is a romance-in-the-making or just a little side-tracking . . . Caine definitely keeps these two subdued, and readers on their toes when it comes to their true feelings. It's a different paced coupling than what we've read from Caine in the past (none of Jo and David's instant-steaminess, or Claire's constant pining for Shane) but it still works. Just a little more subtly.I will definitely be reading more of Rachel Caine's `Revivalist' series. `Working Stiff' is a smart zombie novel that goes beyond the typical reanimation explorations and delves into the world of big Pharma and corporate takeover. In typical Caine fashion, our heroine is gutsy, loyal and in the wrong place at the wrong time . . . this series is shaping up to be a very rewarding and interesting new addition to the urban fantasy genre, even if the romance was less `fireworks' and more `slow burn'.

Personally, anything by Rachel Caine is an auto-buy. So, when I saw she was starting up a new series, I pre-ordered it. This woman is an urban fantasy goddess: vampires (and not the crappy kind, either), people that control the weather, and banished djinn. Next up...ZOMBIES!WORKING STIFF (tell me that isn't the best title for a book about someone who's been reanimated) is the first book in the new Revivalist series and stars Bryn Davis. After a four-year tour in Iraq, Bryn just wants a steady job with a solid paycheck and a comfortable place to lay her head each night, and she thinks she's found it as the funeral director at Fairview Mortuary. Unfortunately, things don't quite work out as she hoped -- not even close.Though the first ten or so pages was a bit slow with a little too much funeral home knowledge for me, things picked up quickly when Bryn meets Fast Freddie, the mortuary's downstairs man, and she discovers the horrible secret behind Fairview's success. The plot's very twisty-turny and zig-zags too much in some places (she's alive, she's dead, she's alive; she works for Fairview, she's now working for the pharmaceutical company, wait--not really). Still, it's a ride I enjoyed, despite the bumps, and I can see it evening out as the series proceeds. I felt the same way when I started the Outcast Season series, too, and that's a series I love.In true Rachel Caine style, the characters are awesome. She's a master at getting readers to really care about the characters. Bryn's both strong and vulnerable, Fast Freddie and his bosses are excellent slime balls, the guys Bryn works with are completely intriguing, and even Mr. French, Bryn's bulldog, has a great personality (Mini-spoiler: But, um, what happened to him in the end? I'm sure he's not dead but he just kind of disappeared in the last third of the book when bad things were happening to Bryn, and I never found out where he ended up! See, I love dogs but I always dread seeing them in books. It never ends well for the dog. /end mini-spoiler)I love that Bryn is ex-military and that her experiences and training don't just fade into the background. They're a very real part of her life including some PTSD and both good and bad memories of her experiences in Iraq. It's not something I've seen in many novels, and I liked the way Bryn's military life is seamlessly integrated into both her personality and ties in with the novel's events.A great and rather unusual addition to the adult urban fantasy genre, WORKING STIFF (holy cow, that title just cracks me up) sends readers on a fast-paced and butt-kicking adventure.

Very, very funny

Having previously read all of Rachel Caine's 'Morganville Vampires' series (to date), I was already a huge fan of this author. The MV series is, to me, by far one of the most well written (& extensive) book sagas of its kind. Caine is an author who writes characters that you know. They are the people that you fall in love with, they are your best friends, your enemies and sometimes they are you. She writes stories that are so exciting and complex, and yet at the same time are also easy to follow, with a clear sense of forward moving that flows throughout, two facts which combine to make explosive, unputdownable books.And in 'Working Stiff' Rachel Caine does not disappoint. The fact this is somewhat marketed as a 'zombie' story had originally put me off, but let me say, fear not because this is a story that is unlike any of its kind. It takes the whole zombie / living dead genre and turns it on its head. I enjoyed the concept behind what causes the un-dead to be just so....well...un-dead. I think the book holds a strong and unique storyline throughout, and despite my initial reservations, the characters are not lost to a tedious flesh eating, blood and gore story. Infact, as with her MV books, it is Caine's characters that bring the story to life. You come to care about them as the story progresses and I found myself pulled into a world that feels so real, I almost felt (and sometimes wished) it was my own. This is a story the breaks the boundaries of what we think we know about the world around us and builds them back up in a way that makes you reconsider your distinctions of 'right' and 'wrong'. It is a story so rich and meaty that you will never feel like there could have been more. And for those of us with still beating hearts, there's a little romance thrown in for good measure.In 'Working Stiff' Rachel Caine has not only created what I'm sure will become a cult novel, she has also created a whole new genre. One that I'm hoping will live on.An absolutely amazing book - a definite must read!

This is book one of a trilogy, the lead character Brin Davis is a funeral director that dies on the job and is revived using a major pharmaceutical companies drug, this is not the stereotypical zombie book .. its an acyion packed race for survival , unlike many heroines Brin is a breath of fresh air an ex/military soldier she shows her fragility as well as amazing strength given the situations she lands up in ! , well worth the read

Unfortunately I read the second book first because it was given to me and didn't notice it was part of a trilogy but I enjoyed it so much that I finished it. I then gor Working Stiff. The whole idea is fascinating and the characters are well defined. Rachel Caine writes well and tells a very good tale. As i have a kindle it is unusual for me to read a book and having finished WS I thought I had better reread Two Weeks' Notice which I can also recommend. Grest stuff Rachel.I am now in the miserable position of having to wait for four writers either to finish trilogies or to produce the next volume in a series.

It is not often an author kills off their protagonist in the first fifty pages, but it is this bravery that makes the story so compelling. The edge and brutality of the story combined with the author's unerring determination to harness the fantastical subject in the " real world" gives it a coldness that is not only refreshing but in my opinion welcome. Surprising, inventive and remarkably though provoking - it is far better than the present reviews may suggest.