Book Review: A Dead-End Job by Justin Alcala

A Dead-End Job 

by Justin Alcala 

Published October 5th 2021 by Parliament House

Received a copy from BookSirens

Death needs a vacation. Badly. But there's a catch: There are people who cheat the system, always falling through the cracks and not dying like they're supposed to. Who's going to take care of them while Death's sipping on sangria? 

The answer is simple: Death needs an intern, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that one prospect, Buck Palasinksia-a bankrupt hitman with a roleplaying addiction-might have what it takes. While scoping out his next target, Buck gets drilled in the forehead by a bullet and falls right into Death's lap. If they shove him back into his body, he'll have a few weeks to prove that he has what it takes to be Death's right-hand. All he has to do is take out Public Enemy No. 1, John Dillinger, and quit smoking.

Book Review: So I ended up raving about this book so much that I convinced one of my co-workers to buy it. Like right then and there. He looked it up on the Kindle app and bought it right in front of me. I only mention this because it has never happened to me before, ever. It was kinda surreal to be honest. 

Ok enough about that on to the actual review. 

Much like many of us Death is over worked, underpaid, and desperately in need of some vacay time. What's a guy to do? Get an intern of course. But it can't be any intern, not only is Death very particular he is also a bit of a perfectionist and workaholic. So who better to become Death's left hand, he's already got a right, than Buck Palasinksia. Buck is a down on his luck hitman, who finds himself on the wrong end of a minigun. After taking a bullet to the head, Buck is left with two choices become Death's intern or go Hell, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, straight to the fiery pits. It's not much of a choice really so he takes the job.

This was very Terry Pratchett esk, yet totally Urban Fantasy. While Buck was great, I think my favorite character was Death himself. I loved the dry dark humor and geeky references throughout the book. The plot was captivating and I found myself seriously jones to get back to reading this. I didn't want to put it down. You're dragged along with Buck on this crazy ride, learning about all the things in the paranormal underground and how they work. With a cast of very colorful individuals including John Dillinger. Neither you or Buck really knows who to trust. It's been awhile since a book has kept me on the edge of
my seat like this one. Paired with some really great action, it was like a movie in my head and ten times better than anything Hollywood could come up with. Ok to sum it up, writing was amazing, characters were amazing, whole damn book was amazing! I want more!