Beautiful Dead Book 1: Jonas »

EDEN MAGUIRE lives part of the time in the United States, where she enjoys the big skies and ice-capped mountains of Colorado. Aside from her interest in the supernatural and writing fiction, Eden's life is lived as much as possible in the outdoors. She says, "Put me on a horse and point me towards a mountain-that's where I find my own personal paradise."

Not alive. Not dead. Somewhere in between lie the Beautiful Dead.

Publishers Weekly

From the quick-cut narrative to the vividly visual descriptions, debut author Maguire’s first book in the Beautiful Dead series reads like a novelization of a TV show. It’s an accessible if shallow style, and the love-after-death theme has popular appeal. High school senior Phoenix, knifed to death in a street fight, returns as a zombie, and his grieving girlfriend, Darina, is a hidden witness to his resurrection. Defying the eerie zombie master, Hunter, Darina claims Phoenix, risking mind erasure or worse. The zombies have a goal—to solve the mysteries surrounding their deaths—and Darina offers to “play detective” for them. Hunter accepts, on the condition that Darina focus on Jonas, one of four newly undead “revenants” from Darina’s high school. From there, the story becomes a series of emotional confrontations, sweet interludes between the lovers, and adrenaline-surging moments of physical threat. Despite all the drama, the characters’ emotions seldom feel genuine (romantic sentiments are especially corny), but fans of the Twilight franchise and shows like Supernatural should be an eager audience. Ages 12–up. (Mar.)