Masters of Death

by Olivie Blake

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A vampire realtor + the godson of Death + a haunted mansion = our favorite new paranormal fantasy.

EXCLUSIVE DELUXE EDITION—a gorgeous paperback edition featuring beautiful purple sprayed edges and a special bonus story!

An instant New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Indie bestseller

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes Masters of Death, a story about vampires, ghosts, and death itself.

There is a game that the immortals play.

There is only one rule: Don’t lose.

Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the mansion has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on.

Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though he is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death.

When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with the ghost infestation, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few mindfulness-practicing creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover that the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought.

Also by Olivie Blake

Alone With You in the Ether

One For My Enemy

Januaries: Stories of Love, Magic & Betrayal

Gifted & Talented

The Atlas Six

The Atlas Paradox

The Atlas Complex

As Alexene Farol Follmuth

Twelfth Knight

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250884879
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/30/2024
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	3,428
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

OLIVIE BLAKE is the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six, Alone with You in the Ether, One for My Enemy, Masters of Death, Januaries, and Gifted & Talented. As Alexene Farol Follmuth, she is also the author of the young adult rom-coms Twelfth Knight and My Mechanical Romance. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, goblin prince / toddler, and rescue pit bull.

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE ATLAS TRILOGY

"The Atlas Six introduces six of the most devious, talented, and flawed characters to ever find themselves in a magical library, and then sets them against one another in a series of stunning betrayals and reversals. As much a delicious contest of wit, will, and passion as it is of magic, this book is half mystery, half puzzle, and wholly a delight." — Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Night

"Lethally smart. Filled with a cast of brilliantly realized characters, each entangled with one another in torturously delicious ways, The Atlas Six will grip you by the throat and refuse to let go. Olivie Blake is a mind-blowing talent." — Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights

"Compelling, entertaining, and addictive. The Atlas Six is academic Darwinism: survival of the smartest with a healthy dose of magic." — T.L. Huchu, author of The Library of The Dead

"This chilling story of ambition and magic will make you question your own morals as you grow to love (and hate) its fascinating, ruthless cast of characters. I utterly devoured this book." — Amanda Foody, New York Times bestselling co-author of All of Us Villains

From the Publisher

06/12/2023

BookTok sensation Blake (The Atlas Six) uses a motley supernatural cast to explore themes of love and sacrifice in this irreverent but occasionally tedious tale narrated by Death itself. (Death, it turns out, is “fantastically verbose, and transcendently literate.”) Viola Marek is a realtor (and a vampire) trying to sell a haunted mansion. The only one able to see the specter in question, Viola discovers an unsolved murder and a family curse tying said ghost to the house. To solve the mystery, she’ll need help from angels, a grim reaper, demons, a demigod, a siren, and a vampire. Meanwhile, Death mocks them all. The large cast proves an impediment to the plot, with the whodunit taking a while to find its footing as all are introduced. Death’s attempts at snarky humor also slow the pace, making the narration clunky and often redundant. Still, the surprisingly somber ending will have readers contemplating the costs of love and the power of facing one’s demons. It’s not perfect, but Blake’s fans and readers looking for a sassy paranormal mystery will find plenty to enjoy. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

06/10/2024

What starts as an exorcism becomes a game that could decide who commands Death. Viola Marek is a vampire and a real estate agent trying to sell a house haunted by the scion of a cursed bloodline. Viola soon turns to medium Fox D'Mora, who may be a fraud but is also the godson of Death. Along with a fun-loving demon, an uptight angel, and a lovelorn reaper, they become involved in a game played by immortals. Winning means getting one's heart's desire, but for Fox, losing could leave his godfather powerless. The story's many asides from Death, the story's narrator, as well as interludes that pull readers away from the main story, put its run time at over 15 hours. This novel from Blake (The Atlas Six) is not a story to half listen to, nor is it one to absorb over a weekend, but the memorable characters, all voiced with humor by Steve West, are entertaining. Listeners will be rewarded with meditations on life, death, and the importance of endings. VERDICT Fans of Christopher Moore who don't mind sifting through multiple layers of backstory should enjoy the immortal gameplay in this fantastical romp. —James Gardner

Library Journal - Audio

Steve West gives a lively performance of this fantasy/romance, voicing each mortal, immortal, and undead character with the requisite humor, sarcasm, and sinister whispers. Fox D'Mora, a bit of a rake, is posing as a medium, though as the godson of Death, he has an unusual advantage. When Viola Marek, vampire and real estate agent, calls on him with a poltergeist problem, Fox is alarmed to discover that Death nowhere to be found. They soon find they're all players in a deadly game. West voices the narrative in a rich British accent and shifts smoothly into each character's voice. He conveys all the pain and longing felt by Fox and his long-lost lover when they're unexpectedly reunited after centuries apart and have to face their demons in order to survive. E.E.C. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2023 - AudioFile

2023-08-19
The latest in a series of rereleases from a prolific fantasist’s previously self-published works is a contemporary spin on the fairytale “Godfather Death.”

Viola Marek is an aswang, a shapeshifting vampire from Filipino folklore. She’s also a Chicago real estate agent trying to sell a mansion even while the ghost of its last owner, Thomas Edward Parker IV, is doing his supernatural best to block the sale. In a desperate attempt to earn her commission, she hires Fox D’Mora, Death’s mortal godson, to use his connection to get the ghost to leave. Unfortunately, Death is unavailable: He’s been kidnapped, and to get him back and prevent a worlds-spanning catastrophe, Fox, Vi, the ghost, and assorted other supernatural creatures will have to enter a high-stakes gambling game that usually only immortals can play…but rarely win. The story begins with an unusual blend of myth, fairy tale, and cosmology and inevitably descends to an almost unbearable level of sentimentality, which is simultaneously a refreshing change from Blake’s usual tableau of self-involved, selfish characters who seem driven toward tragedies of their own making. Blake could definitely do a better job at showing the love between characters rather than merely telling the reader that they’re in love. She also has an unfortunate tendency to skip potentially intriguing bits of backstory if they don’t immediately drive the plot along, which is why readers never learn anything about Fox’s childhood and what it was actually like having Death as a parent. Nor does she explain why only two of the four archangels, Gabriel and Raphael, play outsize roles in determining the order of the cosmos, while Uriel and Michael are nowhere to be seen. Bits of anachronism—like the use of a rubber band as aversion therapy 200 years ago or the presence of a magical wristwatch from a time long before watches were common—might be intended to be Pratchett-style humor or chalked up to magic? It’s hard to tell what’s intentional and what is simply careless. Now that Blake has a traditional publisher, perhaps the editors of her future novels will guide the author to address these issues when they arise.

A reasonably charming urban fantasy that could have used a more rigorous edit before primetime.

Kirkus Reviews