Three Parts Dead

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Good grief. I don't know what to say. Three Parts Dead is a unique reading experience. I spent a lot of time not exactly sure I understood everything going on, but I was riveted (and yes, I understood things eventually – just some of the magic took awhile to register).

The closest thing I can come up with to compare this to is Michael R. Underwood's Shield and Crocus without the super-heroes, but with Wizard-Lawyers, Vampires, and Gargoyles that can eat Anton Strout's Stannis for lunch.

Forget my attempt at plot summary, it's just not going to work – click the links above and read Gladstone's (or whoever put together his site). This is smart, compelling – occasionally gorgeous – writing. The world building is fantastic. These characters – I'm going to be thinking about them for awhile. Actually, that's true for the book as a whole. I'm going to be thinking about all of it for awhile. Love it when I read a book like that – this one is going to stick with me.

There's SF elements, fantasy elements, some mystery, a little legal thriller, some oddly pro-cigarette imagery... a little bit of something for everyone, tied together to make something that'll knock your socks off.

I can pretty much promise you that you've never read anything like Three Parts Dead. That may not be enough of a reason to pick it up, but it you really should.