Mediocre urban fantasy about people rescued from death only to be turned into revenants. Our heroes in the present day include a couple such revenants, and a university professor. They face an adversary whose roots lie in the late 16th century, which we learn by following the exploits of John Dee and Edward Kelley (actual historical figures) in Poland of that time. But all the historical stuff feels superfluous to the main story and could have been boiled down from half the book to a couple of chapters. There's plenty of magic in the story, with little framework governing how it works, so it feels rather arbitrary. The book does have some suspenseful sequences, but overall I found it not very engaging, ( )

I'm reviewing this to the Early Reviewers. I wanted to love this book. It has so much I love: a bit of history, a bit of occult mystery - and all the 'similar books' are ones I know and love. This one? Didn't quite cut it. The mashup of historical figures that have no historical relationship to each other is, as a historian, frustrating unless it's handled with a far more deft touch than Alexander was able to manage. She's not a bad writer, she has potential, but if this sounds interesting, look for something by Harkness, Lovett's 'The Bookman's Tale,' or the 'City of Magic' series by FLyte. But keep an eye on Alexander, I hope to see more polished offerings from her in the future. ( )

Right off the bat I’m going to be truthful and say that this book was not as great as I thought it would be. The beginning of the book seemed dry and boring. I found myself losing initial interest in the novel as the story moved very slowly. I also had trouble connecting myself to the characters of the novel. I struggled to keep reading it and found that around the 150 page mark the story’s pace started to pick up and I found myself more invested in the story.

I really enjoyed the fact that the”The Secrets of Life and Death” is a story that takes readers into the past and present. Every chapter alternates between adventures of Edward and Dee on their quest to save Elisabeth Bathory in the 1500s to our present day where Jack and Felix try to solve an ancient old mystery. Both storylines eventually intertwine, but it’s exciting to see how the past and present come together in the end to solve the mystery.

I also liked the setting of the story and the various characters presented in the novel. Alexander does a nice job mixing elements of the paranormal within a realistic world, it doesn’t seem over the top and overdone. The mystery and suspense factor keeps the readers pulled into the story, wondering how it will all unfold. ( )

(Jackdaw Hammond #1)

An interesting read incorporating the legend of Elizabeth Bathory, John Dee, and Edward Kelley all mixed in a more modern supernatural English setting.

The chapters are short and go back and forth between the modern and flashbacks detailing the interactions of Dee & Kelley with the Bathory clan in the late 1500's. In the author's own notes, she admits to creative license for the sake of her story and it's easy to understand from the beginning she was clearly using historical fact as mere jumping off points; not in a poor way or in a bad one, just so she could compel a deeper sense of the supernatural for her plot.

The modern chapters I felt were less convincing for the reader - they did not make me root for the protagonist but were simply there to have a modern twist to the Dee/Kelley/Bathory plot line. There are very linear progressions and key characters are neatly lined up in these chapters; knowing this is the first in a series, it was easier to spot this set up.

Jackdaw Hammond started off the book as a nose- thumbing punk peddler of witchy goods than the lead of a story. Eventually through supernatural means, she transforms in the last few chapters into this stronger version of herself and Alexander does a good job of keeping Jack in this role throughout the book until the end when it truly matters. The build is sluggish, but churns along.

Felix Guichard is the necessary intellectual who helps the wayward Jackdaw and turns into the tropic love interest as well. He becomes this books pseudo Mary Sue as he is an academician specializing in the occult, consults with the constabulary on a case which happens to lead him to Jack, and also happens to be fresh off a divorce so he can become emotionally entangled when the time is right. Now, credit due to Alexander for having a much needed exposition machine and make no mistake, Felix helps.

The main plot follows these two as they try to save a girl named Sadie who is a "borrowed timer" or a revenant - zombie if you will - created by Jack and her friend in an unexplained do-good scenario. The Big Bad seems to take two fronts, a woman named Bachmeier and a man named McNamara. As J & F bumble around each other and Sadie, the plot clunks along aided by the Dee/Kelley chapters more and more.

In finishing the book, I cannot say I was disappointed but I was also not so immersed in the plot I am compelled to pick up the next one. It is a good one-off read and left at that. ( )

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For me, The Secrets of Life and Death was one of the most original Fantasy and Mystery mash up I've read the last few years. Which might just go on to prove I don't really know anything about Fantasy or Folklore in general, as I had no clue who Elizabeth Báthory was, but she even has her own Wikipedia-page (in Dutch as well as in English).

This said, I really liked the beginning. I had no idea where the story was going (but in a good way). Everything involving the circles and the many rules that are linked to 'borrowing' time, suggest that behind the story there is a complicated set of rules for the magic, which is something I always appreciate. Unfortunately, since this is Urban Fantasy, we didn't get to see as much of it as I would have liked. Half of the chapters are however set in the seventeenth century and breathe a more traditional Fantasy air.

I was a bit confused though with the main character's name being Jack (as she was female) but I got used to it. What annoyed me more was the romance. It felt, once again, forced and didn't add anything to the story. Sure, Felix is a nice enough guy, but instalove isn't going to solve the problem as to why he is so determined to help them. (Even though it's obviously not save).

The end was less original unfortunately, which I thought was a pity since I enjoyed the first part so much. It was however still a very nice read and I will definitely check Rebecca Alexander's next book.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )