Vlad Vaslyn

***Reviewed by Jacqueline Malone and posted by the author***

"Delilah Brachman wears short-fused anger like steel armor. In the minutes before she is killed, we see her slap down her father, her sister, a nurse, a receptionist, a cab driver -- anyone who gets in her way. This anger comes with her into her afterlife as she goes toe to toe not only with the guilt from her life, but with the demons that run the underworld. In this dangerous purgatory, she has six days before her train takes her to a final judgment on her life -- if she can survive.

"Despite her rather nasty personality, I began to root for her, partly because of the spunk and daring she shows in dealing with the double-crossing creatures she meets -- demons and men who constantly want to make a deal with her, always reserving the power to get out of the bargain and leave her facing another angry demon, or a bow and arrow toting devotee, or a power-mad fanatic of the underworld. And then there's Noc, the fragment of a demon with the mind of a dirty mouthed ten-year-old, and Lucy Shaw, whose face will always haunt her. Only one relationship seems true -- if it can withstand the threats and conspiracies they both face.

"The story is vividly told with suspense enough to satisfy me for a couple of years!

"A great read!"

~Jacqueline Malone - Author of All Waters Run to Lethe. Her work has appeared in many literary journals, including Poetry Magazine, Ploughshares, Cimarron Review, and Poetry Northwest.… (altro)