Review: The Reburialists by J.C. Nelson

The Reburialists by J.C. Nelson

Burying the dead is easy. Keeping them down is difficult.

At the Bureau of Special Investigations, agents encounter all sorts of paranormal evils. So for Agent Brynner Carson, driving a stake through a rampaging three-week-old corpse is par for the course. Except this cadaver is different. It’s talking—and it has a message about his father, Heinrich.

The reanimated stiff delivers an ultimatum written in bloody hieroglyphics, and BSI Senior Analyst Grace Roberts is called in to translate. It seems that Heinrich Carson stole the heart of Ra-Ame, the long-dead god of the Re-Animus. She wants it back. The only problem is Heinrich took the secret of its location to his grave.

With the arrival of Ra-Ame looming and her undead army wreaking havoc, Brynner and Grace must race to find the key to stopping her. It’s a race they can’t afford to lose, but then again, it’s just another day on the job . . .

I have rather mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, the characters and their dynamics were top notch, and the plotline is very well paced and had the perfect amount of stakes. But unfortunately to be blunt, the world didn't make a lick of sense, which left me more than a little frustrated throughout the entire read. I realize part of the book is supposed to have to do with different beliefs as to why the dead didn't stay dead, but nothing was really explained. We're just thrown into things without any knowledge or understanding at all. Even towards the end as more explanations came, I still frankly was confused. Perhaps by that point I had just given up trying to make sense of it and was just going with the flow. It's a shame because there's so much potential here, but I needed more explanation to really get sucked into the series. It was almost like everyone just accepted that the reanimates were there, and that was that. No one really tried to get to the route of the problem, or try and find ways to get rid of them once and for all. Just rang a bit false to me. I realize I've been a bit vague here, but even after finishing the book I still don't understand any of the mythology to explain it myself.

Now onto the good. I really enjoyed Brynner and Grace's characters. Where the world building lacked depth, their three dimensional characters made up for it. Brynner is incredibly damaged goods, and yet so strong at the same time. And of course Grace's fierce yet gun shy character was the perfect thing to help "tame" his wild ways. So I really enjoyed their progression together. It was more than a little bumpy along the way, making for a very enjoyable journey in the romance aspect. No complaints on that angle. The other good thing about THE REBURIALISTS is that despite my confusion on the world and mythology, it didn't stop the plot from progressing quickly and the stakes being very high. I was engaged and invested from the start, which when you think about it is rather impressive considering the disadvantage of the world.

I'm not sure if this is going to be a new series, or if it's a stand alone. Things ended well enough that I'd be satisfied here. But as there's potential for more, if it does continue I just hope there's more digging into the world to bring just a bit more depth.

All in all THE REBURIALISTS is an entertaining read with some world building flaws, but great characters that I enjoyed.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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