Masters of Death: A witty and queer found family fantasy from the internationally bestselling author of The Atlas Six

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This sensational story reads as if Elle King wrote a mashup of Under the Whispering Door and The Haunting of Bly Manor.” — Barnes & Noble But nothing made sense to me. Vi, the FMC, is trying to sell a haunted house. And then there's a ledger or something that the paranormal cast of characters are trying to get. And then there was an immortal game run by the angels Gabriel and Raphael? That's all I understood. 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.” 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 book was much more whimsical than the others that I've read by her. It still boasts her staples: elegant writing and a cast of complex characters. However, its tone is more lighthearted. It reminds me a lot of Good Omens with its immortals and deities, angels and demons, and all number of absurdly entertaining creatures and characters. It's a brilliant book that's increasingly addictive to read, you won't want to put it down!

Then he encountered a reaper, a foot soldier of Lucifer, and considered it again, but found himself discouraged by the knowledge that the devil might lead his son astray— There is a game that the immortals play. The stakes are impossibly high, and yet laughably low. There is only one secret: The more you have to lose, the harder it is to win. There is only one rule: Don't lose. also no spoilers but i love a delicious, sudden betrayal it just does something for me that no other twist can. and the ending actually brought a little warmth to my cold, dead heart (thanks ACFTL - you still aren’t forgiven [not a spoiler, i am in no way discussing the plot, i just didn’t like it, it was my most anticipated read of the year, and that bums me out hence the cold dead heart comment - i promise]) 😌 Viola Marek is a vampire real estate agent and the house she wants to sell is haunted by Thomas Parker III. She goes to a medium called Fox D'Mora, who's the godson of Death, although he has no special abilities aside from that distinction. This makes it sound like Viola is the main character. She isn't. The main character would maybe have to be the doomed(?) love affair between Fox D'Mora and this demigod whose name I've forgotten. This relationship is harped upon, dissected, examined, reexamined, cross-examined, and rehashed, including all the other affairs they each had while they were pining for the other person. Too much? Yes, I thought so too, because I could not give two snaps of the finger about their doomed love affair, not having been prepared for it at all. I really wish the blurb had revealed this, because I'm sure there are readers who are drawn into such plots, but I'm not one of them and I wasn't. I thought through the first half of the book that I'd probably give it four stars for its humor and punchy dialogue, mostly delivered in chaotic ensemble scenes that felt like a comedic stage play. As the story progressed, I felt the primary four characters became more layered, and then "The Game" was presented, and I was completely swept away. "The Game" is brilliant in its simplicity—at once a clever and effective plot device, as well as fertile ground for emotionally evocative character work. It was stunning. I cried. Fox and Brandt are beautiful character studies, and the final scene with Death is smart and funny, but also moving and profound in its own right.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. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes Masters of Death, a story about vampires, ghosts, and death itself. Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death.

The biggest issue I had was the big buildup of the "game" that they all play at the "tables," where the God of Chaos has Death in a stranglehold, and so Fox has to step up and play. The problem with this was the buildup to the explanation of the game took much too long. I still have no idea what the game was, except it involved two people staring at one another across the table while memories they shared played around them. Then they say something, and someone is declared the winner. That is all I got out of the game. Seriously. At one point, Death and Fox stare at each other. Death says, "I love you." Fox says, "I love you too, Papa." And then, Fox is declared the "winner." What??? Yeah. I don't know either.

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This book is about an estate agent. Only she’s a vampire, the house on sale is haunted, and its ghost was murdered. I love him, but he’s a right little shit, and unfortunately, this is the story of how he bested me.

Things are so much sweeter when they have an ending; things are so much more painful when they can be ripped away.” Blake depicts Fox and Brandt’s relationship with great delicacy, charting how honesty—and opening yourself to hurt in the name of honesty and intimacy—is a way to live without pretence. Blake admits to being “very allergic to intimacy” and so having Fox become vulnerable meant a great deal: “When I get close to someone, I am one of those all or nothing sorts of people. I don’t do casual very well. I’m either not emotionally invested at all or when I do allow you to get close, then I have given you what, I feel, are weapons.”Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. If you enjoyed Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens, you will adore this book -- Starburst Magazine

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 DelightsAll the other characters. Even though it was mainly Fox's story, I enjoyed all the parallel stories that were introduced and they were all in some or the other way integral to the main plot at hand.