Review: Slippery Souls

Slippery Souls by Rachael H. Dixon

Genre: Paranormal
Published: January 18, 2012
Pages: 242 (Paperback)
Source: Received free copy after winning Goodreads Giveaway
First heard of: Through Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon US, Feed A Read, Kindle, Nook.
Summary: Libby has hit a bad patch in life, and just when she thinks things can’t get any worse she's killed in a car accident alongside her dog Rufus. During their transition to the afterlife’s Sunray Bay, Rufus somehow manages to absorb her soul – which, in turn, gives him human-like qualities and renders her soulless.

Accompanied by her now talking dog, Libby tries to unravel the mystery of her slippery soul, encountering many setbacks and dilemmas along the way. She has no idea why a group of monster slayers, headed by an ex-convict, are hunting her down, and when she teams up with rogue Peace & Order Maintenance Officer, Grim, she’s shocked to discover that there’s a mob of disgruntled vampires and a very angry mayor hot on their heels too.

Libby has never felt so unpopular, and begins to wonder whether it’s possible to die twice in one day...



Review: Beware of Potential Spoilers

Also Reviewed it on: Goodreads

This novel threw me for a loop. When it came in the mail I was excited about a free book. When I started reading it...and got the laugh of my life. My mother in real life had warned me about 'wearing nice underwear when going out in case you got in an accident' as well. So I felt an immediate bond with Libby the main character who started out as a typical adult woman fed up with her immature, slob boyfriend. Then it does a complete 180 when she dies along with her dog Rufus. She wakes up and finds out the after life is not so simple. Along with her dog Rufus who can now talk after accidentally absorbing her soul (seriously, how does someone think up that and still keep a great story?), she tries to navigate the world of Sunray Bay. Her fun first day included meeting rude people, being mugged, then getting chased by a guy who looked like a drug addict and meeting Grim a rogue Peace & Order Maintenance Officer with a dark past and just as bleak attitude. He can't shake off Libby however and both have to go out into a world where they're being chased by ex-cons, monsters and the mayor who just happens to be a germaphobic vampire. Of course.

Slippery Souls has many twists but none more so than Libby not being the anti-man heroine. Yes she can help herself but she does need help and actually wants a guy around her. She and Grim are greatly mismatched but yet work out so perfectly together. Independent heroines are great but the fiction section is getting overpowered by females with so much testosterone, even I'm scared. I enjoy strong women but creepily strong 'eat men for breakfast' women? No. And Libby isn't a whiner and anyone who didn't want another Twlight series Bella (I don't hate her but I can see why others do and her character has annoyed me at various points) on their hands will love Libby. She is a real woman in a paranormal after life situation. She's not cowering off somewhere or pushing anyone to turn her into something else. In fact the monsters terrify her like they do normal people. YES MONSTERS SCARE NORMAL PEOPLE.

Another great element to this clever work is that the story is told in the perspective of not just the main character but other characters as well. Including the villains. You get to see the complexity and inner tormoils of each character. Everyone has a motivation. Everyone wants to achieve their own goals. But no one can have their cake and eat it too and not one person wants to lose.  The very balance of Sunray Bay and it's citizens are at stake and Libby is about to realize she's a lot more valuable than she ever thought possible. The end will have you begging for more. Some suceed, some fail and someone dies. Yes even in the afterlife you can go and it will not be quietly. Slippery Souls is a well written paranormal novel for readers 16 and over and if you're looking for a different and more mature YA to read this is for you.

I also gave another novel Guardian high marks but it's only because both are great works in their own right.

Slippery Souls also gets credit for doing something different with the paranormal genre and going against type with a M.C. who is both a heroine without special skills and not scared of (or illogically resistant to) assistance from the opposite sex.

Rating: 5 Stars (+)

Author: Rachael H. Dixon