Scheduled for release on September 28, 2010, my debut novel is titled AFTERLIFE: THE RESURRECTION CHRONICLES. More info below:
BACK COVER COPY:
WELCOME TO YOUR NEXT CHANCE.
Chaz Domingue works as a professional Babysitter in New Orleans. His job is to integrate and protect the recently deceased into their new and improved lives—a position he reluctantly accepted after his father was murdered. Though Fresh Start has always been the only game in town, resurrection isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Nine lives are all a person can get—and a powerful group of desperate, high-level Nine-Timers will stop at nothing to possess the keys to true immortality. Unfortunately, this places Chaz at the lethal center of a maelstrom.
Now the only hope for Chaz and his family—and the ultimate fate of the human race—is secretly locked away in the mind of Angelique, the beautiful, mysterious Newbie who’s been entrusted to Chaz’s care…
TEASER COPY:
Babysitting 101: Don’t turn your back on a Newbie. Especially on Day One.
I rounded a corner and found her, kneeling in front of the burial tomb of a legendary voodoo queen. She stared at the stone slab as if it belonged to her; she was running her fingers through a fresh pile of Mardi Gras beads left by pilgrims seeking favors from the dead, a puzzled expression on her face.
I picked her up, checked her pulse, sheltered her in my arms for a moment while my head cleared. “She’s fine,” I said to myself, as if I needed some sort of reassurance.
But deep down inside I knew that wasn’t true. There was something wrong here, too much information was trying to get through. Almost as if whoever did her jump didn’t know what the hell they were doing.
I was too tired to care about another Newbie whose life just got mangled and torn in Fresh Start machinery. Too tired to realize that there might be more going on here than just a rugged jump.
It was the first mistake I would make on this case. But that didn’t really matter. Because I was about to make plenty more.
ENDORSEMENTS:
“AFTERLIFE is like smoke in the darkness—intriguing and illusive. Merrie Destefano led me on a gritty page-turning journey of life, death and resurrection. I was riveted from the first page to the last and personally can’t wait for her next one.”—Tracey O’Hara, author of Night’s Cold Kiss
“Life, death and AFTERLIFE–a haunting story that seamlessly blends the hard-boiled twists of cyberpunk with the noir flavor of a Southern Gothic thriller. Gritty and compelling, Destefano’s debut tackles the big questions of immortality and faith amidst a labyrinthine web of murder and deceit. Truly high octane stuff, sure to please both fans of science-fiction and mystery.”—Marc Giller, author of Hammerjack
“Merrie Destefano storms the world of urban fantasy with AFTERLIFE, breathing new life into the vast genre of the undead. Gritty, poignant, in the tradition of Bladerunner with the nostalgia of New Orleans. With crisp and beautiful prose, AFTERLIFE blurs the line between the living and the dead to ask life’s ultimate questions–even if they take nine lives to solve.”—Tosca Lee, author of Havah and Demon: A Memoir
“AFTERLIFE is a seamless combination of mystery, science-fiction exploration of a future based on cloned survival after death, and a fantasy struggle for the survival of good in an evil world. Merrie Destefano has made a fine start on a promising career.”—James Gunn, Science Fiction Grand Master, author of The Immortals
“Absolutely my favorite book of the year. Destefano’s raw, poetic prowess is haunting and gritty, reminiscent of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. AFTERLIFE has all the marks of becoming a classic in it’s own day.”—Christopher Hopper, author of Rise of the Dibor, The Lion Vrie, and co-author of Curse of the Spider King
From the first chapter, Destefano’s AFTERLIFE drops you into a jazzy New Orleans netherworld where you’ll be both delightfully disoriented and splendidly spooked. You don’t have to die. Your very life essence can be downloaded into a nearly flawless cloned body—this is a concept so groundbreaking that I had to tell all my friends. Their collective reaction: a moment of stunned silence and then, ‘Whoa!’ AFTERLIFE will whisper to you between readings and sizzle in your mind like liquid light. No matter your genre, this is a book you won’t want to miss.”—Wayne Thomas Batson, author of The Door Within Trilogy, Isle of Swords, Isle of Fire, and The Curse of the Spider King
REVIEWS:
“The plot is complex and inspired. The mood is dark and suspenseful. It’s rare when I’m so impressed by a debut. And this science fiction novel definitely took me by surprise. The narrative is fast-paced, jumping around among several key characters’ point of view. So readers see what’s coming a bit before Chaz, building suspense and excitement. The mystery builds to a climactic ending, offering several surprises. And I finished the book with a smile, loving every bit of Destefano’s thought-provoking tale.”—Angela from SciFiChick.com
“Merrie Destefano has crafted a premise that’s powerful in its simplicity. The perfect blend of urban fantasy and science fiction, there are characters to cheer for and settings that spook. From the City of the Dead to the Underground Circus, from gen-spikes to liquid light, from dogs to their human counterparts, Afterlife has so much to love, and the second Resurrection Chronicle can’t come soon enough! (No cliff-hanger ending, though – it’s a gorgeous standalone.)”—Tez Miller at Tez Says.
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER HERE: