The
Secrets of Life and Death is a work of paranormal, supernatural, and
historical fiction. The book jumps back and forth between Sixteenth century
Poland and Hungary and present day England.
In the Sixteenth century, John Dee
and his assistant Edward Kelley are enlisted to save the life of Countess
Elizabeth Bathory. Saving the countess – and, hence, their own lives – requires
Dee and Kelley to call upon dark magics.
In the present day, the police are
trying to solve the disappearance and deaths of missing teenagers. As the dead
teenagers are found with sigils drawn upon them, the police enlist the
assistance of Felix Guichard, Professor of Social Anthropology who specializes
in, inter alia, magic. He recognizes
the sigils as Dee’s Enochian alphabet. While trying to solve the mystery of the
sigils, Felix meets Jackdaw Hammond.
Like one of the missing teenagers,
Sadie Williams, Jack is dead. These “borrowed timers” are kept alive by magic
that is tied to the sigils. Felix and Jack work together when the Sixteenth and
present centuries collide.
The
Secrets Of Life and Death is an easy, enjoyable read. I like historical fiction,
but I prefer when such a book is solidly grounded in history. I cannot say for
certain, but my sense is that this book is a great deal more fiction than
historically accurate – and, in that I am disappointed. However, as an
action/thriller with some paranormal and a touch of history, it is a quick and
satisfactory read.
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