Staff Pick
This is a strange book. Luckily for me, I love strange books and was absolutely captivated with this one from the start. It opens as our eponymous protagonist, a 17-year-old gangster, is killed. Mysteriously, he comes back after only a few minutes of being dead, and that's where the real story begins: he tries to find out who his killer is and find a space for himself in the ever-changing world. Zebulon is an incredibly fun character to get to know. His narration is full of arrogant wit and charm; his adventures are bizarre and intensely human. At times gruesome, heartbreaking, darkly funny, and touching, I never got bored. Recommended By Nicole S, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
A murdered teen is resurrected to walk the earth for centuries in this sweeping historical epic in the spirit of andlt;iandgt;The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing andlt;/iandgt;and andlt;iandgt;The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttonandlt;/iandgt;, from the author of andlt;iandgt;Rotters andlt;/iandgt;andandlt;iandgt; Scowlerandlt;/iandgt;.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Twenty minutes after his murder on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1896, seventeen-year-old Zebulon Finch awakens, resurrected to suffer an eternity upon the planet. But of all people...why him?andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Is it because he was a violent Chicago gangster and this is his chance at redemption?andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Is it because he is a modern-day Job whose suffering is beyond human comprehension?andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Over the next centuryand#8212;or twoand#8212;he will try to find out. With a sly aristocratic voice and a healthy appetite for women and anarchy, Zebulon Finch spins a tale of his travels across a young America, watching the country grow and mature, knowing that his mind and body will never do the same.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Yes, he is witty. He is also vain. Absolutely brilliant, too. And he is always entertaining. But have no doubtand#8212;Zebulon Finch has a heart as vulnerable as anyoneand#8217;s. Too bad he doesnand#8217;t learn to use it till after it has stopped beatingand#8230;
Review
“Fiction, like any art, can be divided between the living and the dead. THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH is unequivocally and furiously among the former. A splendidly rendered, macabre picaresque, muscular and tender, imaginative and grotesque, cynical yet deeply moving. I was appalled one moment and laughing the next. Don't be fooled by the premise. This tale may be told by a dead man, but what's rendered here is life itself in all of life's absurd glory.” Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave
Review
"Kraus' careful prose gifts Mr. Finch with a voice that retains a sheen of elegance even as it repulses readers with macabre imagery. And still, when his occasional efforts at reform fail, Mr. Finch becomes an oddly pitiable character." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Morbidly fascinating." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
A murdered teen is resurrected to walk the earth for centuries in this sweeping historical epic in the spirit of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, from the author of Rotters and Scowler.
May 7, 1896.
Dusk. A swaggering seventeen-year-old gangster named Zebulon Finch is gunned down by the shores of Lake Michigan. But after mere minutes in the void, he is mysteriously resurrected.
His second life will be nothing like his first.
Zebulon's new existence begins as a sideshow attraction in a traveling medicine show. From there he will be poked and prodded by a scientist obsessed with mastering the secrets of death. He will fight in the trenches of World War I. He will run from his nightmares--and from poverty--in Depression-era New York City. And he will become the companion of the most beautiful woman in Hollywood.
Love, hate, hope, and horror--Zebulon finds them. But will he ever find redemption?
Ambitious and heartbreaking, The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume 1: At the Edge of Empire is the epic saga of what it means to be human in a world so often lacking in humanity.
Synopsis
From the coauthor of the New York Times bestselling The Shape of Water comes the "utterly riveting" (Entertainment Weekly) tale of a murdered teen who is resurrected to walk the earth for more than a century. May 7, 1896.
Dusk. A swaggering seventeen-year-old gangster named Zebulon Finch is gunned down by the shores of Lake Michigan. But after mere minutes in the void, he is mysteriously resurrected.
His second life will be nothing like his first.
Zebulon's new existence begins as a sideshow attraction in a traveling medicine show. From there he will be poked and prodded by a scientist obsessed with mastering the secrets of death. He will fight in the trenches of World War I. He will run from his nightmares--and from poverty--in Depression-era New York City. And he will become the companion of the most beautiful woman in Hollywood.
Love, hate, hope, and horror--Zebulon finds them. But will he ever find redemption?
"Fearlessly weaving gore, love, philosophy, and social justice issues into one sharp whole" (BCCB), The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume One: At the Edge of Empire is the epic saga of what it means to be human in a world so often lacking in humanity.
About the Author
Daniel Kraus is the acclaimed author of The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume One: At the Edge of Empire, The Monster Variations, Rotter, and Scowler. With filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, he wrote Trollhunters. A writer, an editor, and a filmmaker, Daniel lives with his wife in Chicago. Visit him at DanielKraus.com.