#BookADay: THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH by Daniel Kraus (Simon & Schuster, launches Oct. 27, 2015)

Just finished THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH (Volume One: At The Edge Of Empire) by Daniel Kraus, which launches October 27, 2015 from Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers. Whenever I start a big book (and at 642 pages, Zebulon Finch definitely qualifies), I cross my fingers and hopehopehope that the first few pages will pull me in right away. If they do, I can relax and settle in for what promises to be a satisfying long read. If they don't, then it's just going to be long.

Zebulon Finch had me from the beginning. I already knew the premise, which was what lured me to read the book in the first place: A 17-year-old gangster named Zebulon Finch is murdered in 1896 but is mysteriously resurrected only minutes later. The first volume follows Zebulon throughout the decades from his beginnings as a sideshow attraction in a traveling medicine show through WWI, an experimental subject for a Harvard professor, Depression-era New York City, to being a companion to a Hollywood starlet.

What I especially enjoyed:

- The narrative voice. I felt like reading everything out loud, just to have the words roll around on my tongue. [Edited: I had included a brief sample here but have removed it because I just noticed the "not for quotation" note on the ARC cover.]

- The wry wit. Zebulon Finch, despite being dead, still has a sense of humor that comes out in his observations about the people and events around him.

- The dark edge. I'm a longtime horror fan (I have a personal autographed note from Stephen King, hand-typed with liquid paper corrections!) and was fascinated by some of the macabre and nightmarish situations, the delving into what makes us afraid. Grossed out at times and had to skim the occasional paragraph, but was still fascinated. If the story had just been about the horror bits, I would have stopped reading early on...but there was SO much more.

- How Zebulon's relationships developed, both romantic and platonic. Don't want to say much more on this aspect for fear of spoilers, but I loved how some of his most meaningful relationships became inexorably woven into his life and way of approaching the world long after those people are gone.

- Zebulon Finch, the main character. He can be selfish, hateful, tender, cynical, romantic. He is unlike any other immortal character I've ever encountered in a book....and I'd like more, please.

Which is why I'm SOOOOOO looking forward to the second volume!

Read about THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH, VOLUME ONE on the Simon & Schuster website, and more about Daniel Kraus at DanielKraus.com.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC.

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More info: Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge | Archives of my #BookADay posts.