Dead Man's Deal by Jocelynn Drake

Dead Man's Deal, Jocelyn Drake.  New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013.  e-book, 333 pps.

Dead Man's Deal is the second book of The Asylum Tales.  Angel's Ink is the first.  There are also two shorts-- The Asylum Interviews: Bronx and The Asylum Interviews: Trixie.


Having read Angel's Ink and liking it, I decided to read Dead Man's Deal.  I can now declare myself a fan of the writing of Jocelynn Drake.  I liked Dead Man's Deal too.  A lot.  I am waiting for the third e-book in the series to be published.

Dead Man's Deal continues the story of Gage the tattoo artist and his buddies.  The first chapter starts out with the words, "They were killing pixies." [page 6].  It was a perfect beginning.  Gage was once again embroiled in a dilemma not necessarily of his own making.  Through his ingenuity, he and his troll buddy got out of that one.  Naturally, Reave [not a nice guy] was pissed off by this.  Naturally, Gideon [Gage's sort of guardian and his defender to the Towers] showed up to admonish Gage for his use of magic which was forbidden.

There is a steamy love scene in Dead Man's Deal between Gage and his hot elven girlfriend Trixie.  I don't enjoy many fictional love scenes but I liked this one.  The end result was another problem added to the list of on-going problems between Trixie and the Summer Court.

The last bit of the book featured some unexpected new characters and a dual to the death for Gage.  The new characters were refreshing to me and held my interest.  The dual was not entirely unexpected but was expertly described.

sapphoq reviews says:  If you don't mind a talking cat, an urban alternative setting, and non-humans in your fantasy tales, you should be reading Jocelynn Drake.  Dead Man's Deal continues in the most excellent tradition of The Asylum Tales.  Readers who like Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar Series [with talking horse-like Companions] will enjoy the writing of Jocelynn Drake.  [If you don't like talking animals, stay away].  Highly recommended.