Nevermore by Keith R.A. DeCandido

 

When Sam and Dean travel to the Bronx to help out a friend of Ash’s – a singer with a classic rock covers band who is being haunted by a caterwauling lovelorn spook – Sam becomes intrigued by a spate of murders in the neighborhood which all closely echo the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Is someone attempting to perform a dark ritual in an effort to return the writer from the Great Beyond?

Keith R.A. DeCandido’s Nevermore is the first original Supernatural novel to hit bookstores, and, on the strength of this cracking read, hopefully it will be the first of many.

Although a little short on action, Nevermore more than makes up for this with its vivid and detailed descriptions of the Bronx, a place obviously close to DeCandido’s heart, its wide array of colorful and appealing original characters, its close attention to detail when it comes to the Supernatural backstory and canon, and, perhaps most importantly, its nigh-on note-perfect characterizations of Our Winchester Heroes.

Eye color and repeated references to Dean being “short” aside – presumably Mr. DeCandido hasn’t spent hours obsessively counting Jensen’s freckles or studying the “flickyoutedness” of Jared’s hair like your average fan fiction writer (although he does make reference to Sam’s “pointy little chin”) – Sam and Dean both survive the transition from screen to page with flying colors: banter, snarky comebacks and backhanded brotherly affection all present and correct and occasionally hilarious, such as when Sam asks Dean to order him a gin and tonic at the local bar and when Dean reveals his entire knowledge of the works of Poe is based on The Simpsons.

While Dean is his usual snarkily abrasive self, butting heads with a local “spook-aware” police detective, flirting with a thirtysomething single mom bartender (maybe I wasn’t the only one who thought more sparks flew between Dean and Ellen than Dean and Jo!) and barely able to contain his excitement when he finds himself lodging in a classic rock vinyl Nirvana, Sam actually gets to be funny, a character trait from the series often overlooked in fan fiction in favor of angst and general limpness. His ambivalent feelings at once again finding himself immersed in academia are acutely observed, and his obvious intellectual curiosity is explored to great effect in his determination to get to the bottom of the Poe-inspired ritualistic murders.

Although the culprits behind both the murders and the haunting, as well as the groupie rock chick ghostie, are all a tad anemic and the identity of the bad guys is quite easy to figure out, DeCandido more than makes up for this with some of the other characters who pepper the novel, including Arthur Gordon Pym, an irritatingly endearing Poe geek with an incredibly Poe-esque turn of phrase, the various and mostly stoned members of the awful rock band Scottso, and the fabulous Detective Marina McBain, who is revealed as one of a handful of hunter-friendly detectives scattered across the US whose ranks include The Usual Suspects’ Diana Ballard and a female detective from Chicago by the name of Murphy, a nod perhaps to The Dresden Files. Hopefully this intriguing idea will surface again in future novels, because God knows, the boys could use some friends on the Force!

Sassy, brash and a constant pain in Dean’s butt, especially when she insists on referring to him as “brushy-top,” McBain is particularly good fun and can also be totally relied upon to have the boys’ backs, even when confronted by a last minute surprise cameo appearance from one of the show’s best recurring baddies.

What really gives Nevermore an interesting edge, however, is its New York setting. Seeing how the boys react to a big city hunt is something the show hasn’t really explored except perhaps in Shadow, and the novel, while still feeling like a Supernatural story, also feels that little bit different, that little bit more original than if DeCandido had merely set the boys down in yet another nameless faceless small town and had them fight the local urban nastiness. Dean’s reluctance to drive the Impala around due to the Bronx’s crazy road layout screwing with his innate sense of direction is particularly hilarious, as are Sam’s attempts to park the humongous Chevy amidst the throng of local traffic, parking meters and one-way streets.

Overall, Nevermore is a fabulous entry into the Supernatural universe – funny, entertaining, well-observed and unwaveringly true to the characters we know and love. When DeCandido remarks that Sam and Dean “always worked best alone” I think we can safely say he gets it. He really gets it.

Rating 8/10

Review by irismay42