by Ryan Leahy
Procession of the Dead
by Darren Shan
Rating: 4
As the first novel in Darren Shan’s riveting new series, The City does not disappoint. Shan is the author of the Cirque du Freak series, which was turned into the movie, The Vampire’s Assistant. This novel switches from the young adults to adult readers and is centered around the character of Capac Raimi, who came to the City to become a gangster with his uncle. But after his uncle is killed, he is taken to the Cardinal, who saw him in a dream. The Cardinal is the powerful kingpin that controls the City and has a stranglehold on everyone.
Raimi starts off working in real estate, one of the legitimate businesses run by the Cardinal. As he gains more and more stature in the Cardinal’s organization, he realizes that he cannot remember anything from before he came to this city and the City is home to evil magic. He teams up with Ama, a girl he meets while she is breaking into a building controlled by the Cardinal. She also cannot remember anything, and they find out that they are on a mysterious list titled Ayuamarcan. Capac eventually stands up to the Cardinal to figure out who he is and what secrets the City holds.
When I read this book, I was amazed by how interesting it was compared to his other books. His previous novels like the Cirque du Freak series were more centered around younger children, but this book appealed to an older audience with a more mature and complex plot. Throughout the novel, there were many twists and turns like Capac finding out that he was once an actual person.
This was his debut adult novel, and he added many darker characters like the Cardinal and the evil killer, Paucar Wami. The characters kept me enticed because they were unpredictable. I enjoyed everything about them. I was never bored when I was reading this book.
The only thing that I questioned regarding this novel was the ending. I did not expect that it would end the way it did. It took me by surprise, and I do not know why it ended like it did.
I would not recommend this book to everyone. I feel that only a select audience would enjoy reading it. The people that should read this book are previous fans of Darren Shan or people who like fiction with magical elements. It was a dark book, and I do not believe everyone would like it.