Bastard Reaction: Resurrection by Tim Marquitz

It should come to no surprise by now that I've become a big fan of Tim Marquitz as evidenced in this previous post. Resurrection is the second book in the Demon Squad series, sequel to Armageddon Bound which happened to be the author's debut novel.

Armageddon Bound introduced us to Frank Triggaltheron, nephew of Lucifer, living in a world at the edge of the Apocalypse. You see, God and Lucifer have made peace with each other and proceeded to abandon all creation together, and no one knows where they are. With their disappearance; power voids have come to the surface, demons are out of control with no one to answer to, and angels are as lost as ever. The world is out of balance, and in comes Frank our unlikely hero, who also was a candidate to be the Anti-Christ, with his awesome sense of humor in one of the worst days of his life trying to safe day, or simply just survive to see the next one. The threat of another war between Heaven and Hell is in place, but the lines are more blurred than ever and it's not easy to tell friend from foe.

Resurrection deals then with much of the aftermath of what occurred in the first novel, we got a demon with a vast amount of power, which brings the possibility of the Apocalypse one step closer to coming true. We also find much of the protectors of Earth against supernatural occurrences at the verge of decimation and plenty of trust issues going around after all the betrayals. Not only that, zombies have been showing up, a necromancer is in town, and rumors of resurrecting one of the most powerful demons in history are going about. Once again we find Frank put in the middle of the crisis taking the mantle of unlikely hero once again because what other choice does he have? As if threats to his life weren't enough, he has to deal with his constant sexual frustrations that may just be what finally kills him. If his tombstone reads "Died because of a horny penis," it will be of no surprise. So what better way to avert a future Apocalypse than by partnering up with a traitorous succubus, an enemy wizard, and a speech disabled zombie metal-head.

Resurrection is just a fun book through and through. Frank to me is the funniest character I've read so far. Nothing is being held back here, no pulling punches, with plenty of dirty and dark humor. With the humor aside, this book has non-stop action and plenty of twists. Not that the twists are of any surprise since even Frank knows he's getting played, he just doesn't know how he's getting played. That's where the fun is.

My biggest compliment for the novel is that the writing level has improved since the first book and so did the presentation of the novel itself. The editing was better, the paragraphs better focused and structured, which in all made for a better reading experience than the first in the series. Considering that Resurrection was written in 2009, not long after finishing Armageddon Bound, and now witnessing these improvements makes me quite anxious to see what comes next from Tim Marquitz; particularly now that he's a much more experienced author and editor, and surely has been receiving feedback on how to improve his trade.

Despite my high regards for the books so far, they're far from perfect and there's a lot of room for improvement, which makes the wait for the next book in the series even more exciting. He's simply hitting all the right notes for me so far.

We need more books like this one, bringing a fresh voice to the urban fantasy genre that even with the abundance of new authors, much of the content is becoming a bit repetitive. While angels and demons are nothing new, the narrative voice and energy is indeed one that stands out.

Links to buy the Demon Squad series:
Armageddon Bound E-Book Damnation Books
Armageddon Bound Paperback Barnes & Noble
Resurrection E-Book Damnation Books
Resurrection Paperback Barnes & Noble

For more information on this and other projects, please visit Tim Marquitz at his website and his blog.