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**Read Nancy Holzner's posts on the Penguin Blog.** **View our feature on Nancy Holzner’s *Deadtown*.** ** First in a brand new urban fantasy series that's "fresh and funny, with a great new take on zombies" (Karen Chance) and "full of dangerous magic and populated with characters so realistic, they almost jump off the page" (Ilona Andrews). If you were undead, you'd be home by now...** They call it Deadtown: the city's quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents. Most humans stay far from its borders-but Victory Vaughn, Boston's only professional demon slayer, isn't exactly human. ** ### From Publishers Weekly In Holzner's fast-paced urban fantasy debut, shape-shifter Victory Vaughn fights demons in an alternate present-day Boston, where a few thousand people have been mysteriously zombified and are now confined to the neighborhood of Deadtown along with vampires, werewolves, and other Paranormal Americans. Vicky's sometime boyfriend, Kane, a werewolf, lawyer, and PA rights advocate, gets some competition from human detective Daniel; teen zombie sidekick Tina occasionally wreaks unintentional havoc; and Vicky's sister, Gwen, an inactive shape-shifter and suburban wife and mother, argues with Vicky over their life choices and attitudes toward shape-shifting in the most fully realized and emotionally compelling parts of the book. By comparison, the reveal of the big villain comes off as both predictable and a little cardboardy. This fun and facile tale would be a great beach read if it weren't coming out in the middle of the winter. *(Jan.)* Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### Review Welcome to Holzner's fascinating world, where a plague has turned much of the Boston population into zombies. Part demon-busting tale, part political thriller, Holzner's take on urban fantasy is exciting and fresh. --RT Book Reviews Beginning with its first page, this exciting, gripping novel sustains its high-octane suspense throughout the narrative, keeping the reader guessing until the end . . . [A] superb addition to the urban fantasy genre. --Bitten By Books [P]ure excitement is packed in to the 326 pages that is "Deadtown". . . a fast read with exciting, witty characters, a great plot and with plenty of action. Holzner has created a heroine worthy of fans. A Top Pick. --Night Owl Reviews *Deadtown* is one of the strongest starts to a new UF series I have had the pleasure of reading in a long while. *--The Book Smugglers* ***Deadtown*** holds up quite well against the best in the genre. It's really an exceptional start of a new series. *--Fantasy Literature*