Book Review: Death Leaders

Death Leaders. Kendra Hadnott. Miles Way Press, February 20, 2016, Trade Paperback and Kindle, 222 pages.

Reviewed by Jose Nateras.

Kendra Hadnott’s debut novel, Death Leaders, tells the tale of Chris Rush, a Death Leader in a futuristic Chicago. Death Leaders are a grim-reaper or Shinigami group of figures, causing and regulating the deaths of the human population since time-immemorial. Walking the line between fantasy and science fiction, Hadnott’s novel takes place in the year 2031. Characters utilize technologies and belong to secret organizations while also possessing magical qualities such as extremely long-lifespans, agelessness, and supersonic hearing. The world Hadnott weaves is complex and takes from a wide variety of influences. Vivid and imaginative, the setting is so rich yet familiar and allows readers the ability to really let their imaginations run wild.

Chris, the central protagonist, navigates his career as a Death Leader and all of the politics that go along with receiving a special assignment coveted by his peers and shrouded in mystery. Readers will find themselves caught up in the intrigue along with him. Things develop quickly and the action carries right along.

Stylistically, the book is approachable and easy to read, an interesting genre hybrid with a wide cast of characters. Sharing the first person perspective of Chris, readers are brought into his internal life and train of thought. He has doubts with regard to living up to his “father’s” legacy (he started and regulated the Great Potato Famine) and his own quest to find and bring about the death of one Tracy Willbourne.

Overall, Death Leaders is an intriguing and entertaining read. However, the variety of influences and characters can leave readers vaguely confused regarding their ideas and understanding of the world and nature of the Death Leaders and the rules of their existence, until the implications of their role in the world solidify. But once that solidification happens, Death Leaders becomes a worthwhile genre jaunt sure to satisfy readers looking for a journey through a Chicago of the near future, populated by mysterious grim reapers.