A Review for Death is but a Dream by Erin Hayes

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: September 29th, 2013
Finished Date: January 30th, 2014

Publishers: Self Published
Genre: Paranormal, Adult
Source: For Review

Format: Kindle
Pages: 308

Buy: Amazon UK  / Amazon US

Caught between life and death, all Callie wants is to live again.

Homicide detective Callie Saunders knows that death isn’t all pearly gates and angels. After being hit by a bus, she finds that it's the ancient gods and goddesses of Greek mythology who are in charge of everything.

So when Hades offers her a deal, she accepts. If she wants to be brought back to life, she’ll have to figure out who is trying to kill his son. But if she fails, both her soul and the world will be destroyed.

With the odds mounting against her, it’ll take everything she has within her to wake up from death. But the rules are constantly changing. And someone wants her to stay dead.

The Review: 4.5 Flowers!  

Death is but a Dream was a great read! I was so engrossed in it that I read it all in one go.
As the synopsis spells out….. Callie Saunders ends up dead after saving a child from being ran over by a bus and not only is she in a coma but she winds up in hell and has an appointment with Hades himself. Apparently, there have been attempts to kill Hades’ son Plutus and seeing as she is a brilliant detective with great solving skills…. He makes her a deal – find out who is behind the attempts on Plutus’ life, stop the assassin, and he will restore her living status – because the fate of the world at stake! It’s a dangerous job but Hades has faith she can do it, there is no other option because if she fails, she dies and if she dies in hell….well she’s screwed, so that’s motivation enough….but whilst she tries desperately to save her life & guard Plutus, she isn’t aware that she should be guarding her heart too.
I thought this book was great, the characters were so interesting and I connected with Callie straight away, I liked her a lot, her whole attitude, how she viewed things and what she went through. She showed good humour & integrity as she is thrust into the world of Greek mythology, hardly knowing who was who and what was what but putting her skills to use in the best way she could, sometimes it seemed like she was winging it but that was good because the challenge brought out the best in her. I thought Plutus was also a great character, he was quite a sad figure in the beginning but as the story unfolds and he opens up, it’s understandable and you can really feel for him so it was lovely to see them connect with each other and so refreshing that they didn’t fall at each others feet instantly.
I thought the storyline was really good and different, I always like Greek mythology and I liked the way it was used here especially bringing a human cop in on an investigation concerning immortals. I was pulled straight into the story from the beginning and I liked the way Hades used Callie’s condition to his advantage, how else was he going to bring a human in to investigate? And how desperate must he have been to do that when he has a lot of powerful immortals at his fingertips. I loved the relationship that blossomed throughout the book between Callie & Plutus, it was slow and tentative which was really nice and made you desperate for one of them to give in and confess their feelings. It was also refreshing to see a god who was disillusioned and not happy with his life, it was very understandable & gave Plutus a certain appeal but it also showed the impact that Callie had on his life… you will understand once you read it. I thought the pacing was good and there were a lot of situations that made you aware of just how much danger both of our characters were in bringing a lot of heart-stopping action to the story as attempts on their lives are made… it was thrilling, it was exciting, it was dangerous and the threat grew steadily worse & worse until all hope seemed lost but don’t ever think our characters would give up, and you can bet your life that I was routing for them right up until the end and loved it all! Hopefully, there will be more.