BEAUTIFUL CITY OF THE DEAD
Leander Watts
Houghton Mifflin
Science Fiction/Fantasy
ISBN-10: 0618594434
ISBN-13: 9780618594436
256 pages

Zee has an interesting first day of school. Sick with a high fever, Zee already feels like she doesn't belong besides living on the fringes of the high school hierarchy. Zee has always known she's a little different from the "norm" --- she's into heavy metal music, is a bass player, and makes strange observations that usually weird people out --- but she finds an ally in Relly, a mysterious dark-haired guy who takes a genuine interest in her. Soon after they first meet, Relly tells Zee of his rock band and his experimental music that he calls Ghost Metal.

"You know how if you turn the volume all the way till your ears almost bleed, how when it's so loud there's a quiet place inside the noise? Loud enough to shake your teeth loose but in there somewhere is a ghost voice, like silent singing. That's the sound I want to get."

Zee isn't sure what to think about Relly's ideas, but feels drawn to him. She decides to audition for his band, Scorpio Bone, and meets Relly's other two bandmates --- Butt, the simple drummer, and Jerod, the lead singer who looks too beautiful to exist. Butt comes from a broken home whereas Jerod is from an upper-crust family. Along with Relly and Zee, who each have single parents, they make up an unlikely group. With a notebook of strange lyrics inspired by the "Beautiful City of the Dead" and some killer riffs, the band seems destined to be immortal.

Just as things are going great, Zee makes a startling discovery about herself and her bandmates, and realizes that the band has some creepy enemies --- but not for the reason she would have expected. Now Scorpio Bone must fight a battle of mythical proportions or it will be all over for them before they've even begun.

BEAUTIFUL CITY OF THE DEAD is a poetic, spooky, supernatural mystery with a mythical twist that makes for an interesting autumn night's read.

   --- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle (SdarksideG@aol.com)

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