Review: NEVERMORE (Supernatural #1) by Keith R.A. DeCandido

There are four of us in a group of some of my best friends, and we’re all fans of the show Supernatural (though some of us are more caught up than others, ahem). Along the way, we even acquired nicknames from the main characters, and it should surprise none of you that I’m Sam. So when I stumbled across copies of media tie-in novels, written by one of my favorite media tie-in authors, I had to snag a few.

Nevermore is the first, which I probably would have started with anyway, as a Baltimore resident and general Poe fan. But this book takes place in New York City! Either way, I was along for the ride, because it was hilarious to see Sam and Dean (and the Impala) out of their element in the big city. 

It was interesting to essentially travel back in time with these characters, as someone 12 seasons into the show, while this book takes place at a time with the brothers are still haunted (metaphorically) by Sam leaving his life in Stanford behind, and the recent death of John Winchester.

While the brothers’ dialogue was spot-on, the author sometimes had trouble capturing their internal narrative voice — I note, however, that this is entirely subjective on my own part. The supporting characters were all unique, fleshed out, and at times hilarious. I find myself hoping that I encounter Detective McBain again in the future.

Sam and Dean are on two concurrent jobs, reflecting the nature of a longer form work than the 40 to 45 minutes of a television episode. While both are resolved to my satisfaction, the more paranormal job could have been tied up nicer. However, it was a nice break from tradition to see the guys on a case that ended up having nothing to do with the paranormal. I appreciate that media tie-in novels allow creatures to explore avenues not always possible in the actual television show, which has built up strict expectations over the years.

I’ll be spacing them out, but I have two more Supernatural books by this author that I’m excited to get through. (And yes, he did sign them to “Sam” for me.)

Rating: 4 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads

Currently reading: Dystopia Boy: The Unauthorized Files by Trevor D. Richardson

Currently writing: 3,691/15k words