Jeff Somers is the author of the Avery Cates series, The Ustari Cycle,
Lifers, and
Chum (among many other books) and numerous short stories. At the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog he tagged eight speculative works with dead narrators, including:
The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
Perhaps the most famous modern example of the form, Sebold’s bestseller is both a meditation of what death does to the survivors who must reassemble their lives with one huge piece missing, and an exploration of one possible version of the afterlife. As the novel opens, 14-year-old Susie Solomon is cruising around a strange version of heaven that is shaped by her own living dreams and imaginings, even as she peers into the lives and hearts of her surviving family members—and spies on the man who murdered her. Though a literary sensation, this one could easily be shelved with other works of fantasy, as the speculative elements only become more prominent as the book reaches its somber, sad, ultimately uplifting finale.
Read about
the other entries on the list.
The Lovely Bones is among
Nadiya Hussain's six best books,
Judith Claire Mitchell's ten best (unconventional) ghosts,
Laura McHugh's ten favorite books about serial killers, and
Tamzin Outhwaite's six best books.
--Marshal Zeringue
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