Perfect Circle

William "Dead" Kennedy has problems. He's haunted by family, by dead people with unfinished business, and by those perfect pop songs you can't get out of your head. He's 32 and living on Ramen and cheap Mexican espresso. He shaved off his Mohawk when it began to recede. He just lost his job at Petco for eating cat food in front of customers. His air conditioning is broken, there's nothing good on the radio, and he's still in love with his ex-wife. When Will's cousin calls in the middle of the night about a dead girl haunting his garage, helping him out seems like an easy way to make a thousand bucks. It doesn't work out that way. Now his ex-wife's new husband is a former Marine who thinks Will is bad news. His 12-year-old daughter, Megan, thinks he needs looking after. And his dead relatives all think he owes them a favor. Sometimes a guy is haunted for a really good reason.

From Publishers Weekly

Ghosts are like homeless people, we are told by DK "Dead" Kennedy, the hero of World Fantasy Award winner Stewart's latest blend of magical realism and Texas regionalism: most of us look away, but he can't. This ability to see the other side complicates life tremendously (he can't drive because at night ghosts look just like the living, and he's wrecked cars avoiding them), especially when a distant cousin hires him to exorcise the ghost of a girl the cousin murdered. Part of the novel deals with DK's offbeat career as an alternative exorcist, but what Stewart seems really to focus on is how these abilities now threaten his relationships with family, both immediate and extended. DK still loves his ex-wife and is active in the life of his daughter, but comes to realize that he's like a ghost in their lives: "Not all ghosts are dead, but all are hungry." Stewart's compelling account of how DK comes to grips with his ghosts, both actual and metaphorical, is alternately poignant and hilarious, with some genuinely creepy moments and one or two powerful jolts. This compelling story is a genre title with strong potential for crossing over into the mainstream. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* DK--William "Dead" Kennedy, that is--is a haunted man. Literally. He sees dead people with unfinished business. Has all his life. Moreover, he is haunted by an ex-wife he can't get over, and, recently, long-deceased Uncle Billy has been pestering him for something as yet unidentified. But never mind the dead; things are tough, anyway. DK isn't exactly a financial success. Always struggling to close the gap between his hourly wage and the cost of fixing his air conditioner, or of taking his savvy 12-year-old daughter to Six Flags, he has just lost his job at Pet-Co for eating cat food in front of a customer to make a point. So when a long-lost cousin calls at 2 a.m. to tell him about the ghost in his garage, it looks like a fast way to a much-needed chunk of change. It is just DK's luck, however, for a simple plot to thicken like lumpy gravy, and suddenly murder is afoot. Dead funny, a little bit scary, and sometimes warm and fuzzy, but not too, among the greatest of Perfect Circle's virtues is that daughter Megan, like father DK, is quirky and totally believable. She is also, unlike him, wise and hip, and she knows when to keep her mouth shut. At last, DK begins growing up, moving on, and, with Uncle Billy's help, bringing his past to a close. All-around terrific. Paula LuedtkeCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Publisher

Sean Stewart’s much-anticipated eighth novel is a dark, funny, fast-moving thriller that you won’t want to put down.

About the Author

Sean Stewart is the author of the innovative I Love Bees and Beast search operas, two short stories, and the novels Perfect Circle, Mockingbird, Galveston, Clouds End, Nobody's Son, Passion Play, and Resurrection Man.

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