Velveteen by Danny Marks

Happy book birthday, Danny Marks!!!

Velveteeen Monroe is in purgatory. The unlucky latest victim of a serial killer called Bonesaw, she finds herself relegated to an inbetween realm for spirits with something unresolved. She spends her spare time clandestinely haunting Bonesaw, trying to make his life a living hell. But haunting is not allowed in purgatory. Velveteen has a very particular skill set and serves as a Salvager in her realm. She travels to the daylight -- or living -- world to capture rogue spirits, sending them back where they belong. To say it would be a bad thing if Velveteen got caught spending any time with Bonesaw is an understatement. But that's besides the point. Cracks are appearing in Purgatory and Velveteen and her team must find out why. If they can't stop it, it could mean the end of their world. And with the arrival of a new team member, Velvet finds herself suddenly caring about the fate of Purgatory after all. 

Holy crap! My synopsis here can in no way do justice to this book!

I'm definitely a Danny Marks/Mark Henry (you didn't hear it from me, kids) fan girl, but Velveteen is by far one of the most original concepts I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I don't want to go all sorts of crazy here, but Marks's imagined Purgatory is unlike anything I've ever read. Not only is it unique, but he does an amazing job bringing it to life.

Marks's particular voice is a bit snarky -- something I love. If you've read his alternate ego's work, then this is something you're familiar with. While the content in Velveteen is more, erm, appropriate for a teen audience than Amanda Feral, Velvet would be a great companion for the raunchy zombie fashionista.

I can admit that Velveteen has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year. If you can't tell, it totally lived up to -- and exceeded, even -- my sky high expectations. Run out and buy a copy (or two, give it as a gift) NOW and I sincerely hope you love it as much as I did. If you don't, well, I don't know that there's much hope for you :P