Necropolis by Michael Dempsey

NYPD detective Paul Donner and his wife are murdered one night in what seemed to be robbery-gone-wrong. Then, fifty years later, Donner is revived and given another chance at life. After a virus called Shift spread across New York, the dead can be brought back to life – with the major side effect that they’ll start growing younger, without stopping. In a future world where noir is back in style, Donner hunts for the truth behind his murder, and learns of a much larger plan to control age and immortality.

Donner is an alcoholic, whose marriage was rocky before the murder of him and his wife. The new population of reanimated dead are second class citizens, so resuming his place in the police department is out of the question. Instead, Donner becomes a private investigator, with his first case a missing person – a missing scientist that eventually leads back to his own investigation. Artificially Intelligent, virtual psychiatrist, Maggie, appoints herself as Donner’s partner of sorts as she looks after his well-being.

Dempsey has created a fun world of futuristic science fiction blended with the retro-noir of a hard-boiled detective novel. The setting and feel is definitely retro, but the subject matter is science fiction. Fans of both genres should enjoy this fantastic story with colorful characters. Fast-paced, with plenty of adventure and suspense, Necropolis was impossible to put down.

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