Table of Contents
PRAISE FOR
DEADTOWN
Deadtown is fresh and funny, with a great new take on zombies.
Karen Chance, New York Times bestselling author of Deaths Mistress
Part demon-busting tale, part political thriller, Holzners take on urban fantasy is exciting and fresh. Heres to the future adventures of Vicky Vaughn!
Romantic Times
Beginning with its first page, this exciting, gripping novel sustains its high-octane suspense throughout the narrative, keeping the reader guessing until the end.
Bitten by Books
Fast, fun, and feisty, Holzners Deadtown is chock-full of supernatural action, danger, and creatures who do more than go bump in the night.
Devon Monk, author of Magic at the Gate
Zombies, demons, and a sassy slayer. Deadtown sparks with an incredibly realized world and a cast of vivid characters. I cant wait for the next book!
Chris Marie Green, author of Deep in the Woods
Full of dangerous magic and populated with characters so realistic they almost jump off the page. I loved this book. Nancy Holzner is a master of characterization, and Ill be buying her next book the moment it hits the shelf.
Ilona Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Bayou Moon
Deadtown is a perfect blend of mystery, fantasy, humor, and even modern-day social issues. Its Boston as youve never seen it where the shapes shift, the zombies gnaw, and the blood flows warm through the oh-so-delicious veins of the area known as Deadtown. Victory Vaughn gives evil a run for its money.
Anton Strout, author of Dead Matter
Ace Books by Nancy Holzner
DEADTOWN
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Ace mass-market edition / January 2011
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eISBN : 978-1-101-44595-2
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To my daughter, Tamsen, with lots and lots of love
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Cameron Dufty saw the potential in Vickys story and gave me a chance, and Ill always be grateful for that.
Tamsen Conner, librarian extraordinaire, educated me about how the Library of Congress classifies demon-related books. (If I got anything wrong, its entirely my mistake.)
My editor, Jessica Wade, offered encouragement and insight. She could also teach most saints a thing or two about patience. Thanks also to the other professionals who helped turn my manuscript into a book: cover artist Don Sipley, text designer Laura Corless, production editor Michelle Kasper, copy editor Erica Rose, and proofreader Valle Hansen.
Thanks to the Mostly Sundays writing group for reading parts of this book in draft form and taking my crazy fantasy world seriously: Emily Johnson, Pat Carlson, Jeanne Mackin, Nicola Morris, Linda Meyers, Doris Wright, Lisa Harris, and Janis Kelly.
Im grateful for the support of my family and friends: my parents, Harold and Lois Brown, who fostered my love of books and always believed I could write; Michelle Brandwein for long-term friendship and all-around awesomeness; Karen Brandwein for fascinating insights into speculative fiction; Maria Giacoletto for inspiration; Margaret Strother for getting me out of the house once in a while; Carlos Thomas for stopping by Creature Comforts; my agent, Gina Panettieri, for her hard work on my behalf.
My husband, Steven Holzner, never minds helping me brain-storm, giving real thought to questions that begin, If you were a zombie His unflagging love and support mean more to me than I can say.
Finally, thanks to all the readers whove ventured into Deadtown in search of a fun story. I hope youre enjoying the ride!
THERE ARE FEW PLACES CREEPIER THAN A DESERTED COMPUTER lab in the middle of the night. And believe me, I know creepy.
Dozens of fans whirred, their white noise pressing like cotton into my ears and making me jumpy about what I wasnt hearing. Eerie blue light half-lit the room; other lights blinked randomly on the machines. Although it was late January, fans blew in streams of frigid air. Even with my leather jacket over my sweater, I had goose bumps prickling both arms. I was alone with MITs new supercomputer, and that made this particular deserted computer lab super creepy.
That, and the fact that I wasnt really alone. In here with me, somewhere, was a demon.
Thats why Id been called in, to exterminate a Glitch in the supercomputer. Supposedly the worlds third biggest, fastest, and smartest, lately this giant machine hadnt done anything but spit out error messages. The MIT brainiacs tried everything they could think of to eliminate the Glitch, but none of their usual fixes worked. In desperation, they called me. Im Victory Vaughn, Bostons only professional demon exterminator. And I deal with Glitches the old-fashioned way: by killing them.
Fifty or sixty locker-sized cabinets, each holding multiple processors, lined up in rows like ghostly soldiers standing eternally at attention. I opened a cabinet, leaned in, and sniffed, checking for that characteristic Glitch smell: a strong scent of ozone with an undertone of grape bubble gum mixed with sardine paste and rotten eggs.
Nothing. Id been here half an hour with no luck. It was slow going. A supercomputer is basically a series of ultra-fast processors linked together to ramp up the computing power. All those processors in all those cabinets gave the Glitch hundreds of places to hole up in our little game of hide-and-seek.
