Review: Death and Taxes

Have you ever wondered how everyday life - history, violence, and environmental negligence - weighs on the immortal mind of Death himself? Death and Taxes by Simon Whitmore is a droll look behind the veil of eternity into the inner-workings of the mind of the Grim Reaper. Spurned to striking off  his duty to ferry souls to judgement (largely due to a mayan miscalculation of Doom's Day), Thanatos (WORD NERD ALERT- this is the Freudian term for the death instinct) decides to take some time to himself. The only problem is that while he's on holiday... someone else decides to try on the cowl and scythe. How are people dying when death is on vacation?

Whitmore's writing is clever and succinct. His use of imagery, word play, and pop culture weave together to form a reality where the supernatural not only observes the "normals", but they also have a part to play. There are few if any immortals sitting out on the bench with such heavy hitters as St. Peter, Persephone, Gabriel, the Ferry Man, and the Lord himself making appearances. The question is which divine is  attempting to replace Thanatos? Whitmore has us suspecting them all.


I am particularly fond of his personification of Death. Whitmore fleshes out the Angel of Death's bones with a penchant for humorous expletives (My favorite was, "Great rancid apples of discord."), a passion for Lepidopterology (the study of butterflies), and an all around cantankerous attitude toward humanity and their basic disregard for the sanctity and innate beauty of the Earth.

This is Richmond from The IT Crowd, but you get the idea. Death with flesh. :)

However, Whitmore doesn't leave Death as the unchanging, unavoidable partner to taxes. We see Thanatos grow to appreciate and understand humanity through his relationship with a young boy. Already a card in Thanatos' inbox, the boy should have been taken but is spared due to Death's unexpected hiatus. Through him Death comes to say, "You taught me how to live - or at least to appreciate the beauty of life, and not just its flora and fauna. It's difficult for me in this position you know, but I'd like to thank you."

Well written, charming, and full of logic and lore- Death and Taxes is worth perusing for those who like a little intrigue and endearment along with their dose of demise.

On the bluestocking scale, I rate this book a 4 for Darned Good.