A Dead-End Job

Fans of Terry Pratchett and Shane Kuhn's THE INTERN'S HANDBOOK will love this noir supernatural thriller. Death needs a vacation. Badly. But there's a catch: There are people who cheat the system, always falling through the cracks and not dying like they're supposed to. Who's going to take care of them while Death's sipping on sangria? The answer is simple: Death needs an intern, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that one prospect, Buck Palasinksia—a bankrupt hitman with a roleplaying addiction—might have what it takes. While scoping out his next target, Buck gets drilled in the forehead by a bullet and falls right into Death's lap. If they shove him back into his body, he'll have a few weeks to prove that he has what it takes to be Death's right-hand. All he has to do is take out Public Enemy No. 1, John Dillinger, and quit smoking.