Andrea Fischer's Reviews > Alive in Necropolis

Alive in Necropolis, a book about a rookie cop whose beat is a town with more dead residents than live residents. I picked the book because it was located in Colma, a small real life town, located about 10 minutes south of San Francisco and 5 miles north of where I lived (Pacifica). It's a town whose main feature (other than cemeteries) is a Bart station that is all gray angles and pigeon poop, so I was curious to see how the book treated it. And you know, I wanted to feel all self-righteous and indignant if the author got anything wrong (which he didn't).

It turns out though, that some of the dead in Colma, well, aren't really so dead. And some of the living are doing a pretty good job at imitating the dead, at least emotional-wise. Rookie cop Mike Mercer, one of the living-ish. Early on Mercer manages to become a local hero by saving the life of a kid who had been left taped up and left for dead in one of the local cemeteries. Not long after that though Mercer's life begins to fall apart, spurred largely by his ability to see the dead and his own ghostlike movement through his life.

Where the book really comes to life though, is when the undead dead enter. The who's who of the Colma buried includes Phineaus Gage, who has spent all of his afterlife searching for the tamping iron that shot through his eye (true story...well up to ghost part), Lilly Coit and Doc Barker who is seriously pissed off that he got stuck in the afterlife with his bullet riddled body (apparently most people get a slightly younger or older version of themselves, but generally at least a version with all parts in tact).

According to one interview, Dorst's original draft included more of the ghost world, but was pared down to a fairly minimal level by the final draft – which is a shame because this is where the book really sparkles. The police reports that summarize a portion of the action are funny. (Mercer practices writing police reports by recording his everyday life in police report format - "Friend Owen prepared beverages by mixing rum and mango juice and serving over ice. Juvenile male (approx. 6 y.o.) rode electric rocking horse outside supermarket; cried when ride ended. Subject Fiona (W-F, 43) asked if I would like to establish a permanent residence in her home; Subject expressed dissatisfaction with response.)

Even without the other-worldly guests, the book is competent and a quick read and the snappy dialogue makes it easy to see how this book would make a good movie. However. Without the ghost element, I don't think the book would have been as enjoyable and would have been a bit on the ordinary side.