Imagine a world in which you had the power to make a wish that would be granted right after you died. Set aside the fact that you would never live to enjoy your wish: What kind of legacy would you leave behind?
This is the premise of Laura Ellen Scott's Death Wishing. However, rather than wishing for peace on Earth or an end to hunger, the recently deceased have made wishes for orange clouds, the return of Elvis and everlasting cups of coffee. One man even (spitefully, one would imagine) wished for the instant disappearance of every cat on the planet.
Scott has conjured up an intriguing, original concept and plunked the story down in post-Katrina New Orleans; the addition of orange clouds, while intriguing, isn't even necessary to set the mysterious, otherworldly mood she so deftly creates. While some ramifications of the phenomenon of "death wishing" are examined--the murder rate quickly skyrockets, then plummets, when people realize that you can't force a self-serving wish out of someone when you're going to kill them anyway--it's Scott's brilliant job of eliciting sympathy for the creepy narrator, Victor (a divorcé who lusts after his adult son's girlfriend), that makes her debut novel truly magical. Despite all the weirdness, Victor's concern and loyalty to his loved ones during uncertain times shine as brightly as the hair on the revived Elvis in this oddly endearing tale. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend