Soul Remains (Terribly Serious Darkness #2)

Fresh from adventures in Peril in the Old Country, hapless accountant—and now, ghost—Sloot Peril once again finds himself at the center of a messily tangled web of the fantastic and frankly absurd. Upon waking in the Hereafter, quite deceased, Sloot discovers that his life’s burdens have followed him into death. The evil Serpents of the Earth are still attempting world domination, he’s still an agent for two competing factions, and Wilhelm, his burden in life, is just as odiously amusing and demonic in death. Worst of all, Sloot seems to have acquired a girlfriend, Myrtle—a first for the formerly lonely and retiring gentleman. Now the reluctant hero is faced with the unenviable task of marshalling his motley collection of colleagues against a variety of foes, internal and external, for reasons he doesn’t fully understand. Delightfully zany with an intellectual kick, the plot careens from action to thoughtfulness with a modicum of introspection and a plethora of metaphor. (Apr.)