The Ferryman Institute, Colin Gigl

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher *

Author: Coling Gigl
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 432
Format: DRC
ISBN-10: 150112532X
ISBN-13: 9781501125324
Publisher: eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

Ferryman Charlie Dawson saves dead people—somebody has to convince them to move on to the afterlife, after all. Having never failed a single assignment, he's acquired a reputation for success that’s as legendary as it is unwanted. Serving as a Ferryman is causing Charlie to slowly lose his mind. Deemed too valuable by the Ferryman Institute to be let go and too stubborn to just give up in his own right, Charlie’s pretty much abandoned all hope of escaping his grim existence. Or he had, anyway, until he saved Alice Spiegel. To be fair, Charlie never planned on stopping Alice from taking her own life—that sort of thing is strictly forbidden by the Institute—but he never planned on the President secretly giving him the choice to, either. Charlie’s not quite sure what to make of it, but Alice is alive, and it’s the first time he’s felt right in more than two hundred years.
When word of the incident reaches Inspector Javrouche, the Ferryman Institute's resident internal affairs liaison, Charlie finds he's in a world of trouble. But Charlie’s not about to lose the only living, breathing person he’s ever saved without a fight. He’s ready to protect her from Javrouche and save Alice from herself, and he’s willing to put the entire continued existence of mankind at risk to do it.

This was a fun read! Charlie being to good at his job was something you see happen a lot on the work floor. Getting all the difficult and nasty jobs, working extra hours and shifts and everybody talking about it and knowing him. With him being so unhappy it was interesting giving him a choice.
The chapters switch between the characters but they are all easy to follow though the time switch at one point to Javrouche's story was a bit of an adjustment but that caught up quick. I liked Charlie's thoughts. He is easy to follow and very witty and easy to connect too.
Alice was a bit more difficult to catch up with. It is clear she was unhappy and was going trough a hard time. For me that did not really connect to the way she reacted to Charlie and the action that came out of him rescuing her. The interaction between Alice and Charlie was fun. All the references to movies, books and other cultural things.
The story development is done well. There is a surprise factor in the end of the story but as I love to puzzle a lot I did figure out most of the surprise throughout the story. Still it was so much fun that I will keep an eye out for next books by this author. This is a great read for the upcoming Dewey Read-a-thon too.