A Dead Guy Walks into A Bar... is the fifth book of The Castle Chronicles by Michael S. Vassel. Recently back to life from the Netherworld and taking over the body of Matthew Keys, Mark uses the name he had during his previous life and settles into becoming an Uber driver in Las Vegas, Nevada. Still haunted by his past and plagued by visions of a mysterious woman, Mark's new life becomes even more chaotic after he is attacked seemingly at random by witches on three separate occasions. Determined to find the person who sent those witches after him, Mark travels across the Atlantic to search for answers. He discovers that the one they call Satan may be responsible for those attacks. But not everything is as it seems, and soon Mark finds himself at the heart of an ancient prophecy.

A supernatural thriller with mystery, intrigue, and plenty of action, A Dead Guy Walks into A Bar... is an absolute belter of a novel from beginning to end. Michael S. Vassel keeps his cards close to his chest and only reveals the picture through bits and pieces until the last few pages. This makes the twists and turns of the plot even more impactful, and as a reader, you find yourself constantly bamboozled by what just happened and wondering what's coming next. Mark is a guy who takes things in his stride, and it makes him someone you want to root for. This is the perfect book for readers who love action-packed supernatural thrillers.

It has been said many times that no good deed goes unpunished, and such is the case with Mark Castle in A Dead Guy Walks Into A Bar... This is the fifth book in the supernatural Castle Chronicle series by Michael S. Vassel, preceded by Defiled, A Hitman Walks Into A Bar..., Damned, and Deceived. Mark is a guy with a long history in life and in death, and then back in life again. He's been repatriated to the land of the living and is ready to make the best of it, not just for himself but for other people. He dedicates his time and energy to the pursuit of helpfulness, like saving a mother, her baby, and their cat from an abusive man, and the pursuit of good bars in any realm, like the place where Ki serves up a mean Jameson and ginger ale. In between, Mark keeps getting attacked over and over and over again. The culprit is surprising and even though the power might be super stacked against him, Mark has to end it before it ends him.

I lived in Vegas for thirteen years and it's always interesting when an author takes me back, even though it wasn't really that long ago and the way Mark Castle sees Sin City isn't as dark and twisted as I did. I went to some pretty dicey areas at night and still felt safer than I did in parts of San Francisco and even Seattle when I lived in those cities. Of course, I wasn't dead and being chased by the minions of Satan...or at least I don't think I was. A Dead Guy Walks Into A Bar... isn't easy to jump right into without having a baseline understanding of who Mark Castle is and was, but it can definitely be done if you hang in there for a few chapters. I liked learning about Mark's incantations, the spells he could weave, and spirit guidance, all of which author Michael S. Vassel is able to spin into his own style for the story. I did find some of the references to be extremely dated, like when Mark has an excellent night with a hot flight attendant and equates the luck to that of an actor who is in his 80s, which—ick—but also that most readers under 'a certain age' that aren't nerds like me are not going to know who he is. Still, the writing is clean and the tension lashes through every page, Mark is a character you definitely want to root for, and I look forward to continuing the Castle Chronicles ride for as long as Vassel will have me.