North America: You're Supposed to Embalm the Dead, Not Solve Cases with Them

Los Angeles, 2005. A blood moon hangs overhead in this parallel world where modern technology and the forbidden coexist. Chaos is the order of the day.

Brian, a graduate student at a top medical school, is a cool-headed assistant at the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office, handling the most gruesome and bizarre severed limbs and body parts.

Then that blood-red moon awakens the eerie power buried within him: by taking charge of a corpse and fulfilling the deceased's lingering obsessions, he can seize physical enhancements, forbidden knowledge, and even superhuman combat prowess from the body.

He has no desire to be some genius detective, nor any interest in delivering justice for the dead. "Detectives find the killer. I just take charge of the body, then collect the 'payment' that's mine."

As mob wars, bizarre dismemberment cases, and family conspiracies intertwine, Brian uses the precise logic of a medical student to mine gold from every rotting corpse.

"Thanks for your business. Your soul can rest in peace. I'll be taking your 'inheritance.'" Taking charge of the dead was never about laying them to rest. It was about becoming a god!

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.