Resurrection Inc. (1988)

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0451154096, Mass Market Paperback)

It is the future and the dead walk the streets ... Resurrection, Inc. found a profitable way to do it. All it took was a microprocessor brain, a synthetic heart and blood, and, presto, anyone with the price could buy a Servant with no mind of its own and trained to obey any command. But for every Servant created, a living worker was out of a job, and suddenly Resurrection, Inc.'s profits became everyone else's loss. Some took to rioting in the streets, their rampages ruthlessly ended by armored and heavily armed Enforcers, eager for the kill. Some joined the ever growing cult of Neo-Satanism, seeking heaven in the depths of hell. Only one tried to change the world. His name was Danal, he was dead--but he remembered. And he was the last hope for the living... [From the author: This is my first published novel, though I wrote many (sadly embarrassing) attempts, beginning when I was only eight years old. I had previously written the first book in a fantasy trilogy based on role-playing games, Gamearth, and while my agent marketed it, I asked him if I should dutifully write the second book in the trilogy. He gave me very good advice: "No, do something completely different." That was Resurrection, Inc.-- an unusual combination of Gothic horror, hard SF, and murder mystery. The original paperback cover art had a rather unfortunate image of a giant stone skull with a spaceship flying overhead, icons jointly designed to turn off both SF and horror readers. Nevertheless, Resurrection, Inc. got great reviews and was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. This is my preferred text of the novel, revised for the specialty press Tenth Anniversary edition. (Cover by Bob Eggleton.)] Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot Nominee, Locus Poll Award Nominee