"Dying for Her" by Kory M. Shrum is a companion novella that should be read after the second book in the series. Why? If read after the first, the ending of the novella would give a huge spoiler about book two, and as this reader hasn't read the next installment yet, she'll take Shrum at her word and accept her advice to read it where she placed it. This tale is told completely from Agent Brinkley's point of view, past to present with loads of flashbacks that help fill in pieces on many of the characters and why - possibly - they do the things they do. This would be a story I would not call a typical stand alone, either, as many incidents viewed through Brinkley's eyes are not as detailed as in Jesse's stories, so a reader could get lost in a confusing world if they hadn't read the previous two books. This story was darker, grittier, with only brief appearances of Jesse's snarkiness. This is Brinkley's story, and it gives a reader the chance to get to know him a bit better, flaws and all. There were a few grammar, spelling and punctuation errors once again, mainly in the form of a missing word or two in a sentence, but there were also a few 'double' words - like "the the", etc. Not enough to really toss a reader from the world, however, especially since this reader found Brinkley's view to be extremely compelling. But then again, I really like Brinkley, flaws and all. The pace was fast and since book two already gave us the outcome, reading Brinkley's viewpoint was bittersweet and had plenty of "ah-ha!" moments in it. This box set of three Jesse Sullivan stories was a captivating and compelling read, one that this reader had trouble putting down long enough to do mundane things like eat or sleep. Overlook the few grammar, punctuation and spelling errors and simply fall into Shrum's world and enjoy this delicious take on zombies, er... pardon me, I meant Necronites. My bad. *grins* I highly recommend this series simply based on this box set; Shrum shows she is a storyteller extraordinaire with a distinct and inviting voice that yanks a reader right into her world. ** Review originally posted to Amazon reviews on July 11, 2017 and short review of box set on Goodreads on the same date. **
