Digital List Price:	$0.99
Kindle Price:	$0.00 Save $0.99 (100%)
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Promotions apply when you purchase

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Kaje Harper

+ Follow

More books from this author

Marked by Death (Necromancer Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Kaje Harper (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 1,222 ratings

Book 1 of 7: Necromancer

See all formats and editions

Asking a necromancer for help is scary; falling for him may be downright terrifying.

Darien Green's afraid he's going insane. The voices in his head are getting louder, weirder, and more numerous. But tattoos appearing on his skin say that there might be a magical reason, something other than his own brain going around the bend. He's worked up the nerve to ask the local necromancer for help. Now he just has to survive his encounter with tall, dark, and talks-to-ghosts.

Necromancer Silas Thornwood doesn't appreciate being woken out of his bed by a stranger pounding on his door. But when that stranger turns out to be a half-frozen young man with an unexpected appeal, Silas can't turn him away. Even Grim, his cat-familiar, agrees— in a world of death and demons, protecting gorgeous, ghost-ridden Darien is Silas's next difficult job.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08LSFRV3H
Publisher ‏ : ‎ self-published (October 23, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 23, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1181 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 204 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #7,271 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #66 in Gay Fiction
- #109 in Gay Romance

Customer Reviews:
4.3 1,222 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Kaje Harper

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I get asked about my name a lot. It's not something exotic, though. “Kaje” is pronounced just like “cage” – it’s an old nickname, and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I’ve been writing far longer than I care to admit (*whispers – forty years*), although mostly for my own entertainment. I write M/M romance, often with added mystery, fantasy, historical, SciFi, paranormal… I also have Young Adult short stories (some released under the pen name Kira Harp.)

It was my husband who finally convinced me that after all the years of writing just for fun, I really should submit something, somewhere. My first professionally published book, Life Lessons, came out in May 2011. I now have a good-sized backlist in ebooks and print, both free and professionally published, including Amazon bestseller The Rebuilding Year and Rainbow Award Best Mystery-Thriller Tracefinder: Contact. A complete list with links can be found on my website "Books" page.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

1,222 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

K

Excellent Characters and World Building

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2020

Verified Purchase

'Marked by Death' is the first book in the ‘Necromancer’ series. It’s told in third person through the eyes of Darien Green, a young man who’s possessed by ghosts, and Silas Thornwood, a powerful necromancer.

Originally released by the author in weekly installments in her author’s group, 'Marked by Death' was supposed to be a one-off flash fiction. But so many people, including me, begged her to continue with this story, and here it is. I’m so glad she did, because I love the world and characters. I liked the story so much, I’ve read it three times so far, and I almost never re-read a book.

This book is set in an alternate 1960s era where magic lives side-by-side, but hidden, from the mundane world. Magic is considered something to laugh at or not taken seriously. Which is fine with the sorcerers and necromancers. In fact, they have people who work at making magic seem trivial.

The blurb gives a good idea of the beginning of the story and why Darien searches out a necromancer to rid him of the ghosts he carries. There are some issues between Darien and Silas, the necromancer, at first, but Darien really wants the ghosts gone. He’s losing his mind.

All the characters are terrific and have distinct personalities. Darien is twenty-one, impulsive, impatient, outspoken, a bit brash, and has powerful magic, even if he doesn’t know how to control it yet. Silas is over thirty, cautious, intelligent and powerful. He’s attracted to Darien, but sex between men is still considered a crime, and he doesn’t want to endanger either of them if they are caught. Darien on the other hand has other ideas. Grim is Silas’s sarcastic, wise, and visionary familiar. Grim helps lighten the story when it starts getting too dark. I had no trouble in believing in Darien and Silas as a couple.

As I mentioned, I really enjoyed the world the author created as she wove magic into everyday 1960s living. Normally, I don’t like stories set in the not too distant past, but this book was filled with magic. I’m a weakling when it comes to dark or spooky stories, and this had demons and ghosts. However, I was able to get through it, but not without taking breaks. I’m sure it won’t bother most readers. Two of my most favorite parts of the story was how Darien helped Silas during the battle and also after the battle as they headed home.

I’m looking forward to when 'Powered by Ghosts', the next book in the series, comes out. In the meantime, I highly recommend 'Marked by Death' and give it a solid '5 Stars'.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Leslie Zak

New series start

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024

Verified Purchase

Ms. Harper is an excellent author but I found this book to be confusing. The whole world of demons, scorcerers, necromancer and ghostly possession was just thrown into a gay romance willy nilly that I almost didn't finish the book. I am going to read the next one hoping that my introduction to magic will help my comfort zone. As I said Kaje Harper is a great author and if she is new to you, give her a chance.

Helpful

Deb Cechak

Marked by Death - Merging Hearts

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2023

Verified Purchase

‘Silas suddenly didn’t care if it would transfer power and save them or not. He steadied Darien’s head in his hands, and bent to take his mouth. The kiss was like two magnets meeting, a seamless contact that was Silas-and-Darien as if they’d always been together. He could taste Darien and himself, and a hint of power danced on the edges of the kiss. He lost himself for uncounted time in the movement of Darien’s lips under his, and the touch of tongue on tongue.’

Kaje Harper begins the Necromancer series with Marked by Death, where Darian seeks out the Necromancer to help rid him of the ghostly tattoos that haunt him.

This is a slow burn story that involves demons and sorcerers and familiars, and some who don’t even know what they are.

Creative, with language that keeps the reader intensely involved in the unfolding story, this MM romance sets us in a magical world in the 1960’s.

I enjoyed this so much I will be reading Kaje’s entire series, as well as other books by this fabulous author.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Samuel Alexander

Just Okay

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2022

Verified Purchase

This was an interesting concept. The flow was okay, the writing style easy to follow. And there were no real grammatical errors. I honestly thought I’d enjoy it and finished it in a day. But the more I got into it the more it seemed to just hit a certain note and ride it.

Darien was interesting enough. But I couldn’t get into him. A boy apparently down on his luck but he can afford to pay his rent and go to college. Neither of which are cheap so how is he surviving when the story describes him like his living in poverty? Even Silas says this when he sees his battered and worn-out clothing. That and his character is definitely one note. He spends a lot of time hinting that he and Silas should do what adults do and Silas, rightfully so, ignores him because it’s always at inopportune times. Like when he has to deal with the ghost situation, or when he was supposed to train him before they go up against other warlocks, and the list is endless. It’s supposed to be funny, even endearing, but it’s the genuine seriousness of it that makes it not seem quirky and flirtatious. It left the impression Darien really did not understand or just didn’t care how serious the situation he was in was. Ultimately it just wasn’t fun enough to do what it was meant to do.

Also, I couldn’t sympathise with the age thing. If he came out in his mid-forties or fifties, or a legitimate older person like the protagonist in Howl’s Castle, I would definitely have been routing for a spell to turn him back. But only ten years, so basically early thirties, some people still look like they are teen boys when they shave face in their thirties, even with a full head of grey. If Silas treated him different or acted like he was no longer attractive, if anything changed then yeah, but like I said above his character didn’t have much depth so I didn’t have much to hold onto to feel this emotion with him. And, unfortunately, the real thing that killed it for me is he braved dying in the cold to get to the local necromancer’s place and when Silas says the ghost thing might be his fault, knowing no one else can help him, he gets angry runs away and jumps out a window and then even after being rescued from his fall is still trying to escape and shouting like a mad man. And only after all that he demands answers. Like where was he going to go? Did he have a plan to exorcise the ghosts in his body? Why didn’t he demand answers out of reflex considering he almost died trying to get there to begin with? I dunno it was hard to get into him. But as far as coming into his own power, Darien rocks.

Silas was a bit better. Far more level-headed and behaved the way you’d expect someone to behave when dealing with what they were up against. Physically things that were weird were him being described as out of shape and breathing heavy carrying Darien, yet still managing to have thick thighs and perfect abs. I mean it’s possible but after all that talk about him neglecting exercise, I expected him to be a teeny bit round. I like how he deals with his feelings for Darien too. He makes the right choices and gives him clear information on how magic works. He even tried to save him back as a child even though that didn’t end as well as he’d hoped. But he had good intentions.

His fight scenes are fun fun fun. Like probably the best thing in the book. That was what kept me up the first night. I was honestly ignoring all the issues with Darien because I liked Silas, and then the cat. The cat is everything. Like everyone needs a snarky feline in their life who has a healthy addiction to tuna and bacon. His timing was always perfect, and the way he and Silas interacted was just a dream. Readers could definitely use more of that.

The plot was a bit predictable. Okay, more than a bit predictable. And their relationship didn’t really grow as it sort of just happened. Like they didn’t smile at each other over breakfast enough. Sit on the couch watching TV or do anything really beyond a kiss and a few hugs that slipped in. But beyond that, it was mostly the non-flirting flirtations on Darien’s part and how Silas didn’t react to it. The relationship mostly lives in the internal thoughts of the characters when they were trying to not think about the other that way. And then the payoff didn’t happen, Grim is downstairs pawing at the fridge talking about how it is happening upstairs while explaining stuff about having the gift of sight which, in the grand scheme of things, feels like it’s only there to avoid what’s finally happening. After such medium sexual tension, at the very least readers deserved a soft adult scene.

Then there’s the setting. Darien’s dialogue is so modern you would have to bash me over the head and brainwash me to believe it’s not set in the ’80s and beyond. Yet he complains about Silas’ speech, which for the most part, is equally as modern but when it dips fits the time period they are supposed to be in. Because of these two factors, even with a phone and chord, which we had in the ’80s and ’90s so that’s still not very dating. I’m forty so I remember the first cordless, but I digress, even with the old-school phone there’s nothing to say ‘I’m a period piece’ especially when the dialogue screams modern times. Throwing in the year and mentioning homosexuality still being illegal when the sexual interaction from Darien seems so relaxed was such a contradiction my mind couldn’t wrap itself around it.

The magic was described well, the story was entertaining enough to keep me up at night but ultimately the book just didn’t lift. Especially with Darien. It’s the first in a series. Readers should know why he’s described as being poor yet is at college in the ’60s and can afford to pay three days rent in advance. Even Silas was confused by this. That and, without the action sequences, the story reads like it’s just trying to get to the next action sequence, with the exception of teaching Damien how to make and use runes. Now that was fun to read. But who takes a seven-hour nap when you’re trying to train someone and told them how important it is? That is not a nap. It kind of took the wind out of all the warnings Silas had given Darien if sleeping the day away was okay.

This was definitely a light, fun, and entertaining read, but read as just okay for me. It didn’t dig deep enough into Darien to make me want to read about him in the next book. The mellow love connection didn’t supply a payoff. I didn’t dislike this book by far, but I didn’t really enjoy it either. The magical world was set up nicely but the characters and their relationship to that world and to each other didn’t expand enough to live up to that. The story has no clear time period but is a period piece with today dialogue. Committing to present-day settings and modern technology would’ve set it up nice. Overall it just wasn’t as exciting or as romantic as I thought it would be. Which is a shame considering it had all the right pieces to do that but never seemed to dive into it.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Joen Mutka

Loved it

Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book hooked me on a new series and new author! I bought the entire series and read it one after another!

Kiwi

Um es mit den Worten von „StephReadsAlot“ zu sagen

Reviewed in Germany on March 18, 2024

Verified Purchase

🤔🤗 🤷‍♀️

Gefühl: Was ist das erste Gefühl, nachdem du das Buch beendet hast?
2,5

Plot: Wie fesselnd und gut entwickelt ist die Handlung des Buches?
3

Unterhaltungsfaktor: Hat das Buch dich gut unterhalten? Konntest du beim Lesen abschalten und dich in die Geschichte vertiefen?
2,5

Schreibstil: Gefällt dir der Stil des Autors? Ist er flüssig und ansprechend?
3,5

Pacing: Ist das Tempo des Buches angemessen? Gibt es langsame oder schnelle Passagen, die den Lesefluss beeinflussen?
4

Empfehlung: Wie wahrscheinlich würdest du das Buch weiterempfehlen?
1,5

Translate review to English

Ms R Posy

Necromancer's Sidekick

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

Silas, a necromancer is woken by a frail, attractive man, collapsed on his doorstep. Sheltering him in his home, he discovers that the young man is Darien, A now adult version of a boy he once shielded to protect him from being overcome by ghosts. Silas had notified the Council of his existence as a potential sorcerer and had assumed he would be apprenticed and ultimately safe. However this couldn't be further from the truth.

Darien is ridden with ghosts and Silas agrees to help him get rid of the ghosts draining and tormenting Darien. I thoroughly enjoyed this short story by Kaje Harper and I would have paid for it, I enjoyed it so much. The humour flying between the MCs and Grim throughout is a real pleasure and the hints at a developing sexual relationship are subtle and teasing.

Highly recommended and I look forward to the next hopefully full length book.

One person found this helpful

Le-Jana

Short.

Reviewed in Australia on January 19, 2024

Verified Purchase

An entertaining story, all over very quickly, even rushed. I would have liked this book to have been a full length novel in its own right rather than a piece which seems to be just an introduction for the next book.

I wonder if Ms Harper wrote the next book first and then decided that she needed to write this as a backstory.

I’ll read the next book on the grounds that I loved Nor Iron Bars a Cage.

3.5 stars.

Dragon Jude

interesting

Reviewed in Canada on October 31, 2023

Verified Purchase

I really liked the storyline, but was thrown by the cover. It took me a bit to realize this. The cover is very contemporary, and even though it stated that the story was in the 1960s about 1/3 in - it did not truly settle in until the second time the date was mentioned. They spoke of laws making homosexuality illegal and the Lavender Scare in the fifties that it really hit home. That was when I realized how much the cover had impacted me.
The world-building was okay (aside from the cover) - yes - it could have been better, and the characters had gaps in their development. This was mostly covered by the author's skill in writing.
I think this series has potential and will be watching for #2.