Embassy of the Dead

 Jake Green is in a lot of trouble.  When a strange man approaches him and gives him a box, he thinks it's weird, but, hey, maybe the guy was a little off.  When he opens the box to discover a desiccated human finger, he knows he's in over his head!

The strange man was actually a ghost named Stiffkey who used to be an undertaker in life.  Now he works for the Embassy of the Dead, and he definitely wasn't supposed to give that finger to Jake.  According to the laws of the Embassy, they are both sentenced to eternity in the void, and a grim reaper is after them to carry out the sentence.  

Their only hope is for Jake to become an Undoer and help a ghost move on.  Once he's a licensed Undoer, he's legally allowed to handle such dangerous objects as the disgusting finger.  But that's not their only problem.  There's also some guy named Raborn after them who wants to steal the finger for his boss who wants to unleash a new reign of evil and terror on the earth.  So...yeah...no big deal...

Along the way, Jake befriends a teenage hockey player ghost and a fox ghost mourning for its lost owner.  Can the group of friends solve this problem before it's too late?

Will Mabbitt's new book caught me off guard.  I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did.  It's clever and charming with just the right amount of horror.  The story is tied up perfectly with a surprisingly heartwarming conclusion, and readers will be eager to read about Jake's further adventures with his new ghost friend, Cora.  Highly recommended!