This is D B Shan’s first book. Well, actually it’s not, because D B Shan is actually the amazing children’s author Darren Shan, but this is his first book exclusively for adults and the first in a new trilogy. Originally written in 1999 under the title Ayuamarca and the pseudonym Darren O’Shaughnessy, it has been given a complete overhaul and this is what Shan is calling the Director’s Cut.Procession of the Dead follows Capac Raimi as he starts to learn the arts of extortion and racketeering from his uncle. He soon gets to meet the Cardinal of the city who knows everything and controls everyone. His rule is absolute. People don’t sneeze without the Cardinal knowing about it.The style of this book reminds me of the recent Joe Pitt novels by Charlie Huston, very modern and street (as much as I hate that term) with all sorts of pop culture references thrown in. Full of ideas about humanity, Shan seems to set out to make you wonder how much power one person can take and what you’re willing to risk to get it. It’s got a nice little twist at the end which you really don’t see coming. I was a little disappointed in it, but only because I’d heard about the amount of gore he’s put into his Demonata series for kids. This seems some what lacking, but as the first book in the series it leaves you hanging waiting to see what he does in the next instalment. It seems to be one of those books where you really can’t stop reading no matter how late at night it is.Shan proves that he’s not limited to writing kids stories and that he can stand on his own in the adult world. I enjoyed this so much I’m going to read some of his kids back catalogue. I hope you enjoy.4/5 Stars