Kindle Edition Amazon Blue Attitude Books Category:  Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Blue Attitude Books ISBN-10:  1500740225 Type: Fiction Pages: 290 Copyright: June 8, 2015 ISBN-13: 9781500740221 Price: $2.99 (eBook) Being dead is all fun and games until you fall in love.  After she’s murdered by a sexual predator, 18-year-old Jada Gayle must stay among the living until she finds and stops the Internet stalker who killed her. When the Afterlife Admissions Office assigns the now “transdead” Jada to a foster home back among the living, she assumes the identity of a homeless teen and is expected to simply fit in as she hunts down her killer. Then she meets Lew Stanton—captain of the chess team and computer whiz who makes her dead heart beat phantom rhythms in her chest. As if it’s not bad enough to have the hots for a nerd, Jada’s new friend Annalee likes him too. While Jada deals with all this unwanted teenaged angst, the man who murdered her is closing in on more foolish girls. Jada thinks she has plenty of time to handle her predicament until the night she gets a terrifying message: I HAVE YOUR FRIEND. Excerpt Chapter One When I heard the car doors unlock at the first red light I came to, I knew I’d made a fatal mistake. For a second I thought I’d accidentally hit the button, then I heard the Ferrari’s trunk pop open and looked in the rearview mirror just in time to see a man running around to the passenger side, a black bandana covering the bottom of his face. “Drive!” He got in and jammed the nose of a freakishly big pistol into my ribs. “Go to the intersection and make a U-turn. Keep going until you get back to where you picked up the car.” If I’d still felt emotions like normal girls, I probably would’ve been scared shitless, but the best I could manage was irritation that he’d tricked me. “Look, you don’t need the gun,” I said. “I’ll do whatever you say.” “You sure as hell will.” Even more than his words, the laugh that came from behind the bandana was the second thing that told me I wouldn’t live to see nineteen. Dang, I’d need my fake ID for all eternity. And it wasn’t even a good picture. I drove until I reached the spot where Courtney had dropped me off half an hour earlier. He told me to keep going over a small bridge and pull off on the dirt road just past. I figured it must’ve been used by people who fished in the lake, but nobody would be there this late at night. “Pull between those trees,” he said. “Cut the engine and lights.” I did as he ordered, wondering if I should try to open the door and make a run for it as soon as the car stopped. Before I could decide whether or not I wanted to risk it, I felt the gun dig deeper into my side. “Don’t even think about trying to run,” he said in my ear. “The door locks are programmed, and I got the only remote.” He snatched the keys from the ignition and put them in his pocket, then he pressed the gun into my neck. “Now we’re gonna do all those things you liked telling me about so much in your messages. You know, all those naughty things you and your girlfriends like to do with the boys and the men teachers at school.” I tried to swallow, but the gun was pressed too hard against my throat. “Hey, you know none of that stuff was true, right? I made it all up because you said you liked that kinda sh—” “I know you made it up! I’m not a fool, you little tramp!” The nose of the pistol slammed against my cheekbone and set off fireworks behind my eyes. “I’m sure you had yourselves a good laugh over the way you kept feeding me your nasty little stories to get me all worked up. Well I bet your friends won’t think it’s so funny when they find out what it got you. And you sure as hell won’t be laughing at anybody ever again!” The side of my face throbbed like a toothache and I still couldn’t see straight, but I heard the doors unlock. “Get out!” He reached across me and opened the driver’s side door. “And remember what I said about trying to run. I’ll shoot you before you take a step!” I stumbled out of the car and immediately tried to run anyway, but my legs had turned into cooked spaghetti. I fell to my knees on the bank, and before I had a chance to yell for help, a kick to the middle of my back knocked all the wind out of me. Gasping for air on the ground like a dying goldfish, all I got was a mouthful of sand. “Get up!” He yanked me to my knees by the hair. “Take off your clothes, then get in the back seat!” “No, listen—” “Shut up and do what I tell you!” The gun smashed against my other cheekbone and knocked me sideways. “I’m the one in charge, not you.” I knew I was close to blacking out and didn’t really care, and that gave me an idea. If I made him mad enough to hit me again, maybe it would knock me out so I wouldn’t have to know what he did to me before he killed me. I struggled to my hands and knees and managed to lift my head so I could say something that would piss him off for sure. “You’re right, you know. I did laugh at you, you pathetic bastard. The only way you’d ever get laid is at gunpoint!” After a brief flash of pain when the butt of the gun smashed into my skull, I welcomed the darkness. But my oblivion didn’t last long. When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting on an upholstered chair in a room that almost looked like the guidance counselor’s office at Tallahassee Premier Academy where I was a senior. But here everything was painted such a bright white that it almost hurt my eyes, and the sign on the door to my left leading into the inner office was lettered in some kind of glowing gold paint. When I got up to read the sign, I realized I was wearing some kind of weird white dress. Where had that come from? Had somebody found me and taken me to a hospital? I knew that wasn’t the case when I read the sign on the door: AFTERLIFE ADMISSIONS OFFICE. “Oh, crap. I’m dead.”

Great Reading!
From astilbe for Long and Short Reviews

Some deaths leave behind loose ends. Now that Jada’s been given the chance to tidy a few of hers up, will she be able to do it?

Jada’s snide approach to the afterlife is quite funny. What really made me like her, though, was how she responded to everything that happened after she was murdered. Not only did it fit her personality to a tee, it blended in incredibly well with how some people react to the type of trauma that she’s just endured. Her character development was superb, especially considering how subtle it is in the first few chapters of this novel. While I don’t know if the author has any intention of fulfilling my wish, this is the kind of book that is absolutely begging for a sequel. I loved getting to know Jada and would be thrilled to catch up with her again very soon.

People in Jada’s position are given special powers to help them complete their missions. Most of her newfound abilities are things that her new friends and foster family wouldn’t notice under normal circumstances, but there are a few things about her that I would have liked to see explained in more detail due to how easy it would be to accidentally reveal them. The powers themselves make a great deal of sense given the nature of her assignment, but it was occasionally hard to believe that Jada was so good at keeping others from noticing the logical consequences of her having them.

The premise of this tale was so unique that as soon as I noticed it I had to know what happens next. Ms. Scarbrough snagged my attention so thoroughly that I actually stayed up past my bedtime for several nights in a row to power through just one more chapter. What really earned this story such a high rating, though, was how the author acknowledged certain tropes in young adult fiction without succumbing to them. It’s hard to dig more deeply into this topic without bumping up against spoilers, but I was impressed by her consistently creative approach to the plot. This was my first introduction to Ms. Scarbrough work, and I’m eagerly looking forward to seeing what she’ll do next!

After Me is a must-read for adults and teens alike. I, for one, will be rereading it again soon.

Delicious sarcasm meets emotional depth in one awesome dead girl
From Veronica Sicoe

I loved reading "After Me" even though I'm not much of a YA reader. The fantastic humor and the excellent characters are what convinced me, while the ingenuity and depth of the story are what kept me up late turning the pages. It's a wonderful book, and I can't recommend it enough to young and old adults alike.

"After Me" is Jada's rather unusual coming-of-age story, unusual because it takes place *after* she is murdered by a pervert. She is sent back to avenge her own death, and "blessed" with a rather unexpected fine print in her contract. Her adventures as "Zombie Girl" Gwen, her budding romance and first true friendship, turn her life (or death?) for the better, culminating in a thrilling twist. Have I given anything away? I hope not. GO READ IT yourself, I promise it's even better than you might imagine. ;)

Real Page Turner
This book made me remember why I love reading. I couldn't put it down till I finished, and yet at the same time I never wanted it to end. First off, let me bow down to the author: YES, THIS IS HOW TEENAGERS TALK!!! it was so refreshing to see teenagers acting, speaking, and flirting realistically. So many YA novels can't seem to accomplish this feat so kudos for that. There is one cliche that had me rolling my eyes (her love interest magically ends up being her chemistry lab partner), but their relationship is written so well that I didn't mind.