The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb

Calder left his human life when he was only nineteen, and in the 300+ years since then he has been a Fetch, a being sent to guide humans to the afterworld when they die. Calder enjoys helping people find the peacefulness that comes when their souls move on, and he’s never been tempted to alter the decision of a soul teetering between life and death. That changes in the early 1900s when he ends up fascinated by the caregiver at the bedside of a boy. He wills the boy to live for her sake.

Years later, he ends up at the same bedside, and he decides he must meet the woman who cares for the boy. Calder enters the body of a dying man, trading places with him in the process, and he sets in motion a series of events that threaten to overwhelm the land of the living and unbalance the land of the dead.

On earth, Calder becomes involved with the lives of Rasputin and the Russian royal family shortly before and after they are taken hostage during the revolution. He realizes he must set the earthly world and the spiritual one back to rights, but first he must discover how.

In The Fetch, Laura Whitcomb has created an inventive tale that is part supernatural mystery and romance, and part historical fiction. With Calder we travel from the unrest in Russia, to the first Hollywood movie studios, to New York and London. Larger than life historical figures Rasputin, Anastasia and Alexis join Calder on his quest while also searching for their own peaceful afterlife. Can they succeed? The Fetch leaves you guessing right up to the end.