In this first episode of The Debt Collector serial, we meet Lirium, a young man whose occupation is to collect the life force from those who are dying and transferring this enery to others who can pay. It's a grim job, being a collector, but the payoff is a high like no other. Lirium struggles with his reaper-ness, using sex and alcohol to cope with the depression that hits when he pays out life energy. This time, his sex-cape turns out to more than he bargained for--and the high nearly kills him. 
 Lirium is fully aware of his faults, and his self-depricating humor is enjoyable. It's a great start to a compelling series and sure to have readers searching for the next episode.