Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
First Person and Third Person (Omniscient)
For the first few chapters, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer looks like any other first person novel narrated by its protagonist. We get Sam's observations about the world, details about his life, and his own unique perspective on the bizarre events that unfold the night Douglas walks into his life. Just when we get comfortable in his head, though, McBride pulls something crazy—and suddenly, we're in Douglas's head. Then Sam's again. Then Bridin's. Then Sam gets abducted and Ramon becomes our point of view character.
Wait a minute. What's going on here? If you feel totally confused and kind of disoriented, let us try to help with that. While it might be easier to focus on the story if we saw only Sam's view of the events, there are a lot of places Douglas and Bridin can go that Sam simply wouldn't. And by following them, we get a much clearer, fuller look at the world Sam is up against. Since Sam is an outsider in the paranormal realm, we need these other characters to shows us the ropes when it comes to the rules of zombie, werewolf, and necromancer society.
The use of mixed point of view also lets us in on how other characters are reacting to what's happening to Sam. Check out the part where we're in Douglas's head as he's staking out Brooke's house before he kills her. We get an inside look at what exactly Douglas wanted when he ambushed Sam at the restaurant:
The little parasite had to be lying. How could he not know? It wasn't like necromancy was a power one could ignore. (3.7)
Because of the point of view shift here, we know long before Sam does that he's a necromancer and Douglas is out to get him. Isn't dramatic irony the best?