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I can only assume Chuck has decided to relieve the grim reaper of his duties, leaving us all here to meet our own end not with a scythe but a roundhouse kick.

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Shades of Piers Anthony's "On a Pale Horse," Death showed up to take Chuck Norris and Chuck killed him, taking his place.

I loved that series, until the last book. Maybe the novelty had worn off.

It's been a long time since I read it, but didn't the current Death decide to retire and pass the role on?

If you're referring to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_a_Velvet_Cloak - note that it was written a couple decades after the prior books of the series, for a different publisher, to a different length. Those would be yellow flags with almost any author.

In "On A Pale Horse," Zane kills the current Death and assumes the role. I don't recall that he then steps down in a later book.

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