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THE DEAD MAN
by Joel Goldman
Kensington, April 2009
384 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 0786020407


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Milo Harper is an eccentric billionaire fascinated by the human brain. He built the Harper Institute of the Mind with, among its many goals, the purpose of studying nightmares so that individuals would have control of their dreams and conquer their fears. But a serial killer is targeting the volunteers in the dream study and killing them by making their nightmares become reality. This killer is not someone like a Freddy Kreuger murdering people inside their dreams. The murderer is real and it can only be someone with access to patient information inside the institute. It is here where former FBI agent Jack Davis comes in after his last appearance in SHAKEDOWN. He has reluctantly accepted a position as the new head of security and has learned more than he ever cared to know about Harper's work. There is a mystery that needs to be solved and he is intrigued. People who know Davis know that he is not someone who gives up easily. The question is, will he be able to live with what he discovers in the investigation?

THE DEAD MAN is a pleasant surprise. Jack Davis and the people involved in his life are interesting characters. They are all flawed in one way or another, but their flaws do not define them as individuals. It is their interactions with each other, as well as their actions, which grab readers from the start creating an attachment to each one of them. It is the characters that make the book entertaining. It would have been so easy to focus exclusively on each character's personal issues or peccadilloes and not get into the actual book.

As to the plot itself, it had its potential though I felt that the story was a bit predictable regarding the murderer's identity and motivations when all is revealed in its anticlimactic climax. However, the ending acts as a subtle invitation to come visit the next adventure with Jack and his friends. Consider me on the waiting list.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, May 2009

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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