Dead Connection [Paperback]

Charlie Price (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2008

Is Murray psychic? He talks to the dead and comforts them in their lonely graves, even as they provide solace for him—they are his best friends. When he hears a new voice in the cemetery, he’s sure it’s Nikki, the cheerleader who has been missing for months. But who will believe him? He’s a loser. Can he even believe in himself?
     Along comes Pearl, daughter of the cemetery caretaker, who befriends Murray and tries to enter his world. Together they may prove the astonishing possibility that Nikki is closer than anyone thinks.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-Teenage loner Murray Kiefer has found comfort and companionship by visiting with the dead in his local cemetery. Schoolmate Pearl is more outgoing and confident; she lives with her widowed father, the caretaker of the cemetery. A third teen, cheerleader Nikki Parker, has disappeared, and everyone speculates about whether she'll be found alive. Price weaves the stories of these characters-and those of a drunken cop, a trusting and loyal father, and a jaded but smart detective-into a murder mystery with compelling psychological and spiritual overtones. Neither Pearl nor Murray is interested in befriending the other but eventually a relationship develops. How long it will take the good cop to catch up with the bad one-and just how bad the latter might be-keeps the tension high. The cemetery setting and Murray's sensitivity to the dead aren't ghoulish, nor are these details played for laughs. At the same time, the teen's social awkwardness elicits sympathy in readers. He is simply who he is and is able to know just a little something about which others seem less aware, while being in the dark about things that his peers take for granted. Pearl is strong and eventually admirable as she gains respect for Murray. The degradation of the drunken cop adds a gritty edge to a story where most (but not all) of the violence takes place offstage. This will be an easy sell to mystery readers, and will have lots of appeal to those familiar with that genre only through television or movies.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 9--12. Nikki is dead----and she's angry that her killer has hidden her where she won't be found. Enter Murray, a high-school student who likes to sit in the cemetery and listen to what the dead have to say. In fact, on his own tombstone he would like the words friend to the deceased. So begins this mystery, with a conclusion that's inevitable, but twists and turns that are not. Each brisk chapter is told from the point of view of one of the many characters. Interestingly, most of the main characters are adults: Deputy Gates, who has personal reasons for solving the crime; Robert Barry Compton, an ex-con who witnessed the crime; Janockek, Pearl's understanding father; and Billup, the frustrated public affairs officer. By delving into the adults' problems as they meld with the mystery of Nikki's disappearance, Price has given the book an adult veneer. Readers will like the edginess and be intrigued by the extrasensory elements as well as the darker turns the mystery takes. This is something different. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Square Fish (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312379668
• ISBN-13: 978-0312379667
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,361,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charlie Price__
Raised in Colorado and Montana, Charlie graduated from Stanford in the late 60's and has lived in Italy, New York City, Oakland, and Mexico before settling in Northern California. From street schools in Bedford-Stuyvesant, to locked psychiatric units, to Academic Dean in a therapeutic boarding school, he has worked with adolescents and adults in trouble since the early seventies. Currently he consults and coaches for public and private agencies.

His fourth book, Desert Angel, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, comes out October 25th. Dead Connection and Desert Angel have also been bought by Random House, London, UK, and will be translated for world distribution. Thierry Magnier, Paris, has published all four books in French translation.

Charlie has been delightfully married for the past thirty years and, in spite of abundant flaws, he's a decent guitar player, fly-fisherman, and free throw shooter. He currently lives on a river in Northern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, February 14, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Connection (Hardcover)

Murray is an outcast, who talks to the dead. He visits the cemetery every day to talk to his friends. He stays away from most living people until he meets Pearl, the graveyard caretaker's daughter. She finds him strange, but is also drawn to him.

One afternoon, Murray hears a new voice. While he can hear her and sense her presence, he can't see her or talk to her. Meanwhile, the town scrambles to find out what happened to Nikki, a missing cheerleader. Murray and Pearl come to the conclusion that the new girl in the cemetery could be Nikki.

Is it possible that they've uncovered the biggest mystery in town? And if so, how can they tell someone who will listen to them and not think they're crazy?

Broken up into short chapters, DEAD CONNECTION takes several character perspectives, letting the reader unravel the mystery. I recommend this one to reluctant readers and mystery fans.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder Mystery Has a Twist of ESP, June 15, 2006

By 

D. L. Barnett (Paradise, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Connection (Hardcover)

High schooler Murray Kiefer and Sierra County sheriff's deputy Roman Gates, based out of Riverton, near Whiskeytown Lake, are both trying to solve the same murder. The two are not working together -- they don't even know each other -- but they are working in concert.

On Oct. 17, Nikki Parker, a 16-year-old cheerleader at Canyon High in Riverton, Murray's school, disappeared from the parking lot after practice. Weeks later there are still no clues to her whereabouts. For Gates, a gambling addict now in recovery, the answer must be out there if only a sufficient number of leads can be followed up. For Murray, outsider and son of a prostitute mother, his best leads come from the town cemetery. He is convinced he hears voices from the dearly departed and he considers himself a "friend to the deceased." But then he hears sobbing, something in his mind that sounds like "please help me." And therein lies the tale.

"Dead Connection" ($16.95 in hardcover from Roaring Brook Press) is Charlie Price's first novel, but you wouldn't know it. The Redding-based author writes with consummate skill, creating and interweaving the lives of multiple characters who are far from cardboard cutouts. Price is an organizational consultant and "executive coach"; he writes me that he spent 35 years in education and mental health. His wife, Joan Pechanec, is a psychotherapist with practices in Redding and Mount Shasta.

The book earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Booklist and has been nominated, he writes, for Best Book Young Adults and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. (A word of caution: There are adult themes and some foul language.)

Murray is the emotional center of the book. A fixture at Forest Grove cemetery ("Don't call it a graveyard!") he hears the voices of "Dearly" (that would be "Dearly Beloved, Born 1944, Died 1969" in a car wreck), "Blessed," "Edwin" and more. They are his friends. "I don't spend much time with the older people," Murray tells us. "I figure they deserved it. Not deserved it, really, but what could they expect? After 40, you're going to die. The ones my age and the children, they almost all need someone to talk to. I comfort them the best I can. They weren't ready. ... Everybody needs a friend."

Enter ninth-grader Pearl (daughter of the kind cemetery caretaker Janochek), who at first sees Murray as some kind of weirdo but later makes alliance with him. Then there's 22-year-old Robert Barry Compton who can just barely hold a job. "His ears were red and pockmarked from several piercings, but he had lost his studs when he was picked up for disturbing the peace in Chico." He is now on strong meds and has trouble remembering. Yet there was something he saw the night of Oct. 17, something terribly important.

Vern Billup is a drunk given to blackouts. Public affairs officer for local law enforcement, Billup has it out for Murray ever since the kid walked in on him and Murray's mother at her home, where she entertained her "dates."

Misfits all.

Plot surprises abound, "dead connection" takes on several meanings, and in the end hope visits the most unlikely of clients. I couldn't put it down.

Copyright 2006 Chico Enterprise-Record. Used by permission.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible debut, September 4, 2006

By 

Jessica Price "Proud Daughter" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Connection (Hardcover)

Rereading was just as engaging and captivating as my first experience with Dead Connection. The characters are diverse, authentic and endearing. The seamless weaving of different demographics, points of view and voice would keep anyone reading through to the final conclusion of the climactic plot. It was a delight to spend my time with this book. Pass it along!