Dead Folks [Hardcover]

Jon A. Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996

The sixth novel in the hard-boiled crime fiction series follows Detective Mulheisen as he goes on the trail of mobster Joe Service, who threatens to turn Salt Lake City into a cemetery unless he recovers his millions. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jackson brings back Joe Service from the brink of death. The smooth womanizing hit man who killed a Detroit gangleader in Hit on the House, and then in the sequel Deadman was himself shot and left in a coma, is hiding out in the city of the Saints, Salt Lake City, where he is trying to recover--among other things--his memory of where he may have stashed that cash he liberated from the mob. He has found the company of a sweet nurse, but the mob is on his tail, as are the cops. Salt Lake City is pretty different from Detroit, but things don't stay peaceable in Utah for long.

From Publishers Weekly

The trajectory of marginal Detroit mobman Joe Service continues to leave a mess in its aftermath, the clearing up of which seems to be the eternal lot of Detroit copper Fang Mulheisen, now in his sixth appearance. In Deadman (1994), Joe was left in Montana, shot in the head. Here, still recovering from his coma, he takes off for Salt Lake City with his smitten nurse, Cathleen Yoder, who was lusted after by the female shooter in the previous novel. Joe and Cathleen become lovers, but his memory isn't as functional as his sex drive: he can't remember where his money is, and he has violent encounters with some large angry hoods from Tonga, whom he isn't sure really exist. Meanwhile Fang is falling hard for a rural woman in Montana, where he is still tracing Joe's part in previous killings. Jackson doesn't move this tale much beyond the plot of the previous episode, which at first might seem like a stumbling block for new readers. But the wacky richness of the author's prose eases such trifles aside. Jackson keeps control of his chaotic material, successfully pausing mid-narrative to linger on the diet-fixated life of a Detroit crime lord or detour to explore a weird car-selling scam. The big Tongans are in a nutso class all of their own. While none of this is perfectly resolved, at least the readers have a better handle on things than Fang, and especially poor old Joe, for whom the only sure things in life are his dogged survival, his powers with the fair sex and the sad fact that Fang will never give up the chase.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; 1st edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871136384
• ISBN-13: 978-0871136381
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,296,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A most excellent novel, May 20, 2011

By 

carl brookins "Carl Brookins" (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dead Folks: A Detective Sergeant Mullheisen Mystery (Detective Sergeant Mulheisen Mysteries) (Paperback)

Fang Mulheisen rides again. He rides from Detroit to Montana to Salt Lake City and back again. Mulheisen rides trains, planes and cars. He rides with a ditch rider named Sally McIntyre. Jackson tells a really good story, but from some points of view, he's telling us the oddessy of Fang Mulheisen, broken up into several parts, called novels.

However, unlike some series, you needn't begin at the beginning in order to understand this one. Nor will you learn secrets that spoil earlier novels about this detective. Jackson's protagonist is a detective sergeant with the Detroit police department. He's been around a few years and he's assigned to Homicide. One of his personal goals is to make some good busts on important members of the local mob. Now, this is difficult to do, but Mulheisen is patient and follows the trails wherethey lead.

A recent hit on a mob guy has led Mulheisen to Montana, where he again picks up the trail of the elusive and illusive Joe Service. Service is an outside mob contractor. He's called in when the mob needs to investigate it's own. He and Mulheisen have been dueling for decades. Dead Folks tells the tale of how Mulheisen persists in his pursuit of Service and the result. Along the way a number of people get explicitly wiped out, hence the title. Along the way some of the characters in this book affirm life's essence in some explicit and sometimes amusing sexual acts, not all of which could be called ordinary, however that word may be defined.

Jackson has a sometimes quirky attitude toward life and we see it amply displayed in this delightful novel. Jon Jackson is one of those excellent authors who knows a good story when he tells it. Here is one such.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, July 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dead Folks (Hardcover)

Jon Jackson always delivers the goods...never predictable wordsmithing that often reads like a musical score...

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dead Folks, March 4, 2007

By 

bigdog "Bigdog" (Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Folks: A Detective Sergeant Mullheisen Mystery (Detective Sergeant Mulheisen Mysteries) (Paperback)

Doesn't get any better than this. I love Jon Jacksons Mystery writing! Keeps you on the edge of your seat!