Customer Reviews

Dead for Life: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the only one of the series that I have read, but I will certainly try another. The strong point of this book is its plot, which is dark and clevery twisted. It definitely keeps you turning the pages. It would make a wonderful movie, in the style of my current favorite TV show, Cold Case. I don't give the book 5 stars, because I don't feel the characters and style of writing are as strong as the plot. Neither are they weak, the writing is clean, without cliches, the dialogue is good, and the characters are interesting - we're just not talking 5 star level Michael Connelly or Michael Gruber brilliance in the genre. It's a winner.

This book starts out like just a good book, with some astute observations about modern American culture and an exciting killer set-up. But then it continuously gets better and better and becomes a masterpiece. One of the best and most complete characterizations of a villain that I have ever read. Extraordinarily entertaining. I recently started Black's "Irresistible," but had several other books out from the library with it, and had to return it without finishing. The little that I did read did not seem great. Remembering how "Dead for Life" improved as the story went along, however, I will certainly get "Irresistible" again, and finish it.

New York police detective Conrad Voorst plans on spending his birthday with his girlfriend (or maybe with his beautiful cousin-by-marriage) but a call from the commissioner changes that. A woman has been murdered and the killer left a message blaming Voorst and promising three more deaths before midnight. Voorst is in trouble with the department--trouble he can avoid only if he can solve the crime and prevent more killing. But the killer is smart and has been planning this day for a long time--ever since the death of his son brought him back from near-death to strike back at all of those who destroyed his life and are working to destroy the city he loves.

DEAD FOR LIFE details one day in the life of Voorst and of the killer. Each is well motivated and strangely sympathetic. Both are deeply flawed but have admirable intentions. Author Ethan Black's strong writing leaves us hoping for an impossible result--that both can somehow be vindicated. Black's pacing pulls the reader in and, in my case at least, demanded late-night reading because I simply could not put the book down.

And this is another police detective who is incredibly rich, ultra-efficient, dashingly handsome & oh, has a blonde, attractive, athletic girlfriend. Yeah, the police department must have quite a few of them.
The word Voort appears soo many times in some sections that I was half-expecting a sentence "Voort voorting voorted voorts voort." But depite all the voortations, and his exceptional attributes, Conrad Voort the hero is a one-dimensional, rather uninteresting character. So, even when he pretty much single-handedly (& in record time!) figures everything out, it's more unconvincing than impressive. By contrast, what kept my attention was the 'villain' Wendall Nye...it is for this I even give it 2 stars. Also while several other cops appear in the book, they're hollow figures...with little to contribute. Of course at the end everything is neatly tied up, even the mistake Voort made is atoned for (& of course it had to be Voort!)...but overall the story fails to impress. It would have helped if Voort were a little more real, with vulnerabilities & limitations, needing a little help from his friends.
Will I read another Voort book? Even if another book has as sympathetic a villain as Wendall, the weakness of the Voort character will probably fail to hold my attention the second time around. So, very unlikely.

Apparently Ethan Black is a hit or miss kind of author and unfortunately this was a miss for me. Conrad Voort is from the first family of police investigators in NYC. A serial killer has decided that Voort is the reason why his life has gone from perfect to victim. The killer has planned 4 murders before midnight and leaves a note at each site that only Voort understands.

I very nearly gave up on this book about 100 pages into it. This is the first book I've read with Voort as the main character and he's pretty bland. The only thing that saved it for me was Nye. He was even boring at first, but as his backstory came out, the novel really picked up speed and I couldn't put it down. I don't know if I like Voort enough to read the other novels about him, though.

I really have become quite fond of Conrad Voort, the hero of Ethan Black's novels. He's a rich cop, sure, but he has strong family and moral values, and he still goes to church and prays to God for assistance.
Six years ago, Voort did something to really tick somebody off, cause now they're killing people and leaving notes that blame Voort. His superiors want to know what Voort did and why this killer is accusing him.
Wendell Nye, the villain of the piece, is one strange dude, and even when you find out what happened to him those six years ago, it still doesn't seem to justify his actions. Even though his victims are villainous in their own right.

However, the book moves extremely well, and the climax is quite good. Poor Voort..he now has his widowed sister-in-law after him, and he's reconciled with Camilla. Their bantering is a humorous respite in the murderous atmosphere.

A very good novel. Enjoy!

RECOMMENDED.

NYPD detective Conrad Voort is one of the richest men in the police department, his family escutcheon going back to the Revolutionary War. Conrad's biggest worry is his cousin's widow Julia is living in his posh townhouse while she's looking for another place to live. She would like nothing better than to replace Camilla in his bed and life.

Conrad and his partner Mickie are escorted to a homicide scene to explain what the killer means when he writes in a note that Voort screwed up. The victim is a former prostitute turned travel agent and the killer says there are going to be three more victims by midnight. Voort takes a lie detector test and wears an electronic bracelet to remain on the case. With each death, more is revealed about the killer's motives which is centered on a mistake Voort made six years ago.

The protagonist is a good man, a great police officer who has to live with the fact that one mistake six years ago led to the killing spree of a murderer who only wants justice for himself, his family and even his city. While working on the case, the hero is under constant pressure because he realizes he will probably lose his job after killer is caught. The killer elicits reader sympathy because the people he is murdering are the true villains who were never brought to any kind of justice. DEAD FOR LIFE is an exciting police procedural that will keep reader attention from first page to last.

Harriet Klausner