Customer Reviews

The Dead Man

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Someone recently wrote an article indicating that the sale of romance novels has gone up during this economic slump. People, it seems, want to escape through their reading. Since I'm not a great fan of bodice-rippers I'd like to suggest that reading a good thriller is a fine way to escape for a while, and to this end try Joel Goldman's The Dead Man.

Second in the Jack Davis series this story will capture with the opening pages - a sheriff goes to a brutal murder scene at a farmhouse. A couple is dead, brutally murdered, slaughtered really, rather reminiscent of the Clutter killings. But in that case the murderers were caught - in this case they are not.

As many will remember Jack is a former FBI agent. He suffers from a movement disorder that causes him to shake, thus the FB no longer believes he is capable of service. Milo Harper runs an institute aimed at helping people control their dreams. However, her institute may now be named in a law suit due to recent deaths of patients.

A friend of Jack's recommends him to Milo to run security for her. Said friend presents this opportunity to Jack as the perfect job for him - set your own hours, take breaks whenever you wish, etc. Jack's response is, "I haven't had a perfect job since Sue Ellen Erickson asked me to carry her books home in the fifth grade." Nonetheless, he takes the job.

It's not long before he has reason to wish he was back in the fifth grade as his investigation soon reveals that there is a psychotic serial killer on the loose.

Chock-a-block with danger and fast-paced The Dead Man will take anyone's mind off a dwindling bank account, at least for a while.

- Gail Cooke

Entertaining thriller featuring a very interesting protagonist!
Former FBI agent, disgraced Jack Davis, suffers from a neurological ailment that causes tics (involuntary spasms and muscle movements) and brain fog. Nevertheless, he is hired by billionaire Milo Harper to investigate why participants in a dream study he has funded have started to turn up dead - and have died in just the very way that they had nightmares about! The body count rises and Jack teams up with his landlady, a former cop named Lucy who was jailed for stealing diamonds from a crime scene, and the search for the killer is on.

The story is set in Kansas City, my hometown, and that added another interesting layer to the novel as I had fun identifying with the landmarks, streets, and other familiar details. The story blends past events to current circumstances in a well crafted tale but there is one main unanswered question at the end!

The characters are the best part of this mystery and I think there might be a sequel using them - at least I hope so.

Enjoy!

This book really shouldn't be compared to Grisham or Patterson. It had a great storyline, but it was soooo predictable! I knew who the killer was within 15 minutes. After that, I felt like I was just waiting for the characters to catch up. This could have been easily avoided by omitting just a couple of scenes.

I enjoyed reading this book mostly because of the characters. I loved the interaction between Jack and Lucy most of all. HOWEVER - the killer's identity was so obvious - almost from the beginning. Most of the time when this happens I generally give the book only one or two stars - but because the characters were so interesting and the "read" pleasurable I gave it the three stars.

Jack Davis is everywhere in this book. He is the good guy but no longer a cop. And the cops think he is a bad guy. But he is chasing an elusive bad guy. Davis enlists the help of a wide variety of characters to try and keep the body count down. He is human, easy to root for, and you just want him to win. I really liked this book.

I guess I should have known better. Any time an author needs to get endorsements from other authors that are high profile to sell their books, you know it's because he's second-rate. And make no mistake about it, Joel Goldman is a second-rate author. The plot and action in the story are fine, though at times credibility in the story is hard to find. The basic problem with almost all of Goldman's works, though, is that he tries to baffle his way with b.s. I mean, instead of a reasonable complex plot, he has to take it to extremes so that the only way you can really understand all the characters is if you have an appendix that allows you to go back and easily look up off-the-wall obscure characters that suddenly appear in unexpected critical places of the novel.

If you are bored and have nothing else to do, Joel Goldman's "The Dead Man" is better than nothing. A better option, though, is to find a decent DVD or find a book by an author that understands the concept of writing in a clear and lucid manner -- maybe like Michael Connelly.

I just now realized that there are other books with this protagonist, Jack Davis. That's great, I love him! A former FBI agent with a movement disorder and a lot of tragedy in his past, he's smart, prickly, and has a great sense of humor.

All the characters of the fairly big cast of this story avoid falling into stereotypes--they're unique and believable. The case itself is extremely creepy, but the violence isn't sensationalized (which I particularly appreciated in one instance, with a female victim.) The sharp, fun dialogue and the tight plot gave the book a cinematic sensibility. I especially liked the relationship between Jack and Lucy...a friendship with some father/daughter dynamics.

It's always a nice change when a book's set in a city other than New York or L.A., and the fact that this one took place in my own town of Kansas City added to the enjoyment for me. Great, entertaining stuff--can't wait to read another one.

Someone is killing off people exactly how they saw it in their dreams.

Billionaire, Milo Harper opened an facility called The Harper Institute of the Mind. An old acquaintance's of Milo's recommends Jack Davis to Milo. Jack used to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jack is looking for something new to pass the time. Milo contacts Jack for a favor. He needs Jack's help to find the killer and fast. Milo is under pressure to put a stop to the killings. All of the victims were study subjects at the institute. The institute's goal was to help all of the people control their dreams. If you thought your dreams could only kill you in the movies, than think again. As there is a Dead Man walking and he is coming for you.

The Dead Man is the second book to feature former FBI agent Jack Davis. This book can be read as a stand alone novel. While I did enjoy this thriller, I had a slight issue with the fact that I was able to figure out the killer right off the bat and there was a secondary situation involving Jack that I couldn't really tell you about as I wasn't as interested in it as I was the main plot. Overall though I was slightly disappointed in this book, I would still give another Joel Goldman novel a try.

I didn't know what to expect from this author, or this book, especially because I got it for free on my Kindle. The bottom line is I would have paid full price for it! It greatly exceeded my expectations. It's a steal @ $2.99.

Good book kept me wondering who the killer was didn't find out till close to the end and that is what kept me reading the book