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How To Be Dead (The 'How To Be Dead' Comedy Horror Series Book 1) by [Turner, Dave]

How To Be Dead (The 'How To Be Dead' Comedy Horror Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Dave Turner (Author)

69 customer reviews

Book 1 of 4 in The 'How To Be Dead' Grim Reaper Comedy Horror Series (4 Book Series)

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Dave Marwood is trapped in a soul crushing dead end job. He’s in love with his work colleague Melanie and his only friend Gary is a conspiracy theory nut.

His life is going nowhere until he has a Near Death Experience - though Death thinks of it as a Near Dave Experience. He discovers gifts he never knew he possessed and a world he never dreamed existed. A world where the Grim Reaper is a hard drinking, grumpy Billy Joel fan and the undead are bored, lonely and dangerous.

How To Be Dead is the first part in a series of best-selling funny urban fantasy novellas that tells the story of Death and his friends protecting humanity from ghosts, zombies, vampires and medium-sized apocalypses.

After a nice cup of tea and a biscuit.

What Amazon readers are saying about the How To Be Dead series:

★★★★★ “Dave Turner is a funny man and ‘How To Be Dead’ is a brilliant read.”

★★★★★ “If Neil Gaiman and Simon Pegg sat down to write a story together they might come up with something like this.”

★★★★★ “Hilarious and unexpectedly moving.”

★★★★★ “Laugh out loud funny… It’s been a while since an author has made me laugh more than Pratchett does.”

★★★★★ "Each part of this trilogy is a compelling story which seems to gather pace."

★★★★★ "If you like Tom Holt, Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett, Dave Turner's books will fit perfectly into your collection."

Length: 82 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled

Complete Series

The 'How To Be Dead' Grim Reaper Comedy …

Dave Turner

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Product details

File Size: 2373 KB
Print Length: 82 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Aim For The Head (December 1, 2013)
Publication Date: December 1, 2013
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00H17V7OS
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

X-Ray:

Not Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,583 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #200 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror > Comedy
- #221 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror > British
- #551 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > Two hours or more (65-100 pages) > Science Fiction & Fantasy

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Rabid Readers Reviews

Wonderfully written novel! So entertaining!

February 8, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Dave Marwood is a great character. For a lot of people doing nothing is the easiest way to live, but Dave works hard at his apathy. We see in the novel a character that is willing to think of others before himself even in the most extreme situations. He is a guy who is living and feeling despite his efforts to the contrary. Dave has seen ghosts since he was a small child, and he seems comfortable and at peace with them—they seem rather stubbornly married to their earthly existence contrary to what other popular fiction might tell us. Dave is ideally situated to fill the job that Death proposes to him.

Death is an interesting guy. The way that Turner layers this immortal character is fascinating. Death is petulant. The human body is simply a meat puppet for the soul. They are silly and useless and yet he seems to care about making Dave understand his point of view. He needs that contact. Death is horribly busy but lives in time as though the eras are rooms in a house so that his hectic pace never ends. Death has had to distance himself from his friends and their ill-advised choices (Famine once took a wife!) so that he is only about work and chocolate biscuits. He is not infallible. As Turner says early in the novel, “Some days you are Godzilla. Other days you are Tokyo” (Kindle Location 63).

Mostly in How To Be Dead I loved the layering of truths and interlacing of humor. The style of writing speaks to Turner’s writing experience in the smooth flow and easy spirit of the characters. The ghost that Dave meets on the subway is quite happy to continue riding the train. He says that it makes him feels as though he’s alive which gives this spirit a contentment that is unique to the genre. That Dave isn’t the guy to push a subject to suit himself leaves this reader eagerly anticipating where this series will go next.

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Guy with Beard

An exciting career in the field of Grim Reaping

November 6, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Dave is not going anywhere in his job, or even his life until he has a near death experience and makes friends with Death.

This is a fairly short story that sets up the series to come. It seems that Death has a backlog of souls that were missed and he wants help with them. He also wants a friend. Dave seems to be the guy for the job.

This is a lighthearted, in a slightly dark way, tale of a slightly below average guy that is finally rising to his potential in life by working for death. It feels like it has the potential to be fun with some touching moments.

The major drawback is that I think the series is going to be written as interconnected short shortages or segments instead of a full length novel. This isn't necessarily bad, just annoying in that you have to keep checking for the next installment.

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Bonnie Dale KeckTop Contributor: Star Wars

and it gets better {or worse

April 6, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Kindle Unlimited 'Busy?' Dave asked. Death let out a long weary sigh. 'I'm always busy.' 'How do you find the time to do it all?' 'Time is relative. In fact, he's my cousin. Who owes me money.' 'Time travel?' 'It's not time travel as such. It's more that I exist simultaneously at all points in time. Or something. I wasn't really paying attention. Quantum physics was put together on a Friday afternoon. That's why humanity will never figure it out. Some of the bits are the wrong way round.' -- Only a demented Brit {may be redundant} would have that in a book, about Death, and it gets better {or worse, depending on your sense of humor/humour}. Onward to many Deaths...and/or the next book.

How To Be Dead (The 'How To Be Dead' Grim Reaper Comedy Horror Series Book 1)
Paper Cuts (The 'How To Be Dead' Grim Reaper Comedy Horror Series Book 2)
Old Haunts (The 'How To Be Dead' Grim Reaper Comedy Horror Series Book 3)
The 'How To Be Dead' Grim Reaper Comedy Horror Series (3 Book Series)

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Mary L. Doyle

No one appreciates Death

August 28, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Dave appreciates Death and who wouldn't after reading this brilliant introduction. For such a short story, How to be Dead it is packed with flashy little scenes and amazing metaphors, surprising twists and snappy dialogue. So witty and fun but yet incredibly deep with lots of nuggets to keep you thinking. Who would have thought Death could be such an interesting character ... and love chocolate biscuits. I often find this kind of tongue in cheek humor tiresome in a book after awhile, especially if the author insists on sticking with it on almost every page, but there's just the right balance between humor, sarcasm, pop culture symbolism and some serious philosophical exploration. Masterfully done. Not to mention that was the most satisfying ending or beginning? ... to a love story I've read in a long time. Immediately downloaded the second book. Dave Turner has a new fan. Five twinkling stars for this one.

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Kindle Customer

Deadly read

April 3, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The title caught my attention and the reading was a romp in the comical insight of dearh. The character of Death is overwhelmed and adept at an occasional mistake. The reference to Keith Richards caused me to have a good belly laugh. I usually avoid reading books that are supposedly humorous. Dave Turner did an excellent job of maintaining his objective of a humorous reading adventure. Be prepared to LOL.

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Ron

I love this book

October 18, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I love this book. I love the writing style. The humor is spot on. Reminded me of William Goldman (Princess Bride) - which is pretty high praise. Droll humor, real human emotions, absurd situation. The only problem with the book is that it is too short. I loved it and wanted more. Of course it is a series and you get the full story with the addition of books 2 and 3. I just finished 2, haven't started 3 yet. Thinking of William Goldman, this would make a great move in the "Shaun of the Dead" vein - An average guy in way over his head so you do what you have to.

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Mark Buehman

Meet the girl of your dreams, die, meet Death and fun follows

April 7, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Dave is an apathetic character and one you can come to love much in the same vein as in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

Just as he finally finds a reason to live (a girl) he gives his life to save her. However to his surprise he gets to meet Death and comes back to life. The story follows Deaths attempts to employ Dave and is both touching and funny.

I would have actually given it 4.5 stars due to some simple spelling, grammar and word usage errors but went with the 5 (since you can't do a half) simply because it is such a fun read.

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Most recent customer reviews

mike good

A hilarious look at a scary subject

A fun concept, and even funnier writing! If you like to laugh, you will love this book and want to read more.

Published 20 days ago

Sandi Wood

Five Stars

Entertaining right from the first chapter and all the way through.

Published 1 month ago

G. Perkins

Poorly Written

Poorly written.

Published 1 month ago

Brenda

Good Read

I've not yet read the sequel(s), but this book was a lot of fun to read!

Published 6 months ago

Alice

Good Book

This book was a lot different than I thought it would be. The characters were all almost nuts, but in a good way. I am happy that the main character found his way in the end.

Published 7 months ago

essie

I will read another and see if it goes further. It stopped a bit prematurely for me. An obvious setup for another book.

Published 11 months ago

Momof3

Four Stars

Fun :)

Published 11 months ago

Donna Opsal

This book has potential.

It is a pretty good title and it has a charming premise. I am the sort of reader who likes to feel something about a character, love him or hate him, and it seems there was not...Read more

Published 1 year ago

MarkE

Good plot, good characters

One of the funniest books I've read in quite some time. Good plot, good characters, and laugh out loud funny.

Published 1 year ago

Erica J. Phillips

Funny as hell...I want more

This is a quick read. Great funny lines, death is awesome. Glad I took a chance on this one. Just downloaded part 2.

Published 1 year ago

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