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The Dead Man by Joel Goldman
- By Patricia Reid
- Published 04/6/2009
- Mystery and Thrillers
- Unrated
Patricia Reid
I share my love of reading with my two daughters and my granddaughter. One daughter loves romance, the other loves mystery and my granddaughter, twenty-one, reads a variety of books. Reviewing books has introduced me to many authors that are new to me. When I read a book to review and enjoy it I usually try to obtain other books by that author. I work part-time and my main interest is reading.
View all articles by Patricia ReidThe Dead Man by Joel Goldman
The Dead Man
Joel Goldman
Pinnacle Books, 2009, 408 Pages
ISBN No. 978-0-7860-2040-9
Be careful what you dream and if you do happen to dream of suicide, don’t tell anyone. Milo Harper runs an organization called The Harper Institute of the Mind. People volunteer for a program where they describe their dreams in the hope of being able to control their dreams. Milo is concerned because two of the participants have died recently. One death was determined to be accidental and one death was determined to be suicide. Jason Bolt, a Kansas City attorney, is threatening to sue the institute.
Jack Davis is a former FBI agent now retired. Jack has a physical problem that causes him to shake uncontrollably. This shaking begins without a lot of warning and the FBI feels that Jack is not fit enough to be an agent. Jack’s friend Simon Alexander has recommended Jack to Milo Harper as a security consultant. Jack agrees to take on the task.
Several things happen before Jack can really settle into the job. First, he finds he has a new roommate named Lucy Trent. Lucy has appeared unexpectedly and proves to Jack that she is the owner of the home that he has been renting. Lucy is a former police officer who ran into some trouble with the law and is trying to make a new start. Next Jack is summoned to the scene of a possible suicide. The twist is that the dead man is a mail carrier and has horded mail for years. The reason Jack is summoned is that the dead man is holding a letter addressed to Jack from his daughter Wendy. Wendy died of an overdose but the FBI suspects that she had knowledge of a stash of money and that knowledge was passed on to Jack.
As Jack begins his new job at the Institute, he finds that the dead man holding Wendy’s letter had also been a volunteer at the institute. Jack begins to feel that maybe the deaths were murders and not really suicides.
The Dead Man is an exciting novel with many surprises. Jack begins to realize that there is a serial killer behind these deaths. Convincing the police of that fact is another problem. Lucy proves to be an asset in his investigation and the two make a good team.
This is the second book in the Jack Davis series and by far the best in this reviewer’s opinion.