Monday, July 30, 2012

Dead Mann Running-Stefan Petrucha

Dead Mann Running


Stefan Petrucha

Roc, Sep 4 2012, $7.99

ISBN 9780451464743



The state executed former Liveblood cop Hessius Mann for murdering his wife. After his death, suppressed DNA evidence proved his innocence. To atone for their blunder the state applied the Radical Invigoration Procedure (RIP) to reanimate Mann as a Chak in which he is tested every month to insure he does not go rogue. The side effects are horrid as his IQ is gone along with his memory; his bones break easily and no lotion can help with the dry skin. He needs money so Mann becomes a private investigator with Misty the Liveblood as his office manager.



He asks who is it to a knock on his office door, but no one responds. Mann opens the door to see a hand attached to an arm holding the handle of a briefcase; there is no rest of the body. The arm enters the office taking the case inside with it. Leaving the case behind on the floor; the arm jumps out of a window. Misty orders Mann to investigate why an arm left him a suitcase containing two vials of a blue liquid; while adversaries seek the bottles.



The key to this super Mann zombie detective is the RIP seem plausible due to little nuances that enable the reader believe a walking arm seem reasonable. The Livebloods consider the Chakz an inferior race. Only Misty is an exception as she treats her employer with tough love affection as if he is a senile uncle who needs bullying not because he is a Chak, but because he is filled with self-pity. The mystery is fast-paced from the moment the hand knocks and never slows down as there are several people who will kill to get their hands on the vial.



Harriet Klausner

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