THE DEAD MAN
Joel Goldman
Pinnacle
Thriller
ISBN: 9780786020409
I just moved Joel Goldman to my A-list of authors. Always a solid journeyman, Goldman introduced Jack Davis in 2008’s SHAKEDOWN and took his work to an entirely new level. THE DEAD MAN features the welcome return of Davis and seals the deal with an expertly crafted mystery that will keep you reading without a break from start to finish.
Davis is a former FBI agent who was forced to leave the bureau due to an enigmatic neurological disorder. He himself refers to it as “tics”; it manifests itself as an uncontrollable, often violent twitching that also interferes with his speech, an unfortunate combination of Tourette’s Syndrome and Spastic Torticollis. There is little he can do to control it, other than attempt to keep his physical exertions and mental stress to a minimum. Davis, however, is more action-oriented than that. Though the unpredictability of his condition impacts adversely on his physical reliability, he refuses to live out his days in a room. When he is given the opportunity to work as a security consultant for a research institute, the job seems like a godsend. At least at first.
Davis’s new employer is the Harper Institute of the Mind, better known as HIM. HIM is on the cutting edge of dream research, seeking ways to evaluate, control and use dream activity. The deaths of two of HIM’s test subjects --- one an apparent accident, the other an apparent suicide --- are somewhat bizarre in that the circumstances of their deaths eerily coincide with the respective dreams they reported and that were being studied. Founder and CEO Milo Harper retains Davis to investigate the deaths when HIM is threatened with a wrongful death action. A third death occurs, however, before Davis can even get his investigation underway, and circumstantial evidence not only seems to indicate he is involved, but also brings his former employer into the mix. Circumstances notwithstanding, the list of potential suspects (other than Davis) seems to increase exponentially, even as the number of victims continues to grow as well.
While THE DEAD MAN is a thriller in every sense of the word, it is also a mystery in its purest form. Goldman drops an occasional hint as to the murderer’s identity, but the suspects are eliminated not so much as a result of Davis’s investigative work as by foul play. At the same time, the novel is very much a story about Davis. Goldman does an excellent job presenting Davis and his condition, so that one empathizes with him rather than feels sorry for him. Using Goldman’s home town of Kansas City as a setting is an added (and subtle) bonus. His tour of the city creates an interesting backdrop, one that makes this reader hope for a return visit.
THE DEAD MAN is one of those rare novels you will be tempted to read twice: the first time to enjoy, and the second to appreciate how Goldman puts the pieces together. The hours spent on both will be more than worth it.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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