Dead for Life
A Novel
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
THE BIRTHDAY GIFT IS A DEAD STRANGER. THE CARD READS, "THREE MORE BY TONIGHT. YOUR FAULT." FOR DETECTIVE CONRAD VOORT, WHAT BEGINS AS A DAY OF CELEBRATION TURNS INTO A NIGHTMARE, AS HE TRIES TO STOP A KILLER AND FIGURE OUT IF HE COULD SOMEHOW BE RESPONSIBLE FOR A SERIES OF DEATHS.
In the thrilling, fast-paced, and haunting Dead for Life, Voort finds himself in a deadly race against time to stop an ingenious and unsettlingly sympathetic murderer who is intent on carrying out his threat, and who has created a state of near panic throughout Manhattan. What at first seems to be a series of random killings soon takes on a diabolical pattern. Murderer Wendell Nye is a man on a mission, and as his bloody endeavor unfolds it becomes clear that this is not merely the senseless act of some criminal mind, but the impassioned vengeance of a man who has suffered loss beyond endurance. Voort and the killer must reinvent themselves in this life-and-death struggle, battle the past, and become smarter, braver, and more daring -- all by tonight.
Since he first introduced the charismatic Conrad Voort in The Broken Hearts Club, critically acclaimed novelist Ethan Black has continued to shape the multifaceted detective into one of the most true-to-life and emotionally complex protagonists in contemporary suspense fiction. Voort's family members have been police officers in New York since the Dutch settled it. He has trained to be a detective since childhood, and he's head of a vast Voort cop clan. His code of honor dictates that on this day he may have to take himself down.
Drawing the reader ever more deeply into the minds and hearts of two unforgettable men pitted against each other, Dead for Life hurtles toward a shattering climax that will make it apparent that few things are what they seem. The price for past mistakes may be nothing less than life itself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Memory is the tie that binds NYPD detective Conrad Voort and killer Wendall Nye in this evocative, New York City steeped thriller (the fourth in Black's well-received series) revolving around questions of personal responsibility and unforeseen consequences. After murdering a beautiful travel agent, Nye leaves the following message: "YOUR FAULT CONRAD. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. BIRTHDAY BOY. THREE MORE BY MIDNIGHT." Voort, the golden boy of an old New York family, has everything; Nye, a former high school teacher, has nothing his life has been a shambles ever since a mysterious incident six years ago. What is the connection between the desperate killer and the "richest cop in New York"? Nye, as he continues his agenda of death, makes it clear that the blame for his spree stems directly from some past error on Voort's part. Battling the condemnation of his superiors, the suspicions of his fellow policemen and a media out for blood, Voort races through the city on the heels of the killer as the clock ticks and the body count climbs. The well-drawn backstory of Nye's terrible pain and loss linked to city corruption and graft is as compelling in its own way as Voort's history of family wealth and privilege. Black (All the Dead Were Strangers; The Broken Hearts Club; Irresistible) upends the standard conventions of good cop versus bad killer and in the process paints a vivid picture of day-to-day life in New York. Only a weak ending mars what is another strong performance by a crime writer who has created an unusual and realistically fallible police protagonist, one readers will follow for years to come.
