Inherit the Dead
A Novel
-
-
3.8 • 260 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
This New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller is a collaboration between twenty bestselling mystery novelists who have joined forces to create a spellbinding story of love, betrayal, and intrigue. “Readers can’t go wrong with this juicy thriller” raves Library Journal.
Pericles “Perry” Christo is a PI with a past—a former cop who lost his badge and his family when a corruption scandal left him broke and disgraced. So when wealthy Upper East Side matron Julia Drusilla summons him one cold February night, he grabs what seems to be a straightforward (and lucrative) case.
The socialite is looking for her beautiful, aimless daughter, Angelina, who is about to become a very wealthy young woman. But as Christo digs deeper, he discovers there’s much more to the lovely “Angel” than meets the eye. This classic noir tale twists and turns down New York’s mean streets and along the Hamptons beaches and back roads during a bitterly cold and gray winter where nothing is as it seems and everyone has something to hide.
In this inventive “serial novel” storytelling approach, each of the twenty bestselling writers brings his or her distinctive voice to a chapter of Inherit the Dead, building the tension to a shocking, explosive finale. The editor, Jonathan Santlofer, has arranged to donate any royalties in excess of editor and contributor compensation to Safe Horizon, the leading victim assistance agency in the country.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite the usual serial-novel pitfalls, C.J. Box, Lawrence Block, Mary Higgins Clark, Charlaine Harris, Val McDermid, and the 15 other distinguished crime authors who each contribute a chapter to this team project succeed in fashioning an engaging and cohesive plot. Each author maintains his or her distinctive style and storytelling approach. Marcia Clark's offering is a mini legal thriller, for example, while Heather Graham's is heavy on the romance. Wealthy Julia Drusilla hires former NYPD homicide cop Pericles "Perry" Christo to find her missing 20-year-old daughter, Angelina, who's set to inherit a fortune. The trail to Angel, as her family calls her, twists from Manhattan's Upper East Side to the Hamptons and Brooklyn. Everyone in Angel's life has an ulterior motive, including her father, boyfriend, and best friend. The chapters move seamlessly as clues and storylines set up by one author are expanded by the next. Royalties in excess of editor and contributor compensations go to Safe Horizon, America's largest provider of services for domestic violence victims.
Customer Reviews
Dead End
This book was written by multiple authors, I think 20. Each did a chapter, in which I like this idea. And they did a pretty good job. The characters’ personalities were kept the same throughout. It was done for a charity and to raise awareness of domestic abuse. I hope I’m getting this correct. While each chapter had me wanting to know what happens next, it was almost sort of repetitive going along. But at the end of each chapter, there would be something that made you want to read the next so bad. I liked how each author added their own little jewel to it. Perry is a P. I. who was once a police officer. As a cop, he had tried to do a drug bust on some well known people in the community, one being a well respected pastor. His higher ups on the police force were all looking the other way, some even taking cuts to cover it up. Perry refused to do this so he got let go. It was made to look like he bungled up the case because the wrong person got arrested and was choosing to take the fall for the bd guy. This was something that never got resolved. That was just life. I read to get away from the real world so I was hoping this would all be brought to light and Perry’s honor restored.
Perry is hired by a well to do lady to find her missing daughter who happens to be 20 years old and hasn’t seen her mother in a year I think. The dad who is no longer married to the mother, says she has been missing for two weeks. The story is about Perry’s search for Angel and where it leads him. He is untrustful of the mother and the father, along with some other characters the girl spends time with. I didn’t like the parents. No wonder the girl isn’t around. And everybody has secrets of their own. It was a kind of dark and mournful kind of read. My heart aches for Perry with his loss of being a policeman and how honest he had been. He had also lost his wife who got custody of the daughter. His family for generations had been cops. His dad and his dad’s dad and so on. He lived and breathed it. I really didn’t care for his ex wife, what little I knew about her. No one seems to have any redeeming qualities. But all the while, at the end of each chapter, there is someone following Perry. The narrator is telling that part in the stalker’s voice. It is really intense and suspenseful. This is what really had me reading on and on. I’m still messed up about the ending. It sucked and left me feeling like the pieces didn’t line up and there needed to be either more chapters for closure and to tie up loose ends or another book. If you are in the mood for a solemn read, this would be the one. It’s one of those you love and hate at the same time but, like a bad car wreck, you can’t seem to look away. Oh, that’s another thing, this stalker tries on multiple occasions to kill Perry. In the end, someone winds up dying, but I’ll let you read and find out who that will be.
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was SO GOOD! I LOVED him. Especially the stalker’s voice. It was very creepy and fun.
Inherit The Dead
So bad…story meanders aimlessly through to the end. The conclusion challenges one’s intelligence (not in a good way). Can’t think of a single thing to recommend about this story.
Inherit the Dead
Spell-binding and captivating to the last page. Perry is one talented detective.