Fatal Dead Lines
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
In a gripping debut novel that combines power, politics, and the press, John Luciew introduces a rogue reporter whose new lease on life may be the end of him....
Obituary writer Lenny Holcomb has reached a dead end. Burned-out and uninspired, he knows life in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has nothing left to offer. Until the secrets of the dead begin to reveal themselves in his work -- sending Lenny back into the streets armed with a shrewd mind and a recharged sense of purpose.
Lenny is hot on the trail of a popular governor with presidential ambitions who may have had a role in the death of his beautiful press secretary. Teamed with the sexy investigative journalist Jacquelyn "Jack" Towers, Lenny uncovers widespread political corruption leading all the way to the governor's majordomo -- a ruthless and mysterious behind-the-scenes powerbroker who has been pulling strings for his boss all along. When Lenny puts together the murderous truth, he realizes that he's just made a very powerful and dangerous enemy -- and that the last obituary he pens may be his own.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lenny Holcomb, veteran obituary writer for the Harrisburg Herald, may be all washed up, but his self-deprecating humor holds more appeal than the flimsy plot device on which this debut mystery is based. The novel opens when Lenny realizes that the dead are communicating with him through their obituaries. Because he goes into a "zone" when he writes, he only gains awareness of these otherworldly insertions when he proofs his drafts. At first, he investigates small stories (like the case of a 12-year-old girl who killed herself to escape her abusive father), but then the aide to Pennsylvania's governor dies and reveals that he's been swindling campaign funds. As Lenny investigates this strange lead, he gets pulled into a web of personal and political corruption sordid enough to satisfy aficionados of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Fortunately for Lenny, each time he reaches an impasse, a character dies and offers clues through his or her obituary. This device will strike some as too convenient, especially since the larger implications of Lenny's gift are never explored. When reporter Luciew focuses on familiar territory a busy newsroom, or the political scene at Pennsylvania's capital his writing is assured, but when he enters the realms of mystery and melodrama, the story falters.
