Chasing the Dead Book Review

Finished reading 2nd October 2011

'Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver



Synopsis:
One year ago, Alex Towne's body was found.
One month ago, his mother saw him on the street.
One week ago, David Raker agreed to look for him.
Now he wishes he hadn't.

Mary Towne's son, Alex, went missing six years ago. Five years later he finally turned up - as a corpse in a car wreck. Missing persons investigator David Raker doesn't want the work: it's clearly a sad but hopeless case of mistaken identity brought to him by a woman unable to let go of her son. But haunted by a loss of his own, Raker reluctantly agrees.

Big mistake.

For as he digs deeper, he discovers that Alex's life was not the innocent one his mother believed. Buried in his past are secrets that were never meant to be found - and dark, dangerous men willing to kill to protect them.

Soon Raker will discover that there are things far worse than death . . .

Review: I went into reading this book on the back of grabbing some books off a shelf at the local charity shop, I was not expecting great things from it as I thought when reading the synopsis its going to be a ghost story and it has been put in the crime section by mistake.
Wrong first impressions all the way. The plot is gripping, the characters well thoughout and easily likeable.
For me it was a crime novel that pricked up my ears, opened by eyes and gripped me from start to finish. I enjoy a novel where we get down to the nitty gritty from the start, hook the read in and keep that hook right until the end, and this was right to the last page. You thought that it was all done when Alex Towne is found but then flicking through the remaining pages, hold on there is still quite a bit left and then the real reason for the disapperance of Alex is explained! The story line about a secret place somewhere buried deep in the twists, and lies is excellent and well executed to keep you hooked throughout.
David Raker is a very easily likeable bloke, whose wife has just died and does not really want to do some work on the anniversary. You get to know the hero as a person straight away and this really help. If I was Tim Weaver and I had written this as my first book, I would stand proud and shout from the roof tops to everyone that cares to notice.
I can't wait to grab the next edition of the Raker mysteries!