And the Dead Shall Live by David Shawn Klein.
5 out of 5 stars.
I wanted to give this 4 stars. I really did. I hardly ever give 5 stars. But this book won me over: Hard. I don't know what I've been reading up to this point. I request a book here and there. I try to finish them. Sometimes I actually finish them, but I just can't (or wont) get around to writing a stellar review. The words are blocked, or blah, blah blah.
This book changed that. After chapter two, I sat up in my chair and paid attention. The opening had a few good sections and I thought, well, maybe I should finish it. When I read chapter two, I Really paid attention. And then it was an all out furor of reading. Whatever was bored-to-tears in me got up and left the room. I was hooked. Klein not only lit a fuse in me, I'm darn near cooked. Please, please, please write more.
OKAY... Mystery. A recluse writer hires a research assistant. Who surpasses all expectations. Said assistant was a dropout from law school, going nowhere on a raft of dead end temp jobs. Cry me a river. But, as a Research assistant she is crazy good. She not only finds a billionaire recluse (perv), but she gets invited to his inner circle. Twice!
Just, trust me. Read this book!2 s Lynda Stevens273 10

Philip Raymond is a full-time neurotic, unable even to visit local shops without the online help of his shrink. A pitiable figure. Philip Raymond, however, was once Someone, and he also wrote brilliant detective stories. When one of his old fans seeks him out, it is with a real-life proposition: to bring the billionaire murderer of a young girl to justice for her bereaved mother.

The sidekick Raymond employs, Jesse Carter, is equally damaged. By guilt, after she tragically loses two close siblings. Working, but in squalor at home, not living up to her full potential. Raymond, not quite gaining marks as a sympathetic protagonist, is satisfied that Carter is as expendable as she is beautiful and gifted.

Carter somehow persuades her quarry, the Hefner- Lee Fletcher, to employ her. From then on, Fifty Shades style, Lee affords Carter a lifestyle she can only dream of: beautiful clothes on tap, private jet-and yacht-setting. Lee in his own way seems to be drawn to Carter's feistiness, she being one step above his beautiful but rather clueless entourage of 'bunnies'. But she has further occasion to learn what happens to those who betray his trust.

As a billionaire, Fletcher is also playing god, having perfected a drug that can open the door to the Other Side, and Carter also yearns to meet her lost loved one there too. So expendibility might just suit her.

Can Raymond overcome his own past and demons to raise the bar and be there for Carter, or will Fletcher continue to get away with murder, and more?

How the power of money can be misused is a theme that never gets old, though the ways this can be done are topical enough in this novel. That conscience can lead to heroism, even against insurmountable odds, is another, though the reader will have to discover for themselves whether or not there is any happy ending.

It's a thriller with heart, alongside elements of escapism from the hardship and squalor of everyday life. Not a bad cocktail at all for many thriller acccionados.2 s1 comment Kay Smith-Blum44 4

In a slow burn, reminiscent of Christopher Yates’ Black Chalk, Klein reveals a reclusive broken author felled by one mistake. Who can’t relate to that? Klein draws the reader in further with a grief-rich down-on-herself young woman who lets cockroaches run rampant in her hovel of an apartment in self-imposed punishment for her missteps. The unly pair soon embark on a seemingly impossible mission to bring down a billionaire playing sick games—think Jeffrey Epstein. In a cleverly crafted, vividly-fashioned—I want Christian to pick out my outfits—adrenalin-fueled world of the powerful, chock full of well-drawn characters with multiple motives. The tale rocks toward what one is sure will be a disaster for our heroes. Can anyone bring down such evil? With shrewd prose and capricious plot twists, Klein shows us that wins in life are not always black and white. Well done, sir! – Kay Smith-Blum, author, debut novel TANGLES, coming November 20241 Bobbie530 75

Wow! This was a great thriller! The first thing that drew me to want to read this book was the title. It intrigued me; I wondered what it could mean. This is the first book I've read by this author, and I really enjoyed it. Lee Fletcher is a billionaire who owns a secret resort where his famous friends can come to enjoy themselves. He grooms young women to become his Celestials, a special group of sophisticated women there to fulfill their desires. But one young beautiful woman ends up dead after one of his parties. There, begins our mystery. Two broken people go to find who killed her.It is an intense thriller with plenty of twists. Check it out. I know, youll.enjoy it!1 3 comments Becky Rice167 25

I enjoyed this book, but didn't the ending. I also really don't that there weren't separate chapters in the ebook.

The premise of the book was good, well thought out plot, and relatively original.

I did feel it had promise, but needed more follow through plot wise to be a 4 star book.

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and BookSirens for allowing me to read and review this ARC1 David RabinAuthor 1 book9

David Shawn Klein’s second novel, And the Dead Shall Live, follows an unly duo, Philip Raymond and Jesse Carter. Raymond, a middle-aged former consultant and novelist, is consumed by fear and guilt, his reputation destroyed and his relationship with his family in tatters. Barely functional, he subsists on coffee and anti-anxiety meds. Jesse is a twenty-something Columbia Law School dropout taking work wherever she can find it, living in a tiny, roach-infested apartment and trying to find a reason to keep living.

Raymond and Jesse are ruled by psychological demons, but they join forces to take down a real-life demon, the ultra-wealthy, powerful businessman Lee Fletcher. Fletcher is a villain who will stay with you well after you’ve finished the book: urbane, articulate, and utterly amoral, someone for whom nothing is beyond the pale.

Klein takes us deeply into the psyches of Raymond and Jesse. I didn’t feel I was reading about them; I felt I was experiencing them. Their effort to bring Fletcher to justice runs concurrently with the stories of what brought Raymond and Jesse to their present states of emotional disrepair. I was in suspense from the first page to the last, with Klein masterfully dialing up the suspense all along the way.

I highly recommend this book to thriller and suspense fans. Take it from me, though: you may have to remind yourself to breathe while you’re reading it.
1 GojanAuthor 2 books59

Klein’s sparse, tense and well-paced writing style cleverly leaves much to the imagination of the reader. The best novels often create dramatic narrative holes to fill, thereby allowing you to take claim of the story yourself.

This is also a book in which I found myself reading sentences twice for no other reason than to enjoy them all over again, as in this gem describing a celebrity chef’s meal served at the villain billionaire Lee Fletcher’s mansion:

“But the taste — she held music in her mouth. Wilkerson had literally baked sex into bit-sized orgasms.”

Or this: “Everyone talked louder, laughter detonated. The lights intensified until they burned. Night gushed in, smashing the windows.”

Give me language that and I’ll read just about anything you write.

The characters in this wonderful novel are fully fleshed and complete: Jesse Carter, young and smart with more than a few mental kinks to work out, is the perfect foil for the has-been political consultant and loner, Phillip Raymond, who wants to expose an evil billionaire’s past crimes and corrupt future plans. Raymond, also a novelist desperately in search of a new project, has been scandalized in the past and needs the quirky Carter to redeem his life and career.

I recommend this clever and creative psychological thriller, as much for its toboggan ride plot and top notch writing as for its solid and intelligent dialogue. This is a great high-stakes nail biter.2 s1 comment Cam TorrensAuthor 3 books64

David Shawn Klein’s sophomore thriller has readers rooting for an underdog duo on an epic quest for redemption— Howard Hughes teaming with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to fight injustice!

Philip Raymond, a once-successful political consultant, haunted by scandal and battling personal demons, joins forces with Jesse Carter, a brilliant but grieving law school dropout. United by common trauma, they embark on a dangerous mission to expose the suspected crimes of billionaire Lee Fletcher.

Here’s what makes Klein’s words leap off the page: he’s the master at minimalist exposition subtly slipped between tension-laden dialogue and narrative. The novel’s most frightening moments come in the spaces between Klein’s sentences—spaces he has created in the structure of his writing— rather than the words themselves. It’s this unique voice which evokes a gasp from the reader similar to a circus audience when an acrobat floats mid-air between trapeze bars.

This might be the best thriller read of 2024—don’t miss it!adult brw fiction ...more1 Brian KaufmanAuthor 9 books50

The source of joy in David Shawn Klein's AND THE DEAD SHALL LIVE is his marvelously flawed protagonist, agoraphobic Phillip Raymond. Hoping to ride the death of a 17-year-old girl (perhaps at the hands of a billionaire sex-offender) to literary stardom, Raymond enlists the aid of an equally flawed researcher, the beautiful Jesse Carter. Imaginative twists, a loathsome villain and protagonists you will care about because (not in spite of) their imperfections. make this a wonderful read!1 Hank393 3

In what I believe is this author’s second novel, he builds on his previously demonstrated skill at creating endearing characters who’s strengths and weaknesses a keep us strapped in for the roller coaster ride of a plot.

At the same time, this one is significantly more mature in every relevant context of the word’s meaning. A wild ride indeed.1 Richard Haynes513 14

After the first page a reader will know that this is something different. Someone needs to come up with a title for a new genre of literature. "And the Dead Shall Live" is a book that either one will love or hate. For this reviewer after the first sentence I was on board.fantasy fiction mystery ...more1 Mulberry198 Read

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