THE DEAD RUN BY ADAM MANSBACH: BOOK REVIEW

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4 star rating
The Dead Run
By Adam Mansbach
ISBN# 9780062199652
Author’s Website:  http://www.adammansbach.com/about.html

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Sammy

*Spoiler Alert*

The-dead-run-adam-mansbachSynopsis:

Filled with creepy chills and crackling suspense, an unnerving supernatural thriller, set in the netherworld of the US/Mexican borderland, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Go the F**ck to Sleep and the acclaimed Rage Is Back

On both sides of the Mexican-American border, girls are going missing and bodies are beginning to surface, a deadly epidemic of crime that plunges a small-town police chief into a monster of an investigation he’s unequipped to handle.

Sherry Nichols is one of those disappeared girls. Miraculously, she’s managed to escape. As the young woman soon discovers, freeing herself was the easy part. Lost and alone, she’s got to make it through the desert. Alive.

In a Mexican jail, an unjustly-imprisoned man named Galvan is offered a devil’s bargain. Freedom and the beloved daughter from whom he is estranged if he successfully carries a sinister package across the border in twenty-four hours.

But there are more than coyotes (human and animal) roaming the desert in seach of prey. An ancient evil has returned, and now everyone must face their deepest terrors.

With The Dead Run Adam Mansbach delivers an eerie high-concept thriller, mixing horror, the supernatural, and suspense in a chilling, high-octane read. (Goodreads)

Review:

While I really enjoyed this book, it does start out very slowly and it is difficult to see where anything is going. It does all come together in the end. I hope there will be more stories in this world.

The prologue  doesn’t seem to connect to anything, I kept trying to figure out how it fit in the story and would periodically reread it to see if I had missed something. Ahhh but then at the end of the story the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Nicely, done!

This book was full of fresh ideas with a  fabulous writing style. When reading this book,  keep in mind it is a puzzle, mystery with the pieces, while seemingly unconnected will fit together perfectly.  The characters are frightening, despicable, compassionate, strong, uniquely different and  complete.

Parts of the story reminded me of Elizabeth Bathory, she did some of the same things as a couple of the characters. I loved the songs throughout the story.  Favorite quote:

 “In the extremely fucking likely event of a water, landing, your seat cushion cannot be used as a flotation device.”

Clearly I’m a Prince fan and the twist to that line is fabulous.

There is an ending, (Thank YOU!) but with plenty of room for more stories. I highly recommend this book to fans of horror, mystery with really great writing, along with a slower moving story that will capture your interest while  trying to figure it out. I will be looking forward to reading more from this author and this world.