"Crime thriller"
After working for years as a military police officer and
as a civilian patrol officer Dan Shaw is a paralegal going
at night to law school. He also serves subpoenas to
people to make court appearances until his last mark beat
him up and Dan then decided to earn money in a safer
way. Lawyer Tom Petrie hires Dan to travel to Key Largo
to find Peter Falconer who is due to inherit millions of
dollars. He locates Peter's boat but the only thing on
board is a shaved dead goat. A female body is found at
the bottom of the sea. When Dan returns to Bell Harbor, Petrie informs him that
Peter has been kidnapped and the perpetrators demand
$750,000 for his return. When Dan arrives at the exchange
location, he realizes the perpetrators are pirates who
trade in drugs, illegal immigrants and military weapons.
The exchange fails to happen because nobody makes contact
with him. A new location is arranged. This time Petrie
and Peter's sister accompanies him but they find
themselves in a boatload of trouble when they and the
money wind up in the pirates' hands. The juxtaposition of beautiful tropical locales with
horrific crimes being committed there brings a visual
starkness and a feeling of gritty surrealism to DEAD MEN
RISE UP NEVER. The protagonist skates very close to the
wrong side of the law when he gets pushed too far and
readers will approve his actions because he seeks justice
not blind obedience to the law. Ron Faust knows how the
write a crime thriller that will keep readers coming back
for more. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted April 24, 2004
SummaryMurder is afoot in the tropical climes of the Florida Keys--
Peter Falconer, the son of wealthy parents who stands to
gain a fortune in inheritance on his 30th birthday, is
missing and presumed dead. Ex-Army investigator Daniel
Shaw, who is currently studying law and preparing for the
Bar exam, is summoned by the devious--and incredibly witty--
attorney Tom Petrie to find Peter and rescue the
inheritance money. The pursuit leads Daniel from the Keys
to Jamaica to South America, where he tangles with the
larger-than-life criminal Raven Ahriman and his partner,
Charles Angleton, Peter's childhood friend who ultimately
orchestrated Peter's disappearance in connection with some
dubious dealings in snuff films and the death of two young
girls who participated in the filming. With the assistance
of Tom; Peter's sister, Susan, who is devastated to learn
of her brother's shady interests; and Daniel's hired loose-
cannon "bodyguard" Leroy, Daniel tracks Raven through the
Mosquito Keys and onto the high seas, where the small group
is left for dead on a ship. But after the discovery of
Peter Falconer and a heroic escape, Daniel must ultimately
face Raven in a battle for his life in this superbly
crafted novel by thriller-writer Faust.?
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