December 19, 2013 / Leslie

Review – Audiobook: Inherit The Dead

Jonathan Santlofer, Stephen L. Carter, Marcia Clark, Heather Graham, Charlaine Harris, Sarah Weinman, Alafair Burke, John Connolly, James Grady, Bryan Gruley, Val McDermid, S.J. Rozan, Dana Stabenow, Lisa Unger, Lee Child, Ken Bruen, C.J. Box, Max Allan Collins, Mark Billingham, Lawrence Block
Narrator: Christopher Evan Welch

Genre: Mystery/Noir
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publish Date: October 8, 2013
Format: Audio CD, 8 hours | 23 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy
Rating: 3½ of 5

Publisher’s Synopsis:

Pericles “Perry” Christo is a PI with a past—a former cop, who lost his badge and his family when a corruption scandal left him broke and disgraced. When wealthy Upper East Side matron Julia Drusilla summons him one cold February night, he grabs what seems to be a straightforward (and lucrative) case.

The socialite is looking for her beautiful, aimless daughter, Angelina, who is about to become a very wealthy young woman. But as Christo digs deeper, he discovers there’s much more to the lovely “Angel” than meets the eye. Her father, her best friend, her boyfriends all have agendas of their own. Angel, he soon realizes, may be in grave danger . . . and if Christo gets too close, he just might get caught in the crossfire.

My Thoughts:

Inherit the Dead is a joint effort involving twenty popular crime fiction writers, each penning a chapter in a twisted noir tale in their own unique style. This is not an anthology; it’s a complete novel. The impetus for the collaboration was to draw attention to, and raise funds for, Safe Horizon, a victim assistance organization.

This was a fun book to listen to. Each chapter began with a byline letting the reader know who the author was. While the story was not complex and got a little predictable at times, I was amazed at how well it flowed considering the number of authors involved. Occasionally there was a little repetition but that was to be expected. There were plenty of plot twists to keep me interested and a satisfying ending. All in all it was a fun ride through a classic noir tale.

One of the things I enjoyed was that many of the authors included noir metaphors. There were quite a few but these are two I remember:

Dude’s one drink away from a liver transplant.
He could read her body language as easily as the morning headlines.

Made me think I was channeling Dashiell Hammett!

I listened to the audio which was performed by Christopher Evan Welch, a first time narrator for me. He did a fine job conveying noir atmosphere and was easy to listen to.

Fans of the genre are sure to enjoy this book.

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Source: Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster Audio
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