Graverobbers Wanted
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REVIEW BY JOHN MESSER
Readers of Jeff Strand's latest thriller can be forgiven if they feel like they've found a new gem by Elmore Leonard. Strand has created the same off-the-wall humor and wildly challenged characters that keep Leonard's books on the top of the heap. But Strand is building a literary reputation of his own with his sharp, witty e-books. He's explored science fiction and children's narratives. Now, with Graverobbers Wanted, his first mystery, Strand tries his hand at suspense. Andrew Mayhem, the aptly named narrator of Graverobbers Wanted, has failed his way through a succession of careers and survives only on the sufferance of his ER nurse wife and two rambunctious, pre-teen kids. With his prospects fading, Mayhem proves a sure-fire candidate for an offer of $20,000 to retrieve a lost key. The offer, of course, comes with a catch: the key is buried, along with a body, in a shallow grave. Mayhem and his equally inept pal Roger Tanglen accept this dubious assignment, only to make a grisly discovery. At the gravesite, Mayhem is beaten with a chain, Tanglen is shot with an arrow and their employer is killed. The pair's problems are compounded by their reluctance to turn the matter over to the police. Anticipating the embarrassing admissions that might ensue, Mayhem and Tanglen decide to handle the situation themselves. Together, the intrepid detectives race to find a vicious murderer. Mayhem's investigation pits him against the wiles of a psychopathic killer who cloaks himself within a made-to-order horror filmmaking group called Ghoulish Delights. The killer lays out clues like breadcrumbs, drawing Mayhem and Tanglen ever closer to a lethal showdown. The violence escalates with each clue until Mayhem is confronted with life-threatening challenges involving his sleuthing partner and, later, his family. As if these plot twists weren't enough, Strand stirs humor into the mix. The detectives' dangerous encounters are punctuated by Mayhem's hilarious baby-sitting chores and the first aid ministrations from his wife. And the author comes up with a stunning conclusion that will insure more than a few sleepless nights among readers. Consisting of 23 bite-sized chapters and a brief epilogue, Graverobbers Wanted is neatly tailored to the electronic medium. Small wonder, then, that Jeff Strand's latest has reached number four on the eBook Best Seller List. John Messer is a freelance writer living in Ludington, Michigan.
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