The Dead Guy by Doug Hewitt

Synopsis from back cover:

“Jack Thigpen works in Detroit, nicknamed The Motor City, the perfect place for a fraud investigator who specializes in car insurance scams. Ironically, as he is targeted for death because of his current investigation, Jack is diagnosed with a fatal illness that is untreatable, a disease that will end his life within months. And instead of killing Jack, the hit man shoots Jack’s best friend. Struggling to come to terms with his impending death, Jack vows to track down his friend’s killer. Jack plunges into the world of corrupt car dealerships, chop shops and fraudulent auto repair shops. Death is staring him in the face, but he doesn’t back down. Jack pushes ahead, ploughing through perilous road-blocks planted by his enemies, propelling himself toward the finish line and a teeth-gritting, heart-pounding conclusion.”

– And that’s just the first two chapters, really. Out of thirty-eight.

The car on the front cover says it all: “The Dead Guy” is a fast-paced action thriller, throwing you roughly in the passenger seat of Jack Thigpen’s Explorer and speeding you on a timed race around Detroit. Feeling a bit like Gone In Sixty Seconds with just a dash of Tarantino, this quirky yet serious novel will even make you laugh out loud, as it tracks down a crime ring that gets deeper and larger by the mile. Crafted with knowledge and detail that gives the novel immense realism, absolutely anything seems possible.

Carefully constructed, the plot will leave you in the dark until it’s ready for you to know the truth, but it never loses or confuses you along the way. Each short chapter brings a new twist or a new direction for Thigpen, or a new unforgettable character to throw into an undefined equation. The Dead Guy himself is put in situations (most) readers will never have to face; but with a somewhat tangential thought process and a great, slightly dry sense of humor, Jack Thigpen is revealed to be a universal character whom everyone will find themselves relating to in some way.

Crime lords and explosions, dark humor and serious undertones, the essence of an unlikely superman, and philosophical allusions (with a little help from a pebble and Stanley Kubrick) – this book has it all. The quick pace steadily builds up to a climax just screaming to be played out on the Big Screen, and the twists and turns continue right up until the last couple of pages. Absolutely impossible to put down, this novel will have a little something for everybody who picks it up and gives it a go.

9.5/10