Chasing the Dead
by Joe Schreiber
Published by Ballantine Books (Random House Publishing Group) (September 26, 2006 release)
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Reviewed by Anne-Gigi Chan
Susan Young was now a single mother with a one-year-old daughter, Veda, after her husband left her eighteen months ago. She was handling the separation quite well until Veda was kidnapped on a cold December night. The kidnapper gave her very specific but bazaar instructions that she had to follow in order to get Veda back alive.
Her adventure brought her face to face with a childhood event that she would rather forget. She had less than twelve hours to complete the task, but she had no idea if the kidnapper was going to keep his promise.
Schreiber showed great potential for writing engaging prose, but sadly lacked stamina in this book. Chasing the Dead began as a very fast-paced thriller, which quickly captured my attention. The vivid descriptions of events made me feel like I was right there with the main character. However, as the story moved along, I felt that a lot of the details were missed or poorly explained as the author rushed through to the ending.
The book started with quite a bang; unfortunately, it just ended with a fizzle. I would suggest this book to anyone interested in folklore and such, but if you were looking for a thriller with no loose ends, you might want to look somewhere else.
Armchair Interviews says: This book is less of a "thriller" than expected.