Dead Man Walking by Simon R. Green

Dead Man Walking by Simon R. Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Call me Ishmael. Ishmael Jones. I am the man in the shadows, that even the shadows are afraid of. The secret agent whose life is the greatest secret of all. And some of the cases I work are trickier than others. "
A rogue agent has come in from the cold and wants to spill his secrets. The Organisation wants Ishmael to find out if Frank Parker is who he says he is, what he really knows, and why he has emerged from the shadows after all this time.

Ishmael heads to Ringstone Lodge in Yorkshire where Parker is being held to find that an atmosphere of fear and suspicion prevails. As he and his fellow residents are menaced by a series of alarming and inexplicable incidents, Ishmael sets out to prove that it s human trickery rather than any supernatural being behind the seemingly ghostly goings-on. But matters take an unexpected turn when one of their number is brutally murdered, and once again Ishmael must turn detective in order to entrap a twisted killer before they strike again

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We all have that one book that got away from us on NetGalley or rather the books. The ones that you really wanted to read, but got turned down for. For me is The Dark Side of the Road one of them, the first book in this series. However, I did not know that this was the sequel to that book when I requested this book. I only saw that when I checked up this book on Goodreads. So, I was pleased that I got this one, and also slightly miffed that I did not buy The Dark Side of the Road when the price was down on the ebook. Especially miffed when I realized how wonderful this book was, which occurred at the beginning of the book. Of course!

So, what makes this book so wonderful? First, the characters. Ishmael and Penny, I instantly liked them, they were just so adorable. I was curious about Ishmael, especially since he only has been human since the 1963s? That was very odd, and I hoped that it would be addressed in the book. And, around 50% into the story, it was revealed what was so special about Ishmael and I, to be honest, did not see that coming, but I loved it. Such a very special twist (made me want to read the first book even more).

Secondly, The story was captivating and fascinating and I could hardly put the book down. I love old "haunted" houses, and to have a couple of people on lockdown while someone is killing them off was great "fun". They only drawback was that it was pretty easy to figure out the "killer" was. And, my first thought was to just give the book 4.5 stars because I found the end "twist" not that surprising, but I've been looking forward all day at work writing this review because I liked the book so damn much, so 5-stars it is!

Dead Man Walking is a very, very good book; atmospheric, funny, intense and a bit gory! Just the way I like it when it comes to books.

I want to thank Severn House for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review.