Monday, February 2, 2015

Something I read" The Dead Man, Volume 7" by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin

Something I read: Dead Man, Volume 7: crucible of fire; dark need; rising dead by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin. Stories by Mel Odom, Stant Litore, Stella Green. 2014, 9781477823958.

I am glad I don't have to catalog these.  Multiple authors, multiple titles, copyright separate from publisher.

Recap: Matt Cahill was buried under an avalanche for several months. Matt died under the snow but woke up in the morgue and is now able to see the rotted and putrefying skin of people touched with evil.  Matt can also see and speak with an evil spirit - dressed as a clown - he calls Mr. Dark. Mr. Dark infects people with evil and Matt has been following Mr. Dark around the country trying to stop him. Matt has quick healing powers, finds brief employment when needed, and carries his grandfather's axe everywhere.

Crucible of Fire.  Matt headed into the Northwest after reading of suspicions forest fires.  Matt figures Mr Dark is at work.  Mr. Dark is at work, and a firebug with a homemade flamethrower is joyfully jetting flames around the forest.  Matt ended up working for a lumber outfit that pitches in during fires.  Matt sees a lot of people in town with corruption. Mr. Dark has been setting the fires to draw in Matt and ambush him in the fires. Matt punches, Matt runs, Matt axes, Matt escapes.

Dark Need. Matt is in Washington state.  He has seen a pattern of strange murders where the killer drains the blood of his victims. The victims seemingly have nothing in common.  Matt's research shows that when the killings are mapped they extend in a straight line, from town-to-town, into the mountains.  Matt tries to get ahead of the bad guy. Matt teams up with mysterious woman who is also tracking the killer. Matt is suspicious of her and her motives. Matt and woman fall through ice of frozen lake. Matt rescues her and then has sex with her. The woman is the killer's twin sister. The killer discovered an evil artifact in Iraq that gives him shape shifting power and allows him to drink blood and experience the donor's bad memories.  Matt catches the killer and nixes him.

Rising Dead. Matt goes looking for a teen who died and was revived. The teen starts seeing dead people and goes to mental hospital. Matt wants to chat. Matt arrives and boy is dead from suicide, Matt has a couple quick adventures before bad guys in the AZ/CA desert leave Matt stranded and hoping to rescue a kidnapped woman.  Matt meets a mysterious guy with a walking stick. Mysterious Guy also sees Mr. Dark. Mysterious Guy has been alive since the Revolutionary War and no longer tries to track Mr. Dark, Mysterious Guy has given up the effort. Matt convinces Mysterious Guy to help Matt out.

Rising was the most interesting of the three. Matt starts out on one path and is forced by circumstance and evil to take several turns. Previous stories had Matt meeting other died-and-revived people. Some of those people were like Matt and doing good. Some of those people took on Mr. Dark's side and just wanted to cause trouble and death. 

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