Review: Look out Kolchack
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2014
The first book I want to talk about is a little different. Dead Aware by Terry M. West is a horror story told in screenplay format. This book is about a private investigator that can talk to the dead. He sees what awaits in the afterlife and it’s not pretty, you could say its driving him insane.The P.I. named Dunlavey was messing with occult magic he didn’t understand and now his third eye is open and can’t be closed. In special cases the police use him to solve crimes and now a killer is exterminating victims and stuffing them with straw. Dunlavey may be the only one that can stop him.  The killer also has his sights set on Dunlavey and has his own powers that may end Dunlavey’s nightmarish existence and bring death to everyone he loves.This was a chilling book with great imagery and would work well as a TV show. The screenplay is presented as a pilot for a TV show or at least that’s the way I took it. If I saw this as the first episode of a series I would have been hooked and would keep watching because I would have to find out what was next for Dunlavey. It made me think a lot of Kolchack The Nightstalker but with a more interesting lead character.The beginning of Dead Aware hooks you right away with a scene of Dunlavey putting the barrel a gun in his mouth. From there you find out exactly what makes Dunlavey feel the way he does. You see him as flawed and you feel sorry for him but at the same time you get to see how he created his own problems. The supporting cast in this book are almost as damaged as Dunlavey and you can see why they are attracted to him, misery loves company and Dunlavey gets plenty of it, from the living and the dead.There are two scenes that really stood out for me in this book. One was when we see how Dunlavey got his powers in New Orleans, I loved the voodoo priestess and her husband. Also there was a part where a woman meets Dunlavey in an alley and starts to tell him how to control his gifts, but disaster strikes before things go to far. The dialogue here was great and the description of the action throughout the story brought it to life. There is a lot of disturbing descriptions in this book, so if this script ever gets filmed, it will be one big gore fest and not for the major networks. I’m hoping we do get to see more of Dunlavey in the future because he is one tortured soul and I would like to see what his future holds. the ending to the story hints at some great things to come.