The Road of the Dead
By Kevin Brooks

Fourteen year old Ruben Ford was sitting in the back of the wrecked Mercedes in his family’s yard listening to the rain when he “feels” his sister, Rachel, being raped and murdered hundreds of miles away. After three days of talking with the police investigators, all Ruben’s mother wants is to get Rachel’s body back so she can bury her but it will not be released from the coroner’s until her murderer is found and the final tests are completed. In order to quicken the investigation, Ruben’s brother, Cole, decides to discover the truth behind her murder with Ruben following along. They go to the isolated and desolate village of Lychcombe, where Rachel was visiting a friend at the time of her murder. However, the majority of the villagers of Lychcombe are tangled in a conspiracy that may be tied to Rachel’s murder. The story starts out slowly and hardly ever gains speed though this pacing seems to fit with the somber plot. Because of this, the story can seem longer than it is at points, though it is hard to tell if this is a positive or negative aspect to the story as a whole. There are a few scenes, particularly about two hundred pages in and the second to last chapter, where, at least to this reader, the book is un-putdownable. All in all, worth the time due to its occasional emotional elements and moments of mild suspense though a rereading may be questionable.