The Undertaker by William F. Brown

Title:  The Undertaker

Author:  William F. Brown

Genre:  Mystery/Suspense

Publisher:  William F. Brown

Publication Date:  10th January 2011   

Pages:  322 pages

Book Received from:  Author

First Lines:  I know exactly what Louie must have gone through that night. Exactly. He would have woken slowly, blinking, looking up into a bank of harsh, white lights set in the ceiling high above him.

Synopsis:
Curiosity can kill more than cats, but when Pete Talbott found himself at the wrong end of Gino Parini's .45 reading his own obituary, it was a mystery he couldn't leave alone. From the cornfields of Ohio to the gritty slums of Chicago, a bloody kitchen in a Back Bay townhouse, New York's Washington Square, and the nation's Capitol itself, the hunt is on. Someone with a penchant for sharp scalpels and embalming tables is planting bodies under other people's names, and if Talbott doesn't stop them, he and his quirky new girlfriend Sandy Kasmarek will be next on the Undertaker's list.

My Thoughts:
It took me a little while to get to reading this, and I'm kicking myself it took me so long!  The Undertaker is not what I expected at all.  It was so much more.


Chapter one starts off with a bang!  It hooked me line and sinker!  Well really, I was eager to read more after the prologue but the very first lines of Chapter one introduces Pete Talbot, a Systems engineer and he's in a bit of a predicament being at the end of Gino's .45 automatic.  My curiosity peaks even more when he's shown his own obituary.  I must admit,  Pete keeps his cool considering the circumstances and manages to throw in a few funny lines in that first chapter and I was immediately warming to his sense of humour.

The storyline is by no means slow either.  Talbot doesn't waste any time getting deeper into the mysterious obituaries and even more questions pop up.  I was constantly surprised with the turn of events that take place throughout the story and the deeper Talbot gets, the more I was cheering for him.

As far as characters go, I think William F. Brown has done a wonderful job at creating fantastic well liked characters.  I found Talbot and Wendy so witty with their friendly banter and flirting and I hope I get to read more about these two in the future.  I was even quite surprised with the "bad guys".  They were actually quite likeable..up until the end lol.  But quite understandable if you've read it :)

If you're looking for a suspense filled mystery with quirky characters and an engaging plot this one is for you.  I highly recommend this!

Fave Line:  My god there are so many! Page 70 and Page 163 had lines I loved but I think my favourite was on Page 77: "There's only two things that grow in the dark on a steady diet of bullsh*t: good mushrooms and bad government"。