Never Count Out the Dead

by Boston Teran

Book Overview

Boston Teran's debut, " God is a Bullet," a taut, dark, and astonishing literary suspense novel, was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and won England's Crime Writers Association's John Creasey Memorial Dagger for Best First Novel. Now, with "Never Count Out the Dead," Teran exceeds the extraordinary achievement of his debut, delivering a tour de force tale of a murder gone wrong and a victim bent on revenge. In a rundown Los Angeles...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312980205
• ISBN13: 9780312980207
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 401 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.3" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Never Count Out that prose!

I love, just love, the style he writes in. I don't agree with the critcism that this novel, nor his first, got for the style of the prose. It's simply marvellous. it's unusual, quirky, eccentric, casts wonderful images into the mind, and is just plain genius. I cant get enough of it. You have to read every word to get the full brilliant picture that his writing is trying to paint, otherwise you can get lost. The characters are great, although there are many of them, and if you dont read concentratingly, you may get them confused in your own mind. Also, they don't jump off the page with realism as much as those in God is A Bullet did. (In particular Dee Storey, the murderous mother, who is not as scary and terrifying as she is made out. Most of the time, she seems just to be empty threats.) But Shay Storey is a brilliant character (somewhat similar to Case Hardin in GIAB) as is John Victor Sully, whose story of revenge and resurrection is the main theme of this book. The plotting is taut, the atmosphere of the book is a cloud covered night, and the tone is as black as black. Boston Teran's books are simply marvellous (All two of them!) i cannot wait to see where this young author takes himself to within a few years time.

A Darkly Disturbing Tale of Revenge

With all the subtlety of a sledge hammer, Boston Teran's second novel again stuns and shocks, while spinning a story that is nearly impossible to put down. As in his first novel (God is a Bullet), Teran sets the scene in the gritty southern California desert wasteland. The bleakness of the desert diners and roadhouses proves the perfect setting for a new cast of Teran characters: hard women, bad cops, an agoraphobic writer. Unlike "Bullet", in which sometimes Teran's overly rich language gets in the way of his story, the prose in "Dead" is lean, tight, and gripping. If you like the happy plastic people found in James Patterson and other popular "thriller" writers, either of Boston Teran's novels will likely disturb and possibly offend your senses. But if you're looking for an in-your-face, by-the-throat, modern tale of noir and raw-boned terror, THIS is your ride.

excellent action and vivid characters

more meaphores and similies than any author on earth does not stop teran from following up his first book "god is a bullit" with another fast-paced, hard-hitting and creative work. characters we hate and love are waiting to sweep us up on this brutal rollercoaster ride that doesn't give up. from first page to last page; you can't put it down.

Cinematic Prose

Boston Teran's NEVER COUNT OUT THE DEAD is an amazing and enviable feat for any writer, but a wildly successful accomplishment for a novelist fixated on the seedier byways of human relationships. There is not one badly drawn character in this novel, not one implausible moment, but Teran is most successful with Dee and Shay Storey, a pair who make Clytemnestra and Elektra seem like Girl Scouts. Dee, especially, is the sort of character that any actress of a certain age would give her capped eye teeth to play. This is a fully formed living, breathing pathology, wholly unreedemed and as elemental as lava. I would love to see this book on the big screen. It would make an absolutely terrific (in every sense) movie.

An enthralling work

In 1987, Baker, California Sheriff John Sully is to testify against Charlie Foreman on a drug charge. Charlie conspires with a gang of thugs to destroy John's reputation even as one of the gang plans to kill him. Teenager Shay Storey obtains John's help in taking her back to a relative in the deserted Mojave Preserve. However, Shay's mother shoots John. They bury him in a grave, but he survives. John's reputation has also been trashed as they plant solid collaborated proof that he sold coke. A helpless John disappears into the night.Almost eleven years later, New Weekly reporter Landshark calls Victor Trey, a quiet person living in El Paso. Landshark informs Victor that he knows he is actually John and has evidence that points towards a criminal conspiracy to desecrate his name. John returns to Los Angeles with one thing on his mind: revenge.As with his previous modern day noir, GOD IS A BULLET, Boston Teran paints a portrait of the uglier side of humanity in NEVER COUNT OUT THE DEAD. The story line breaks into two related tales. The first part centers on the success of the conspiracy against John; the latter segment focuses on his belated counterattack. This novel is excellent as the audience can see inside the heads of the key players to better understand whom did what and why. Mr. Teran owns the sub-genre with his gritty underbelly look at the success of dregs and drones in our graying world.Harriet Klausner