Genre: Crime/Humour
Description:
Kendall Barber is an Obituarist, a social media undertaker who cleans
up the electronic trails of the deceased. Kendall’s day doesn’t start well.
First he’s beaten up by a Hell’s Angel and told to stay away from Tonya
Clemmens. The trouble is he’s never heard of her. Then Tonya herself arrives at
his office – she wants Kendall to find her missing brother. Against his better
judgement Kendall agrees and it’s then that things really start to go wrong as
local maniac, D-Block and, worse, the police, all show an interest in the case
as well.
Author:
Patrick O’Duffy works as an editor for a major educational publishing
company. When not working Patrick spends his time writing. His output includes
over thirty role playing books, however more recently he has turned to short
stories and e-books. The Obituarist
is his most recent work. He’s also a Batman fan.
You can read more about Patrick O’Duffy on his website.
Appraisal:
I really enjoyed The Obituarist.
It’s clever, sharp and funny. The dialogue is great and the characters well
described, from the grubby policeman, Grayson, who uses Barber to get what he
wants, through to the maniac bikers, Kowalski and Ploog, who are trying to
permanently silence him, they’re vivid and full of life. The location for the
story, Port Virtue, is as grimy as its residents. The pace clips along with the
action starting at almost the first page and doesn’t let up to the last, helped
by The Obituarist being written in
the first person. I really appreciated the sense of humour and the direct style
in which O’Duffy tells the tale - there isn’t a wasted word, the sign of a well
written novella.
However, just when I thought I had the story figured out (and so did
the characters!) The Obituarist
delivered a couple of wrenching twists and surprises that were very cleverly
done…I’d love to say more but I don’t want to give anything away.
At just over 20,000 words it’s a quick read and could be taken in one
bite (you’ll want to once you start). In fact, I did read it all over again,
even though I knew what was going to happen, just to look at how everything
unfolded from a different perspective.
In the near future I’ll be happily tracking down Patrick O’Duffy’s
other works. If they’re as good as The
Obituarist I’ll be a happy man.
FYI:
Reasonably frequent strong language.
Added for
Reprise Review: The
Obituarist by Patrick O'Duffy was a nominee in the Humor and Satire
category for B&P 2013 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran December
26, 2012
Format/Typo
Issues:
None.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Keith Nixon
Approximate
word count: 20-25,000 words
No comments:
Post a Comment