Book Review: The Good and the Dead

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Good and the Dead     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Seymour Shubin
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Psychological Suspense   Thriller
Write Way, Nov 2000, $23.95, 246 pp.

He has written many true crime stories for various magazines and has had one book published, but he never expected to be more than an observer on a homicide case. He revises his assessment when his brother calls to tell him that the police think he killed his wife. Ben Newman knows his sibling is not a murderer.

At his sister-in-law's funeral, Ellen Strickland informs Ben that an old classmate of theirs, Gerry Havers committed suicide three weeks ago. The next day, Ellen is found dead from a supposed car accident. Another classmate soon dies too. Ben concludes that someone has targeted his elementary school class and he feels he must discover who is the culpriit before anyone else dies.

Seymour Shubin is a gifted storyteller who creates a chilling psychological suspense tale. The tension builds in this work to a degree that readers will feel they ran a three-minute mile by the time they reach the finish line. Mr. Shubin turns his villain into a pitiable person rather than a hard-core evil soul, which leads to conflicting emotions on the part of the audience. No one will complete the novel feeling dissatisfied except with the fact that there is no more pages to read.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner