Chasing The Dead by Tim Weaver

 

Journalist David Raker is still grieving over the death of his wife when a neighbour asks him to find her son who's been missing for six years. David thinks this is a strange request as the son died in a car accident a year ago, however, the neighbour is convinced she saw him recently.

The David Raker series of books by Tim Weaver is new to me, I was shocked to learn that the first book in the series, Chasing The Dead, was first published fourteen years ago. This series was brought to my attention by another blogger on Twitter, Susie's Book Reviews (@susiesbookrevs). Susie and I have similar tastes in books, so when she recommended the book I immediately knew it was for me.

For any long-running thriller series everything hangs around the main protagonist, if the story is based in the UK this is usually going to be someone who works for the police. Author Tim Weaver has chosen to make the protagonist of Chasing The Dead a journalist, someone who has the skills to root out a story, able to piece together various clues, and has a wide range of contacts who can help him.

Raker stopped working as a journalist to nurse his dying wife. It was his wife that persuaded him to take on his first missing persons case for a friend. Since his wife died a year ago, Raker has simply been going through the motions, existing from one day to the next, unable to move on. When his neighour Mary asks for his help he's ready to dismiss her, particularly as he's convinced the sighting of her dead son is a case of mistaken identity. When Raker visits his neighbour at home he discovers she's caring for a husband with Alzheimer's and decides to help her. Raker reasons that finding out her son's movements before he died in a car crash will at least give Mary some closure and may answer the question of why he disappeared six years ago.

What follows is an action-packed, fast-paced investigation that takes Raker from one end of the country to the other, following clues and evading villains who seem to know his every move. The violence is extreme and, at times, there are some sinister and terrifying scenes. We discover that Raker is dogged in his determination to find answers and that he doesn't care if his own life is at risk. I found myself racing through the pages, wanting to know how everything fitted together. Once the dust had settled and we knew all the answers the author still had one twist left, one of those OMG moments. Needless to say, I've already lined up the second book in the series.

Author Details

Tim Weaver is the Sunday Times bestselling author of fourteen novels, including No One Home, The Blackbird and The Last Goodbye, and a short story collection. He is also the host and producer of the chart-topping Missing podcast and is currently developing an original TV series with the team behind Line of Duty. A former journalist and magazine editor, he lives near Bath with his wife and daughter.