Title: The Undertaker by William F Brown (A Pete and Sandy Mystery Thriller)
Genre: Currently #710 in Best Seller’s Rank in Books, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Thrillers & Suspense, Crime, Vigilante Justice
Publisher: William F Brown
Publication Date: January 2014
Source: Sent by author for review
The Undertaker – Cover catches the eye and more than hints at a scalpel
Not the first William F Brown thriller I’ve read and won’t be the last! The Undertaker starts a new series featuring Peter Talbot and Sandy, the latter of whom manages to overcome Peter’s year long grieving process for his late wife, Terri. Terri died of cancer and it has all but killed Peter as well, turning him into a robot, going through life mechanically–unemotionally.
Gino Parini is the first to shake up his life by showing him an obituary of himself, supposedly dying in an auto accident. Who cares…it’s not him…but then, Gino also shows him an obituary of his wife dying in the same accident and both due to be buried in Columbus, Ohio. And that does it! No way will he stand for that–so off he goes to get to the bottom of it, and this naive, aeronautical software engineer morphed into a reluctant, but almost street-smart 007.
I won’t belabor the story as it weaves in and out of the discovery of the weasel at the Varner Clinic, Green Funeral Home, or the slick and grievously deadly attorney Tinkerton, the executor–as matters turn desperately sinister. Tinkerton is aided by dirty Sheriff Dannmeyer along with some unrelated mafia types and before you know it, you have a real pickle brewing!
Investigating a similarity to other obits he has uncovered, he tracks down Sandy Kasmarek, who is an art gallery attendant carrying some heavy, dark baggage of her own. Sandy has not sunk to the same depressive depths as Peter, however, finding her own way out of the morass of her previous relationship. Sandy is multi-dimensional, strong, handy, and physically adept at handling herself, thank you very much. (She is also more than a little, uh, love deprived..okay, horny.) It is the death of her husband that ties the same POI (persons of interest), to the complicated conspiracy conspiring to cap poor Peter.
After Peter chases her down and convinces her there is something rotten in Denmark, they flee and manage to elude the multitude who seeks.
From Boston to Chicago and back to New York, the chase is on and not without collateral damage. Still trying to separate the good guys from the bad, organized crime from the FBI or CIA, they run not knowing who to trust other than each other. That can make for some very intimate situations!
Mr. Brown, as always, manages to save his protagonist from the direst situations with more twists than a corn maze in October. He provides his protagonist with a quirky sense of humor, deprecating dialogue, and is appealing and emotionally approachable. Brown throws in the august amorous attentions from Sandy with her younger, snarky personality to complete a fun, fast, conspiracy thriller that won’t take long to devour. Personally, I found Sandy a bit over-the-top, though loved that she was so talented and could handle herself well. I suspect the younger generation would find her perfect, albeit hormonally driven.
I was given this book in exchange for a review and, once again, I got the best of the bargain. Recommended for a fast, light-hearted, but scary, suspense-filled read.
Rosepoint Publishing: Five of Five Stars
The Author: William F Brown is a native of Chicago, receiving undergraduate as well as graduate degrees from the University of Illinois. He served as a company commander in the U.S. Army. He traveled extensively as the VP of a real estate subsidiary of a Fortune 500 corporation. William is a landscape artist as well as author having written nine suspense novels, stand alone as well as series. ©2017 Virginia Williams 
Rosepoint Publishing 