Book of the Day: The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks

A sister, murdered while on holiday. Inept police, unable to close the case. A whole town of suspects, each one with something to hide. All of these set the stage for Kevin Brooks’ novel The Road of the Dead.

Ruben Ford knows something is wrong when his sister Rachel doesn’t return on time from her holiday with an old school friend. On the night the terrible news reaches his family, he has a vision: he knows who killed her, but he doesn’t know how to find the killer. When his older brother Cole decides to retrace Rachel’s last journey, Ruben accompanies him in the search for answers – and to bring Rachel home for a proper burial.

When the brothers arrive in Rachel’s last known location, the town where she stayed with her old friend, they immediately find trouble. Nobody in the town of Lychcombe is willing to talk, but they all seem willing to fight to the death to prevent the Ford brothers from finding out what really happened to their sister. Cole, whose fight is all in his fists, pursues the information he seeks the only way he knows how: with violence. Ruben, along for the ride and getting closer to the answer after befriending a local gypsy family, is taken hostage and held prisoner while things spin out of control.

It’s hard to know whether the Fords, or at least Cole, are seeking only truth. Cole seems bent on revenge, though he continually denies it. Ruben keeps having visions, leading the brothers closer and closer to the truth of Rachel’s murder. Without help from the people in the dying village of Lychcombe, especially its local thugs and corrupt police, time seems to be running out.

Kevin Brooks has written a bleak and violent story of murder and revenge. The violence in this book is very real, and very graphic at some points. While not for the faint of heart, this murder mystery will keep readers hooked until the gritty end.

The Road of the Dead is a nominee for the Teens Top 10 List. Request it from the library here. If it’s your favorite, vote during Teen Read Week, October 14th-20th, 2007.

Katy @ Cameron Village Library