Dead Connection

Title: Price, Charlie.  Dead Connection.  New York: Roaring Book Press, 2006.  Print.

Overview: Murray Kiefer is a lonely teenager with a special gift - he can talk to the dead.  His specialty is those who died young and he sees himself as a friend and comforter to them.  Nikki Parker is a cheerleader who trusted the wrong person and wound up dead.  With help from varying points of view from the various people who saw, heard, and/or interacted with Nikki before and after she died the story of what really happened to Nikki Parker comes to light.

Critical Analysis:  This is Charlie Price's debut novel and I have to admit that I'm impressed.  The novel follows 6 separate characters to show us vastly different points of view.  There's Murray Kiefer who talks to the dead, Pearl Janochek who finds out his secret and vows to help him, Pearl's father who is the caretaker of the cemetery Murray frequents, Deputy Roman Gates who has made it his mission to find out what happened to poor Nikki Parker, Mister Robert Barry Compton who is a schizophrenic with a hard time remembering things, and Officer Vern Billup who may or may not have a problem following the rules depending on who you ask.  I found the characters very interesting, most especially Robert.  Seeing the story from the point of view of teenagers, law officers, and others gives a very eclectic feel to the book that offers a full story.

Book Recommendations With Similar Themes:

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  Susie Salmon is a young girl who has been gruesomely raped and murdered.  From her own personal version of heaven she watches as her friends, family, and crush deal with her death and try to move on.  Spanning years, the book deals with grief and its impact on the lives of loved ones.  With heartbreak at every turn of the page The Lovely Bones is not for the faint of heart...or those who don't like to cry.  Beautifully written and poignant it is worth every tear.

2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  When a man enters a home to brutally murder the family within he doesn't realize that the couple's son, a toddler, has left his crib to explore while his parents sleep.  Given the opportunity of an open door the small boy crawls out of the house, down the street, and right into a cemetery.  The ghosts there congregate and it's decided that they will keep the boy and raise him.  This book is the story of the boy's life as he grows and encounters various supernatural and natural beings, including the man who murdered his family.