Ingrid Stephens's Reviews > Near Death

A sadistic killer finds a way to commit murder from beyond the grave. Joseph Hickey is executed for killing an entire family, after doing unspeakable things to the parents than making them watch as he tortured, brutalized, and slaughtered their young daughters. He gives no excuse, as for no mercy, and seems quite proud of what he has done.

The prison Chaplain at Sing-Sing is John Henry, a disillusioned man who no longer has the faith that brought him to the priesthood, and a killer like Hickey just reinforces the feeling that there is no God who cares. It’s his job to give last rites to the condemned men, and when it’s Hickey’s turn, John Henry makes no bones about how he feels about the killer and his deeds.

Hickey is executed, in the grossest fashion the writer could describe, but he’s far from done with killing or with John Henry.
A few months later, a man walks into the police and confesses to a crime that is an exact duplicate of Hickeys and he wants to talk to John Henry.

That’s just where the roller coaster begins to move. The premise of the book is excellent. How do you fight a killer who keeps coming back as a different person, with no ties to the killing grounds or the victims? How many times will he do this before someone does something to stop him and what can they do? This is beyond mortal experience.

Near Death is well written and the author keeps you interested longer than you expect to be. I can be very cynical about mystery and thriller books. I don’t like a story that is not reasonable even if the elements are Paranormal. Anything less is cheating. There may have been a few spots where I rolled my eyes, but for the most part, Wall managed to make me buy what he was selling.

Thanks to @Netgalley, Burning Chair, and Richard Wall for the chance to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.