The Dead Ring No. 166

The Blacklist #2

by Jon McGoran

A massive fire on a bridge in West Texas: a tanker truck released its load and incinerated twenty-three cars and seventy-two people. A tragic accident, or something more sinister? Raymond Reddington reveals to Elizabeth Keen that this and many other horrific incidents in past years--seventy people killed in a warehouse fire in Turkey, a mine collapse in South Africa, 120 dead in a capsized ferry in Indonesia--were not the terrible accidents they seemed to be but were, in fact, collateral damage in a highly lucrative and deadly game known as The Dead Ring...

Genres: Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Mystery, Crime

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 28, 2017

About the author

Jon McGoran is the author of ten novels, including Spliced, Splintered and Spiked, a trilogy of near-future YA science fiction thrillers from Holiday House Books.Spliced was named to the ALA’s Library Information Technology Association (LITA) inaugural 2018 LITA Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Lists and was also named one of the American Bookseller’s Association’s 2017 ABC Best Books for Young Readers. The sequel, Splintered, comes out May 2019. His other books include the acclaimed ecological thrillers Drift, Deadout, and Dust Up, from Tor/Forge Books, and The Dead Ring, based on the hit TV show, The Blacklist. Writing as D. H. Dublin, he is the author of the forensic thrillers Body Trace, Blood Poison and Freezer Burn, from Penguin Books. His short fiction includes stories in the recent anthologies Hardboiled Horror and Joe Ledger: Unstoppable, as well as the novella “After Effects,” from Amazon StoryFront; Bad Debt, which received an honorable mention in Best American Mystery Stories 2014; and stories in a variety of other anthologies. He is a founding member of the Philadelphia Liars Club, a group of published authors dedicated to writers helping writers. When not writing novels and short fiction, McGoran works as a freelance writer and developmental editor and co-host of the writing podcast The Liars Club Oddcast. Find him on Twitter at @JonMcGoran, facebook.com/jonmcgoran/ or at www.jonmcgoran.com. Or visit www.spliced.world and splice yourself!

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up liking "The Blacklist--The Dead Ring No. 166," by Jon McGoran, more than I thought I would. I read a LOT of media tie-in novels...and most of them are mediocre crap. I will pay "The Dead Ring" a compliment and say that I wish they would actually make it into a 2-part episode of the parent TV show, "The Blacklist."

If you know "The Blacklist," you know the basics. Elizabeth Keen and her secret FBI team are working with master criminal Raymond "Red" Reddington to put away people on "The Blacklist." The Blacklist is a list, provided by Reddington, of seriously evil criminals that have escaped notice or are so nefarious that they are seen as impossible to apprehend. In exchange for his help, Reddington gets to continue his criminal enterprises.

In "The Dead Ring," one of these nefarious Blacklisters (known as The Ringleader) is running a competition called "The Dead Ring" on American soil. It's the future of reality TV, if you ask me. Anyway, in the Dead Ring, mercenaries and thugs and various criminals compete in lethal bloodsports mixed with "escape before the place blows up" scenarios. All the while, select wealthy fans of the game place wagers on who will survive. The contestants are encouraged to kill each other while playing, and civilians often end up as collateral damage. The grand prize is five million dollars. But winning the Dead Ring entails multiple rounds of carnage and only one surviving contestant.

One of the FBI team goes in undercover as Le Chat, a notorious cat burglar who has a connection to Reddington. But life inside the Dead Ring is difficult and likely to be short-lived. I won't give away too much more of the plot, though.

There are usually glitches to be found in mass-market tie-in novels like this one, if you're a careful reader. On page 256 (paperback), I found an error where it talks about Keen shooting a bad guy in the throat in one scene to save someone, when she really did that in a different scene (page 210) and didn't save anyone. If the author and the (presumable) editor can't keep this stuff straight, they should try another line of work.

Also, as with nearly every single book I read in the media tie-in category, this book could easily have been 50-60 pages shorter and still been effective and impactful. There are needless characters, bland subplots, and a fair amount of dithering on behalf of the assembled cast.

I understand that people don't want to pay $7.99 for a 200 page book, but if the length must be padded, perhaps do so with a couple of well-written short stories. Food for thought.

In any case, I liked "The Dead Ring" overall. And, so far, I like it a lot better than the first "The Blacklist" tie-in novel that came out, which I'm reading right now. A review of that book will be forthcoming.

[Aura Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off kind of slow, but by the end, I was satisfied. Much like The Beekeeper, it felt like I was watching an episode of the show in book form.

[Emma-Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good. Great case that kept you hooked. My only complaint is that the ending is really rather rushed, 5 pages to deal with the aftermath? More importantly no Red and Lizzie reunion at the end? Come on! He would have hugged her and refused to let her out of his sight for a while after something like that, while making her promise never to do that again!

[travis williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once listed it only ends one way

I love the blacklist I watch the tv show watched the spin off till it was cancelled I love how reddington seems to always find a way out of his predicaments I dislike how 93 semi short chapters made it as long as it did but still like it I recommend this book and the tv show to anyone who likes the villain getting away with it cause come on at the end of the day red is killing his competition and taking over and I gave it four stars because though I enjoyed it I don’t think it needed 93 chapters some of them were really short

[DoneReadThat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again a spectacular book based on the show. I wish there were more.
This has a similar story line to that of a popular dystopian young adult book.
Some things were a little far-fetched but not so far out as to be completely unbelievable. It matches along with the way the show goes.
I wish I could figure out where the book is in line with the chronology of the show.

[Edward Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story, though deceptively shorter than its page count would make you think (93 chapters, seriously! And some blank pages too!). Still, I preferred the first book to this, which had an incredibly similar premise with Keen going undercover.

[Nick Tenaglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written book that depicts every aspect of the characters. If you’re a true fan of the show, you can hear the characters talking and even picture their mannerisms. Such a great story that doesn’t take away from the show. Makes me wish this was an episode.

[Penelope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m surprised more people haven’t read this and other Blacklist books. It reads just like an (extended) episode of the tv show. Maybe they haven’t been publicized enough? I don’t think it would really appeal much to someone who hasn’t watched the show, however.

[Sue Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tv tie in

A nicely written TV tie in for the popular TV series. Well written by someone who actually has seem the series

[Rory Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 star trash

[Timothy Derifield · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is what it is. If you like the show, you'll like the book (probably). But it isn't especially well-written or imaginative and feels like a second or even third-strong script that the producers felt would be too expensive to film. McGoran's writing is completely serviceable--good even.