Love Is Dead[ly] in Review / Write / Read Club (Indie & Self-Published)

Dec 22, 2022 Ann Birdgenaw rated it it was amazing

Love is Dead(ly) by Gene Kendall is a throwback to old ‘film-noir’ detective stories with a paranormal twist. Brad Burns is the archetypical investigator with the narration running in the background. “…Pause for dramatic effect… Okay, long enough… “Yes, and I don’t use that term loosely. Your daughter needs help.” Brad sees dead people who have lost their way in the afterword, then cashes in by charging the family money to help their loved ones ‘find peace’. Brad’s long suffering partner, Sandra ...more

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Sep 28, 2020 Ben Haskett rated it really liked it

Shelves: published-202x, i-read-this-on-my-kindle, self-pub, rrs, 2020-reads

Love is Dead[ly] is a good book. Weird, but good. It's about a paranormal investigator named Brad Burns who tracks down ghosts and guides them into the afterlife. He calls himself a “Paranormal Desperado” — that’s the title on his business card, and past events are gradually revealed over the course of the book to illustrate why Brad deserves that designation. Unfortunately for him, the reader meets Brad just as things go dangerously sideways.

It's easy to read, it's funny, it's witty... and it' Love is Dead[ly] is a good book. Weird, but good. It's about a paranormal investigator named Brad Burns who tracks down ghosts and guides them into the afterlife. He calls himself a “Paranormal Desperado” — that’s the title on his business card, and past events are gradually revealed over the course of the book to illustrate why Brad deserves that designation. Unfortunately for him, the reader meets Brad just as things go dangerously sideways.

It's easy to read, it's funny, it's witty... and it's occasionally uncomfortable.

Sex is an integral part of this paranormal thriller. Not only are succubi Brad's area of expertise (for those of you who aren't paranormal desperadoes, a succubus is an attractive female demon who seduces men in their sleep), but sex is also a hefty setup for how Brad got started in this gig, and an almost self-explanatory reason for why he's divorced.

While performing a routine exorcism, Brad Burns inadvertently makes the boss of the underworld aware that her ghosts-turned-working-girls are being ushered to the light. And before you know it, Brad, his ex-wife, and a few others find themselves straddling the line between this plane of existence and the next. The book tends to get a little messy when describing the paths taken between these planes but does a decent job overall. I was rarely confused about what was going on.

Personally, Brad's adultery was the hardest part of this book for me to stomach. His ex-wife, Sandra (the best character, IMO), is clearly looking for a monogamous relationship, and he calls attention more than once to the fact that he's still into her. The bummer is that these lingering feelings manifest as him stringing her along and subtly manipulating her so she can't move on. That's just kinda douchey no matter how you slice it, even though Brad isn't completely unlikable. Further, Sandra is also kind of aware of this, but because she still has lingering feelings for him, she plays along with the madness.

I gotta admit, this does create a really interesting dynamic between the two — she's his associate, you see. So even though they're divorced (and it's mentioned many times that it's his cheating what dunnit), they live together and work together, providing a million opportunities to bring up and unpack their complicated relationship. About half the book is told from Sandra's perspective, and it's intentionally torturous to see her ponder the what-ifs of them getting back together.

Even more interesting is Brad's childhood and how it relates to his future occupation. Oddly enough, the supernatural elements of Brad's childhood dramas somehow make them less repugnant. It's important to note, however, that Kendall's sexual descriptions are never gratuitous — he sets the scene, makes sure you know what's going on, and then things fade to black.

While the heavy subject matter clashes at times with the Chris-Pratt-in-Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-style dialogue, Love is Dead[ly] is a bizarre, engaging, original story that flows effortlessly from beginning to end. It's a good one. ...more

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Sep 16, 2021 Rik Ty rated it it was amazing

MILD SPOILERS
This is a Gene Kendall book, so it is very well written, briskly paced, and free to be audacious.
The novel begins with a pair of paranormal detectives, who are recently divorced from each other, and who are trying to get an older couple to agree to higher fees so that the sensitive member of the partnership can communicate with the couple’s departed daughter, get her to stop haunting her mother’s dreams, and instead, accept guidance toward finding her way into “the light”.
It turns o MILD SPOILERS
This is a Gene Kendall book, so it is very well written, briskly paced, and free to be audacious.
The novel begins with a pair of paranormal detectives, who are recently divorced from each other, and who are trying to get an older couple to agree to higher fees so that the sensitive member of the partnership can communicate with the couple’s departed daughter, get her to stop haunting her mother’s dreams, and instead, accept guidance toward finding her way into “the light”.
It turns out the departed daughter is actual a junior level succubus, and from the moment we discover these few story points, the book is off and running.
Going in, I expected “Love Is Deadly” to be a comedy, or a horror story. But it is neither really, though it is funny in places (like that basic set up). Since the paranormal entities become characters in their own right, I suppose the book fits in the urban fantasy area, which is a genre I personally haven’t read a whole lot in.
I have to be careful in what I say about this book because I genuinely could spoil the twists and turns of the story. But I WILL say that this is the first time I’ve seen a ghost go through character change. It’s interesting.
Early on, we learn that Brad, the ex-husband in the partnership, has a lifetime of selfish exploits to atone for, and Sandra, the ex-wife in the partnership, spends a lot of time thinking about him and bailing him out of the messes he’s made. This describes the partnership of their marriage, and these qualities seem to be creeping into their business partnership as well. Even so, these are two likable characters, and the reader wouldn’t be blamed for wanting to see them reconcile. I did.
While working the case, an arranged traffic accident puts Brad in a coma. He gets caught in the nether world, at the mercy of a horde of succubi. Sandra’s troubles in trying to free him get pretty costly – not to mention caustic (she has to rescue this guy who cheated on her, from a brothel of dedicated lust-demons. You can guess what she walks in on – though you won’t guess the reason why).
Kendall paints a nether world brothel-palace that is nicely detailed. He does some very interesting things with tattoos, AND he does something SO interesting regarding the real-life consequences of actions taken in the nether world, that I found myself telling people about it at a BBQ. (Telling the idea made ME interesting for a minute). It was a sad, heartbreaking concept, one that made perfect sense, and one you won’t forget. It isn’t the only sad idea in the book either. The book’s tone starts out happy and slapstick, but continually deepens, until the end has Sandra saving the earth from demi-gods – but not without cost to her. Some characters survive this novel, but that is all the victory they get.
In summary, Love is Deadly is a paranormal urban fantasy with deft character construction and quick, entertaining dialogue. It’s a brisk read that you’ll finish in a couple of nights. Pick up a copy and put Gene Kendall on your list of authors to watch; he’s always interesting and always entertaining.
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Sep 12, 2023 Terry Birdgenaw rated it liked it

‘Love is Dead(ly)’ starts as a unique story that grabs the reader and won’t let go. The concept of an earthly private detective that investigates spirits to help them go to the light perhaps isn’t that original, but the manner of the characters gives it a kind of Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard Moonlighting vibe that is highly engaging and humorous. The writing is intoxicating as the interactions between humans and spirits go from irreverent to salacious, and one wonders where this is all going. ...more

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Sep 24, 2020 Ed Morawski rated it liked it

Great title first of all.
When I started reading this I was pretty much hooked by the first chapter. Bradley is conning a poor farm couple out of thirteen thousand dollars to guide their beloved dead daughter into the afterlife – the twist is that Bradley is actually a real psychic! What a concept! He’s relieving people of their money but he really can communicate with spirits. I was really looking forward to this developing, but unfortunately the story meandered off into la-la metaphysical land ...more

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Oct 07, 2024 Ronie Reads marked it as to-read

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