[BOTM] - INDIE PICK - The Dead Are Online

[Anna, LoP BOTM & R2R mod]

Oooh! Poltergeists! The Dead Are Online by Dina Roberts is our INDIE PICK for June.



"Our dearly departed are now online. It started with a few messages here and there. Few believed and many were skeptical. But once the dead began using FaceTime and Skype, the game changed. Now almost everyone believes, including the president of the United States. Life after death is accepted as fact.

Families and friends are united. A homesick college student become friends with the uncle who died before she was born. Dead twins entertain the patrons of a restaurant with their daily comedy routine. A man killed by a drunk driver is brought back to his wife and young daughter, while an atheist struggles to reconcile his worldview with the new reality.

It's all wonderful, except there's a dark evil force. The Arcide. The Arcide has always been around, but it's not until the barriers between living and dead fall, that it gains enough strength to become a significant threat to our world..."

This book is rated Adult.

Drop your thoughts or links to your reviews in the discussion thread below, or if you'd like to find a Book Buddy to read along with you and discuss the book in spoilery glory, why not visit our Book Buddy thread and find someone to read with you?

The Book Buddy thread is HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Dina]

Wow! I am so happy about this! I feel like I've won the lottery!

[Dina]

I just went and changed the price on Amazon to 99 cents...not sure how long it takes for the change to take effect.

[V.M.]

Awesome, Dina :) it should just take a few hours.

[Dina]

V.M. wrote: "Awesome, Dina :) it should just take a few hours."

Thanks! I checked this morning. It's done : )

[Kat]

Okay just finished reading your book, and I find myself continuing to press the next page button (on my Kindle) on the last page... Liked it a lot but very confused; I will post a more detailed review in awhile. Would you like to be friends? Trying to get some authors friends I can talk to about writing (my book is in the pipeline to be published). I'd also like to post the review on my blog.

[Anna, LoP BOTM & R2R mod]

*************************************************************************



Whoopie! The author interview with Dina Roberts is HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

**************************************************************************

[Dina]

Kat wrote:Okay just finished reading your book, and I find myself continuing to press the next page button (on my Kindle) on the last page... Liked it a lot but very confused; I will post a more detailed review in awhile. Would you like to be friends? Trying to get some authors friends I can talk to about writing (my book is in the pipeline to be published). I'd also like to post the review on my blog.

Yes I definitely want to be friends! I'm sorry you were confused, but glad you made it to the end of the book....unless you're one of those people who are compelled to finish a book even if you hate it.

And I'd love to talk about writing with you. And I look forward to reading your book when it's published!

[Kat]

Review of The Dead are Online

Okay, let me start off by saying this isn’t what I normally gravitate towards, in terms of fiction. Paranormal to me is focused on whatever anomaly happened to cause the otherwise normal world to become special, whether it’s character-based or plot driven. This book had two things I don’t often encounter in my usual reads: third-person omniscient POV, plus it was character-driven to the point of which the plot seemed almost like an afterthought. I’m aware that books like this exist, and many people like them, but it’s just not what I would choose to read. So why did I read this? The premise is original and intriguing – the dead suddenly being able to communicate with the living via popular social networking platforms and text messaging. I imagined what life would be like if that were the case, and thought, I’ve got to find out what happens!

To be totally honest, the first few chapters had me wondering if I would finish the book. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and trouble picturing where the book was going. I felt like I was just dropped into the characters’ world and left to fend for myself. That and the third person omniscient POV was strange for me; inevitably it’s harder to connect when you’re on the outside looking in.

That being said, once I read a little further, the characters began to grow on me. I found myself looking forward to reading about them, wondering how they connected to one another and what the consequences of communication with the dead would be. Towards the end, I truly enjoyed reading about their lives and was more than a little surprised by the abrupt ending. Though I suppose I shouldn’t have been, it ended as it began – I was dropped into the world at the beginning, then plucked out at the end.

What I liked: The characterization. Dina’s ability to write people is amazing – their thoughts, actions, reactions – all of it is very plausible and natural. Phillip particularly struck a chord with me, as I was married to that personality for years (though I hope I wasn’t as pathetic as Jennifer, I probably was). It was as if she knew my ex-husband – I was really astounded by how well she wrote the characters. I laughed out loud at Zoe’s comparison of nose-picking to masturbation! It was little details and thoughts like that, which brought the characters to life for me. I found myself fully ensconced in their plight and loving the interactions between the characters, both living and deceased. I also liked the exploration of what would happen if the dead could communicate with the living in a mainstream fashion, both the benefits and the fallout. While I could tell Dina was injecting her personal ideology into the book, it was done in a way that wasn’t overt and annoying (unlike how it was handled in The Fault in our Stars). I loved the feeling that I was connecting with her as I was reading this book – like she shared a bit of herself in the writing.

What I disliked: There were a few things that bothered me. The biggest one was the incidental plot. Having no clear path of where the book was going made me feel a little shipwrecked reading it. Strangely enough, the hardest section of the book to write (at least for me), the middle, is nailed. It’s just the beginning and the end that seem abrupt and unstructured. The ending in particular had me scratching my head and really wishing there was more. While the build-up was great for the final showdown, the actual scene itself almost felt rushed; I would have liked to have seen more for that few minutes when all hell breaks loose. Then with the POV, while I get that with so many characters it is a necessity, I didn’t like being spoon-fed absolutely everything. Classic show don’t tell, but the thing is, it is already being shown – the dialogue and actions illustrate much of what the omniscient voice tells and I found some of it unnecessary. I say that but at the same time, I’m not used to reading this voice, so that may be how it’s done. The final issue I had was with editing. I found a few grammatical errors, extra quotation marks and even incorrect names that made reading a little confusing.

All in all, I very much enjoyed reading The Dead are Online. The characters were interesting and well-written. I think with a little tightening of the omniscient voice and a clearly defined beginning and ending, this book would be unstoppable. Definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, if and when you decide to write it!