∎ Read The Dead Key edition by D M Pulley Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks

The Dead Key edition by D M Pulley Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks

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The Dead Key edition by D M Pulley Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks

Interesting story concept, but the story was flat and plodding.

I am a book person, and usually think that books are better than the movie version of a book. The later often seems to lose the subtlety, the nuances of the book, the careful character development. This is the first time I've ever read a book and thought while reading it that the (non-existent) movie version might be better. Slow, flat and plodding were the words that kept circling in my head as I was reading.

The story concept is interesting: an important bank mysteriously closes overnight. The bank and the high rise building it was in are untouched for years, until an engineering firm is asked to survey the building in connection with a possible purchase. The book tracks dual time periods: the story of an employee (a 16 year old secretary) in the months before the closing and, years later, a fresh out of school engineer assigned by her employer to survey the building. The most interesting aspect of the story is that, when the bank closed, the doors were locked without warning, but desks, files, personal notes, personnel files, bank records and safe deposit boxes, fixtures were left intact, and 24 hour on sight security maintained.

When I was about 1/3 into the story it seemed that n.o.t.h.i.n.g. . w.a.s. . h.a.p..p.e..n..i..n..g., so I checked other reviews to see if this story improved, if the pace picked up. Reading the early reviews, I was sure I was reading a different book. Thrilling? Edge of the seat? Even using a broadly generous interpretation of these concepts, there are only one or two scenes I can envision describing this way, and they come at the last 10-15% of the book.

The vast majority of the story is narrative, told through the musings of two main characters. For example, in most instances, we don't read about the secretary's workday, we read about her thinking about her workday or thinking about the personalities of the people she works with, or wondering where her friend is, or wondering about the significance of papers she sees.

There are parts of the story involving dialog between characters, but many of these parts (not all) are filler and don't really advance the story. For example, the engineer meets her boss at the building and explains to him some of the work she has done, but (from the reader perspective) this is merely retelling what the engineer already mused about in the previous pages: she went to the eighth floor, to the room on the left; it was dusty; she made some measurements; she went to the next room; she saw papers on the floor; she wondered why the papers were left behind; she made some measurements; she looked at some of the papers; she wondered what the papers meant; she decided to take some of the papers with her to look at later; she went to the next room; she made some measurements. . . . There is also dialog with a co-worker she sleeps with, who otherwise has no role in the development of the story.

The engineer character is not very interesting and what little development there is leaves a blurry and inconsistent picture. She is in her first job, describes herself as a perfectionist and straight A student, but routinely shows up to work late, sometimes wearing clothes she slept in, often drinks too much and does almost nothing in the course of the story except go to work (where she is in an abandoned building by herself), go to a bar (again by herself) and go home. The thing is, none of this behavior is relevant-it doesn't advance the story and if it were changed the course of the story would not be impacted.

This isn't one of those books where the grammer or writing style are cringingly painful, and there was enough substance to the scene details that I formed a picture of the bank and various locations within it. Another reviewer commented that this was a story in need of an editor. I second that thought.


Tags : The Dead Key - Kindle edition by D. M. Pulley. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Dead Key.,ebook,D. M. Pulley,The Dead Key,Thomas & Mercer,Cleveland (Ohio),Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths,Mystery fiction,MysterySuspense,Thrillers - Crime,Thrillers - Suspense

The Dead Key edition by D M Pulley Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks Reviews

I received this book as part of the First Read program the same month that I received Simon Wood’s book. They were giving away two that month, though I can’t remember why. This book was a mystery/thriller, with the setting alternating between 1978 and 1998. During each year a strong female with some connection to an old bank in Cleveland made discoveries about the corruption within it, and their lives became interwoven across generations.

I have to say I felt a little surprised by this book. After my experience with The One That Got Away, I wasn’t holding out any hope for what I would get from First Reads, but this writer has real potential.

The book wasn’t phenomenal, but it was certainly good. Pulley did a nice job with the discoveries that occurred in 1978 happening alongside those in 1998. She demonstrated the parallel lives of the women without throwing the symbolism in your face, and though they were discovering much of the same information the book rarely felt overly repetitive.

In fact, it was actually gripping. I was surprised to find myself staying up at night wanting to read a little bit more, wondering how it was going to end. And where plot is concerned, I think Pulley did a good job leading up to her ending and putting the pieces together. Her surprises were sly. I am always down for a good grift or corruption story, and this fit that bill – the story itself was in fact well-played and thought out.

The writing, however, could use some work. Once the final discovery was made, Pulley allowed the book to go on for about 3 chapters longer than it should have. She clearly felt the need to answer questions that would have been better left as question marks. Her characters grew overly verbose in the end, and most of her dialogue was poorly done. In fact, even the inner monologue sometimes felt annoying at best.

It was the little things that you notice when you’re an avid reader this sentence structure is poor. This chapter was unnecessary. Give your reader some credit. You are making this character look stupid because these puzzle pieces aren’t too difficult and should come together a little faster. What purpose did that sexual narrative play and why did you include it if it didn’t serve your story? It’s like I wanted to sit down with Pulley and a red pen and explain all the ways she could have made this amazing, because the skeletal framework was more than there.

What’s funny is I read this at the same time as The Luckiest Girl Alive, and the authors seemed to have opposite problems. Pulley knew how to tell a story but needs to work on the development of her writing. Knoll, who wrote Luckiest Girl Alive, wrote beautifully but needed to reel back on her plot.

Still, as first books go, I don’t think this one was terrible. If you’re able to access a copy inexpensively or for free, I would recommend giving it a read. More likely, I would recommend to look out for what she writes in the future. This was her first go at it as an indie author, and I would love to see what she churns out once she has honed her craft.

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Interesting story concept, but the story was flat and plodding.

I am a book person, and usually think that books are better than the movie version of a book. The later often seems to lose the subtlety, the nuances of the book, the careful character development. This is the first time I've ever read a book and thought while reading it that the (non-existent) movie version might be better. Slow, flat and plodding were the words that kept circling in my head as I was reading.

The story concept is interesting an important bank mysteriously closes overnight. The bank and the high rise building it was in are untouched for years, until an engineering firm is asked to survey the building in connection with a possible purchase. The book tracks dual time periods the story of an employee (a 16 year old secretary) in the months before the closing and, years later, a fresh out of school engineer assigned by her employer to survey the building. The most interesting aspect of the story is that, when the bank closed, the doors were locked without warning, but desks, files, personal notes, personnel files, bank records and safe deposit boxes, fixtures were left intact, and 24 hour on sight security maintained.

When I was about 1/3 into the story it seemed that n.o.t.h.i.n.g. . w.a.s. . h.a.p..p.e..n..i..n..g., so I checked other reviews to see if this story improved, if the pace picked up. Reading the early reviews, I was sure I was reading a different book. Thrilling? Edge of the seat? Even using a broadly generous interpretation of these concepts, there are only one or two scenes I can envision describing this way, and they come at the last 10-15% of the book.

The vast majority of the story is narrative, told through the musings of two main characters. For example, in most instances, we don't read about the secretary's workday, we read about her thinking about her workday or thinking about the personalities of the people she works with, or wondering where her friend is, or wondering about the significance of papers she sees.

There are parts of the story involving dialog between characters, but many of these parts (not all) are filler and don't really advance the story. For example, the engineer meets her boss at the building and explains to him some of the work she has done, but (from the reader perspective) this is merely retelling what the engineer already mused about in the previous pages she went to the eighth floor, to the room on the left; it was dusty; she made some measurements; she went to the next room; she saw papers on the floor; she wondered why the papers were left behind; she made some measurements; she looked at some of the papers; she wondered what the papers meant; she decided to take some of the papers with her to look at later; she went to the next room; she made some measurements. . . . There is also dialog with a co-worker she sleeps with, who otherwise has no role in the development of the story.

The engineer character is not very interesting and what little development there is leaves a blurry and inconsistent picture. She is in her first job, describes herself as a perfectionist and straight A student, but routinely shows up to work late, sometimes wearing clothes she slept in, often drinks too much and does almost nothing in the course of the story except go to work (where she is in an abandoned building by herself), go to a bar (again by herself) and go home. The thing is, none of this behavior is relevant-it doesn't advance the story and if it were changed the course of the story would not be impacted.

This isn't one of those books where the grammer or writing style are cringingly painful, and there was enough substance to the scene details that I formed a picture of the bank and various locations within it. Another reviewer commented that this was a story in need of an editor. I second that thought.