The Dead Road

British author Patrick concludes his paranormal thriller trilogy, which began with Reviver, with an explosive finale. It’s been decades since the revivers, persons who can talk briefly to the recently deceased, discovered this gift. Now, talks with the dead are a regular part of police investigations in the U.S. Through the Forensic Revival Service, police have the chance to ask murder victims who killed them, and the results can be entered into testimony in courts. Some hire the revivers for more personal reasons, such as saying goodbye to a child killed in an automobile accident. But the revivers are also seeing a dark side to their work—in particular, the depredations of an entity known as the Beast, which infects people and consumes their souls. Forensic reviver Jonah Miller must move much of his operation underground as he and his colleagues try to find ways to defeat the Beast. A sense of urgency and danger looms over the entire world as the action builds to a harrowing showdown in Washington, D.C. Readers will be left wondering what Patrick will come up with next. Agent: Luigi Bonomi, LBA Books (U.K.). (Feb.)