THE LAST DREAM BEFORE YOU DIE by Paul Dalzell-a review

THE LAST DREAM BEFORE YOU DIE (Jack Bone Detective Series) by Paul Dalzell

THE LAST DREAM BEFORE YOU DIE is the first novel (April 2012 release) in Paul Dalzell’s new Jack Bone Detective Series. Not your average detective series, but the Jack Bone series encompasses many genres including paranormal, mystery and thriller.

Jack Bone is a 60year old retired police sergeant who, along with his late friend Tommy Idle, owns Bone Idle Detective agency. With Tommy’s widow Jeannie as his office staff, Jack endeavors to keep his clients happy and well informed. But a recent contract to investigate the last wool mill in the UK for an Asian client will land Jack in the remote and mysterious town of Wolfston where the residents are not quite human. Their existence is the story of legends, and some are quite well known.

Wandering the outskirts of town, Jack soon realizes that there is something different about the residents of Wolfston, with their eerie pallor and menacing gaze. But an invitation to the meet the owner of the mill, will reveal everything that Jack had never wanted to know and more. Promising absolute discretion, Jack returns home only to find that another of his investigations has taken a dark and dangerous turn possibly involving the Russian mob. Hoping that his ‘new’ friends from Wolfston will help, Jack makes a call that will ultimately save his life.

The residents of Wolfston did not take too lightly to Jack’s presence when he first arrived in town. Strangers are never welcome, especially human strangers who did not know about their colorful and varied history. But Jack soon found himself being treated like one of the family, and the Laughton’s of Wolfston protected their own. With Russian gangsters literally gunning for Jack’s head, his investigation will reveal that one of the people responsible for passing information will be just as much at risk as Jack.

The Laughton’s are a very close-knit family with ties to both the famous and the infamous. Historical records are not always correct, but the family kept an accurate accounting of the Wolfston heritage. Revenge for the death of a loved one, would soon bring one of the families most lethal and eldest members to Jack. But the danger to Jack was targeting too close to home, when a phone call reveals, that his family and friend had been taken hostage. And it was up to Jack to ensure that the information he had gathered would help free the people that he loved. But sometimes there is never enough information or time.

THE LAST DREAM BEFORE YOU DIE is a fascinating and different look at a paranormal/mystery/thriller storyline. When I was asked to review this novel, I had no idea what to expect and it is a good thing, because I was impressed the further I got into the book. The initial part of the storyline was slow as Dalzell built up some background information and presented a descriptive narration of the local countryside and the townsfolk of Wolfston, but when our hero is finally confronted, by the people in charge, the story takes off and will keep you mesmerized until the very end. Paul uses many references to classic vampire lore, as well as an interesting twist to a very infamous bad guy in Russian history.

There is some graphically detailed violence in a couple of scenes, but it should be pointed out, that it is necessary to the plot. I applaud Paul Dalzell’s direction of the paranormal storyline-this is absolutely not your mother’s fantasy romance novel. I am looking forward to the next instalment in the Jack Bone Detective series.

LINKS TO PURCHASE:
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Paper
B&N Nook and Paper books
The Book Depository
KOBO

Copy supplied by author.

Reviewed by Sandy