Death Is Overrated

by Jeffrey Perren

"Professor Thomas Payne didn't intend to wind up dead on his caving vacation to Wales, and in truth he wasn't the victim. But proving his identity to the police becomes tricky after they pull his passport off the body and conclude the deceased is Dr. Payne, no doubt.

Things go from bogus to baffling when a mysterious phone call at the crime scene leads to the arrest of the young scientist. His fate seems sealed when the victim's fingerprints match the professor's work visa and his employment records disappear altogether.

A tart-tongued American with no identity looks like a pretty good patsy to the detectives eager to close the case. Being accused of killing himself presents the brooding inventor with an interesting puzzle, but taking time to solve it from jail will threaten his deadline to file a patent worth millions.

Intervention by the smitten police captain's sculptress daughter frees Thomas to search for clues to prove his innocence before his invention goes up for grabs. So, it's off around the UK with Terri, one jump ahead of the authorities — and his estranged sociopathic father, a lapsed Quaker who may be the real killer. One slip and claustrophobia will be the least of his problems.

Thomas' journey soon becomes as much about healing his troubled past as recovering his present self. Along the way, he'll battle betrayals by his envious staff, romance the rebellious artist, and suffer harrowing misadventures at historic sites in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Travel — even to find yourself — was never so perilous."

Genres: Mystery, Adventure

302 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2013

About the author

Jeffrey Perren is the author of Tellen Song, a novel about the Wilhelm Tell legend and the founding of Switzerland.

[http://www.amazon.com/Tellen-Song-edu...]

He wrote his first short story at age 12 and went on to win the Bank of America Fine Arts award at 17. Since then, he has published Cossacks In Paris, Clonmac's Bridge, and other fine novels from ClioStory Publishing.

Educated in philosophy at UCLA, he lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

Reviews

[Olga Miret · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Death Is Overrated’ by Jeffrey Perren
Physicists, Caves, Murders and Mynah Birds
Most of us have watched a large number of crime/mystery/thriller stories. Fewer of us (but quite a number) have also read many books on this genre, from Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie to the new craze for Scandinavian authors. We all like to think we can spot who the killer is and work out motives and reasons. I don’t know if like me, when you read (or watch) one of these stories, you come out wondering if it all really fits in as neatly as it appears or if given time you’d find holes in the story. But you plunge ahead taken by the rhythm of the writing or the performance and are left satisfied. ‘Death Is Overrated’ is one of these novels that will leave you satisfied. The author is careful at sharing and revealing clues that come together neatly at the end, but keeps enough information hidden to make sure you don’t have one of those ‘a-ha’ moments in the first pages. You might have your suspicions, but getting the full story is a fairly tricky business.
What makes ‘Death Is Overrated’ different to other books in the genre? Mr Perren does not go for the tried and tested. Yes, we have a number of amateur detectives, the main one Thomas Payne (good name, although this Thomas sometimes shows little of the ‘Common Sense’ his historical namesake so loudly proclaimed), an American physicist who is a victim of mistaken identity and ends up accused of having killed himself. He is not the typical suave charmer. He’s a physicist, who loves caves and is pretty secretive about his life (for very good reasons that I’m not going to tell you. You’ll have to read the book). Somebody is clearly at work trying to kill him, and goes beyond that crime, to annihilating any way that would allow him to establish his identity (and it made me reflect of how vulnerable we might be, not only to identity theft, but even to being erased, like in ‘The Net’), and he desperately needs allies. He has a friend-colleague, Rhys, who shares interests (even a romantic interest as it happens) and will go to any lengths to help him. And he meets Terri, the daughter of the chief inspector in charge of the case. She’s a sculptor who has a difficult but affectionate relationship with her father and as we find out, shares more than a few things with Thomas. The main characters are well drawn, flawed, and likeable, and the author piles up complication after complication, never letting us draw breath for more than a few pages, before we’re rushed again, climbing, swimming, driving, flying, and even being almost eaten by a shark. We travel through Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland and one can’t help but think that if there is a movie (and there should be) and it keeps to the settings, it would be an astoundingly gorgeous one. And pretty fast.
I’m not sure I’ve yet mentioned important scientific discoveries, Quakers, estranged fathers, electrocutions, yachts, Mynah birds, guns, hammers, computers, phones, passports, dead bodies, motorcycles, crazed landladies, determined immigration agents, attempted rapes, claustrophobia, nature… and more.
The author maintains a good pace throughout; the language is accessible with some amusing comparisons and turns of phrase and there is enough suffering, humour and even romance to keep everybody happy.
‘Death Is Overrated’ is a good addition to the genre and it will keep readers guessing until the end. If you enjoy adventures, mystery, and hate being bored, this book is made for you. Go and get it!
I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Viviane Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Thomas Payne looks down at a body that other people are claiming is him – a very dead man with brutal marks that indicate foul play! The more Payne insists the body is not him, the more he seems to be getting himself into deeper trouble. He is taken to the local jail and the inquiring police officer believes he is the murderer, albeit the fact that missing evidence is all that questions Payne’s guilt.
A meeting with the Police Captain’s daughter, Terri, seems like oil and water that simply will not mix; however, she seems to trust him enough to quietly arrange for his release from jail and that enables him to begin the search for the unknown murderer.
The betrayal of a colleague follows with destruction and theft; but it turns out that there is someone behind these actions who is even more deadly. Add to that puzzle that Payne’s father, a former Quaker, is looking for Payne. Sounds innocent enough, right? It’s not.
Terri’s father is a tough, competent detective, who is willing to give Payne the benefit of the doubt but will leave his guilt or innocence an open question. In the meantime, Payne and Terri will be frustrated by a gauntlet of misunderstandings and missed meetings to contend with in spite of their growing feelings about each other.
Death is Overrated is a superb mystery that will engage every reader with its numerous twists and turns. The capacity for evil has no boundaries but the perseverance and integrity of better characters as well as the physical and mental tests arising on every page of this novel proves the better human beings. Great read!

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like mysteries you should give DEATH IS OVERRATED a try. It is set in the UK and includes everything a good mystery should have. When you think you understand who the killer is or why the person was killed, something happens and you're lost again. The reader is kept guessing until the end, just like an Agatha Christie mystery.

The author has managed to create well developed, likable characters and scenes which are not boring, but realistic. It allows the reader to imagine the characters crawling along in the small cave system, but also see the open countryside, while being glad you're not the one experiencing the wind and rain as it attacks them. Each person in the story is given just enough information for the reader to appreciate the person for who and what they are, without droning on and on making them boring in the end.

As the story opens, Thomas Payne is attempting to convince the local DI that he is indeed alive and not the dead body in front of them. Unable to do this, things take a turn for the worse and Thomas eventually ends up in jail. Once he is free, he is able to return to his lab, only to find disaster there also. Attempting to get a new passport, in hopes of returning to the USA, is harder than he ever imagined, as he has no records in his university's computer system. So he attempts to find who the victim is and why was he killed in the first place. Who could have done this and why, seems a mystery until the very end of the story when everything comes together and it all makes sense.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death Is Overrated (Jeffrey Perren)

Professor Thomas Payne (American) is off on vacation to Wales and finds himself in a strange predicament. The police believe he is dead, they even find his passport, work visa and identification. With the help of the police captain's daughter Terri, she helps spring him from jail, risking her life to try to help him solve this crime. As they dig deeper he begins to wonder if his Quaker father may be behind this switch and deceive murder.

A page turning murder mystery. Twists, turns and surprises come up along the way. I loved the writing style, Thomas and Terri as well. I feel murder/mystery lovers will enjoy this book. Next I will be reading Cossacks In Paris also by Jeffrey Perren.

[Babus Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A marvellous and witty mystery written with humour and very engaging. When a body is found by a bunch of cave explorers the local constabulary have a puzzle on their hands as their prime suspect claims to be an American citizen by the name of Dr Thomas Payne but the passport found on the body bears the same identification. So who is the actual murder victim and why was he killed?

Fate and his father have strange things planned for Thomas but can he defy both and save the love of his life? This romance/mystery/crime thriller has many turns and is hugely entertaining. I found myself chuckling away to turns of phrase in the book too. Highly recommended!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mistaken identity!

The protagonist Thomas Payne the Physicist was misunderstood by the police for being dead. Apparently, his passport was found on the dead body who happened to fell down from the cliff. Planted by someone who's objective was to cause havoc in Thomas Payne's life.

In order for Payne to get out of the police radar, he has to solve the puzzling mystery. And why his passport was concealed in the victims person.

A fast-paced action-adventure/mystery. A good plot, it will refreshes you on some history with the setting of the novel.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeffrey Perren has weaved a breathtaking, suspense filled tale equal to that of literary classics, whose authors could write engaging tales and didn't have to rely on tiresome expletives and nauseating grunge. Perren's novel should be the new benchmark. If you are a discriminating person of dignity and integrity and enjoy a well-crafted tale, don't let this one escape you.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing mystery! This novel was more about the "accused murder", his past, his life and his future, than it was about solving the mystery of "who done it". I would especially recommend it to readers who don't think they like "murder mysteries" because the plot doesn't follow a typical mystery template!

[Darlene Ledford · Rating 5 out of 5]

was an interesting read

[Y. Correa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. The best way to describe Death is Overrated, what could that be? (insert thinking face here)

I'm going to have to say that it's reminiscent of vintage murder mysteries. It's the game of Clue, meets Sherlock Holmes, meets Agatha Christie. However, not nearly as good—sorry to say.

Following is a bit of the premise:

Professor Thomas Payne, an archeologist-slash-scientist goes caving in Wales, when all of the sudden he finds himself dead. Now, when I say that “he finds himself dead” I really mean that he is looking upon a dead body which the police are calling him—Thomas Payne.
The police are out for him, trying to pin the murder on him and things go ballistic. Somehow Terri, the Police Captain's daughter takes an interest in Payne and becomes an active part of trying to solve the mystery.
True it it's title, when you think someone is dead, all of the sudden they are not.

I am on the fence as to how I feel about this read. I cannot say that I hated it, but I can also not say that it was the worst book ever written. The books does a definite balancing act as far as pros and cons for me.

Following are my pros and cons. This time, I will combine them into bullets with all of my thoughts (both positive and negative) as opposed to separating them by group, then bullet.
The writing is engaging enough, but at certain intervals seems lackluster and also seems to drag on at times.

1. The syntax was great. However, there is tons of UK slang, which can make it a difficult read for those English speaking people from other countries. Particularly those who are not familiar with that type of slang.

2. While this is supposed to be a thriller of sort (as mysteries should be), I didn't truly feel “thrilled”. I did appreciate the small element of realism, however it didn't quite make the “mystery mark” for me.

3. Many of the scenarios felt redundant. I kept thinking to myself “How many times people die?”

4. The characters were likeable enough, well developed for the most part, and the ones that you are meant to not be liked come across as such. Also, while the character of Thomas was well written, sometime he felt a little rude. Needless to say he wasn't really my favorite main character. I preferred Terri.

5. There was the element of romance in the story. While this could potentially be good, when incorporating this element into a mystery novel you must be careful. You do not want the love story to take full reign of the mystery. However, unfortunately, this story did just that.

6. There is some action in the story, but not enough that would keep the action seeker hooked. To be completely honest, I fell asleep several times because the action had dissipated to the point of boredom. It does eventually pick up again, however the gaps between down time and action sequences seem to be too long.

7. While sufficient downtime in any good mystery is necessary in establishing plot, there has to be a method to the madness. There needs to be enough of a hook to keep the reader wanting to turn the page, not wanting to toss the book aside and go to sleep. That was this stories downfall.

In a nutshell, Death is Overrated is a potentially good read, however in my opinion is could be better.

[Queen Spades · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I was given this in exchange for an honest review for TRB.

The first chapter really had me interested and was a great motivator for me to proceed. However, there were moments where it was sluggish and caused my enthusiasm towards the mystery to waver. One was the focus on more romance than mystery. This is a deterrent if you are like me, where the mystery aspect of the story was more important to me than the romance. There were certain occurrences in the story that served more to keep up the romance end of the book than the aura of mystery. In my opinion, there was too much emphasis on Terri and Thomas getting together than should have been used to fuel the momentum of the mystery.

Despite syntax being wonderful, I felt a bit shut out because I didn't understand some of the British slang being used, even in the midst of context. Some things I had to look up to clarify meaning. For me, it’s important to have a work that can connect to more than one type of audience so the syntax made it slightly difficult for me to connect with at full capacity.

Characters: I did like the characters of Rhys and Terri. Overtime, I grew to dislike Thomas. or me, he was very annoying and his behavior at times quite off-putting. The outside characters, particularly the villains, did a good job at carrying the story.

In Death is Overrated, there is no shortage of action. The only drawback is that the same pattern of conflict happened to multiple characters in the book with a few of the “comebacks” bordering on unbelievable.

For the reader who is invested in romance, the ending definitely seems to work. If one is more invested in the mystery, then the resolution may appear a bit tidy or lackluster.

I do see potential in Death is Overrated but the abundant down times, the romance overshadowing the mystery and redundancy in conflict crippled the read for me.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a dramatic opening scene where the main character, Professor Thomas Paine, is falsely identified as a corpse and has great difficulty proving his identity to the police. The situation is made more complex as Thomas is a visiting American Professor and the police force are in Wales.
An emerging romance between the Chief Inspector's daughter, Terri, and Thomas is thwarted at every turn by a conspiracy of competing interests including other academics and Thomas' own father.
Moving rapidly between Wales, Ireland and Scotland Thomas is determined to re-establish himself and find out the truth behind the allegations.
This is good escapist fiction ideal for holiday reading or whenever you want to get lost in a long, convoluted plot in which all the threads are skilfully tied up by the end.
I really enjoyed the author's descriptions of the various locations visited in the course of the story. I also liked the juxtaposition of the Welsh voices of some of the characters with the American English of Thomas and the narrator which gives the novel an interesting writing style which is sustained throughout the book.

[N. Kuhn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like a good mystery should keep you guessing til the very last page. This one, it seemed we got answers early, but have no clue why. Did I miss motives? There's a lot of time spent on Thomas and Terri. Though it was sweet to have that element of romance, I wanted to good mystery. This is a good mystery, but it didn't excite me. I wasn't on the edge of my seat waiting for the hook. The book starts out with a bang, then fizzles a little, then picks back up, then fizzles. It's not just a steady pace through out. There's a lot of times I had to go back and re-read. The language or use of certain words had me confused. The author should have taken into account that people around the world may not understand some things. This wasn't a bad book. I just wish the pace had kept steady throughout. If it were to be tweeked, to where the story just keeps going instead of fizzling out a bit, it would certainly rank 4 stars.

[Literary Chanteuse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Payne is the kind of sleuth that is born out of necessity and lucky for his keen intellect he has the makings of a successful one. Cleverness and a sharp wit get him into and out of several situations on a regular basis throughout the story keeping the pace brisk. Showing sides of a tormented past bring him down to earth and make him that much more appealing. Terri, the attractive but feisty daughter of the chief detective gets caught up in the web of this twisty mystery while trying to control her heart from falling completely for Thomas. The characters seem to end up time and time again in precarious situations that although kept the excitement constant, seemed a tad unrealistic. The setting in Wales adds to the interesting plot and over all an entertaining mystery.

3.5 stars

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Lili · Rating 3 out of 5]

An action packed thriller with a plot to keep you guessing. The author established the scenario in Wales and tries hard to portray this in his characters and the language used, not always successfully. However what he does do is give the reader thrills, spills, intrigue and romance, overall an enjoyable read.

[Julie Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent this book for review and found it a good read. I thought the writing had great style, and together with the intriguing beginning, it drew me in.

There was mystery, romance and action, and although a little slow in parts, overall it was worth reading.