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Max Wolfe #4.5

Tell Him He's Dead

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From the Number One Bestselling Crime Author, a brilliant new SHORT STORY featuring murder detective Max Wolfe who is haunted by a nightmare of his own making ...

As detective Max Wolfe recovers from the injuries sustained in The Murder Bag, a figure from his past comes back into his his childhood sweetheart, now stalked and threatened by her violent ex-partner.

As Max attempts to protect her, he is haunted by a nightmare of his the reappearance of the terrorist he killed with his car at the start of The Murder Bag.

Are they visions brought on by the medication Max is taking? Or is he going mad?

Or do some people just have to be killed twice?


Praise for the DC Max Wolfe series

'Tense and human, fast and authentic' Lee Child

'A relentless plot, evocative prose and compelling characters conspire to make this a must read' Jeffery Deaver

'Great plotting, great characters and at least two eye-widening twists I didn't see coming' Sophie Hannah

'I've long been a fan of Tony Parsons' writing. This is brilliant stuff!' Peter James

61 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 25, 2018

228 people are currently reading
579 people want to read

About the author

Tony Parsons

63 books893 followers
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Tony Parsons (born 6 November 1953) is a British journalist broadcaster and author. He began his career as a music journalist on the NME, writing about punk music. Later, he wrote for The Daily Telegraph, before going on to write his current column for the Daily Mirror. Parsons was for a time a regular guest on the BBC Two arts review programme The Late Show, and still appears infrequently on the successor Newsnight Review; he also briefly hosted a series on Channel 4 called Big Mouth.

He is the author of the multi-million selling novel, Man and Boy (1999). Parsons had written a number of novels including The Kids (1976), Platinum Logic (1981) and Limelight Blues (1983), before he found mainstream success by focussing on the tribulations of thirty-something men. Parsons has since published a series of best-selling novels – One For My Baby (2001), Man and Wife (2003), The Family Way (2004), Stories We Could Tell (2006), My Favourite Wife (2007), Starting Over (2009) and Men From the Boys (2010). His novels typically deal with relationship problems, emotional dramas and the traumas of men and women in our time. He describes his writing as 'Men Lit', as opposed to the rising popularity of 'Chick Lit'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Par...

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5 stars
396 (31%)
4 stars
419 (32%)
3 stars
322 (25%)
2 stars
95 (7%)
1 star
43 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
Profile Image for Gary.
3,045 reviews425 followers
June 30, 2019
Good value but not long enough for my liking. Quite a lot here packed into a such a short book, but felt a little rushed towards the end.
Max Wolfe is recovering from the injuries sustained in The Murder Bag when a figure from his past comes back into his life. His childhood sweetheart, now stalked and threatened by her violent ex-partner.
Max attempts to protect her but is haunted by a nightmare of his own, the reappearance of the terrorist he killed with his car at the start of The Murder Bag. Is Max losing his mind, having hallucinations brought on by his medication, or do some people just have to be killed twice?
Profile Image for Jo Jenner.
Author 9 books51 followers
March 3, 2018
If you've read even one of the Max Wolfe novels this short story is a great little read.
However if you don't know Max and his colleagues then there is not enough explanation to help you understand what is going one and why characters react the way they do.
For me this was over too soon and Max sits much better in Novel form.
Profile Image for Richard.
2,333 reviews196 followers
January 25, 2018
A great short story if you have missed your fix of DC Max Wolfe. This kindle format allows for a couple of chapters from Girl on Fire due out in March 2018.
The past catches up with Max in his early police career here on a plot akin to ‘Strangers on a train’. In The Murder Bag Max prevents a terrorist incident by driving his car at a perpetrator, killing him and stopping his bomb exploding. Unfortunately, Max is now seeing the jihadist and his red rucksack at every turn; maybe it’s his meds in his system but it is unsettling.
Meanwhile his first girlfriend and first love Echo is suffering from domestic abuse, harassment and stalking by her ex-husband. ‘If I can’t have you no one will have or want you.’
Max makes a complete mess of dealing with this as he tries to warn the ex-hubby off with his escalating violence towards Echo and their young son. Max has no romantic interest but just a simple sense of honour and a dislike for bullies. By mess Max gets arrested and threatened with suspension. As Wayne the bully seems to have the law on his side and witnesses that place him nowhere his ex-wife’s place.
The case is going nowhere, the violence is escalating and Echo feels vulnerable and unable to escape the situation. Max questions his role, and it flags up the poor record the police have in stalker cases.
Then he seeks advice from his mate at the Black Museum and the solution is clear.
Profile Image for Sluserfive.
136 reviews14 followers
April 20, 2018
The only thing is

The new version was good for me it is a free version but it’s a free game free free app to be able and play it great way of making you want the game great way too hard and good way too good to game good for
Profile Image for Kevin.
877 reviews41 followers
February 3, 2019
3.5*

An author I have not read before.

It was an interesting short story, while it's formulaic in the setting, the difference maker is the twist that is provided in how the story ends.
Profile Image for Anke.
2,506 reviews97 followers
April 24, 2018
When I saw that I somehow missed this story, after reading book #5, I thought I also missed some development regarding his personal life. Sadly that wasn't so.
Overall, it was just too abstruse.
Profile Image for Neil.
Author 7 books6 followers
May 1, 2018
An enjoyable hour-long read that left me hungry for more of the world of DC Max Wolfe
Profile Image for Ted Tayler.
Author 79 books299 followers
March 15, 2018
"A short story with attitude"

This was the first Tony Parsons book I've read, so I didn't know what to expect. Even in a short story like this I understand why he's so highly regarded. The quality of writing in several chapters was superb. The tension was electric and crackled off the page. Max Wolfe is a great character. As I finished the last page my overall impression was of the curate's egg. Parts of this story seemed disconnected in some way, maybe that was because this was my first experience.
Profile Image for Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου.
Author 6 books386 followers
October 25, 2024
Το βιβλίο έχει χαρακτήρα, έχει ταυτότητα, διαθέτει όλα εκείνα τα στοιχεία που κάνουν τον συγγραφέα να ξεχωρίζει, αλλά σε σύγκριση με τις προηγούμενες νουβέλες του συγγραφέα, αν και διαβάζεται εύκολα, γρήγορα κι ευχάριστα, είναι λιγότερο ενδιαφέρουσα, συνολικά. Παρ' όλα ταύτα, ένα must για τους fans της σειράς.
Profile Image for Louise Perkinton.
64 reviews4 followers
March 28, 2020
I love these little stories between the main books, quick and easy to read!
Profile Image for Ellie Yarde.
Author 2 books10 followers
March 2, 2022
Detective Max Wolfe may usually deal in homicides, but when an old girlfriend is the person who is asking the police for help, he can’t simply let his colleagues deal with it. Her ex-husband just got out of jail, and she feels threatened, unsafe. Max is still dealing with demons left over from a past case when he takes on Echo’s case as his own, and despite knowing he’s dead he is seeing the terrorist with the red bag everywhere.

This novel is not a short story that cuts corners for the sake of being short. It took me about an hour to read, and I could not have asked for more detail, backstory, or action. This is the sort of book that has you frowning at the pages, trying to figure out what is really going on. And, with Max seeing a dead man, you also start to question what can possibly be real. Max is not a perfect character, he can lose his temper and end up on the wrong side of the interrogation table, but he also does his best to do what he feels is right, and he was a wonderful character to follow in this story. This is the kind of book that draws you into the series, wanting to spend more time with the characters, and to watch that backstory play out in real time. A great crime thriller, especially for when you don’t want to stay up too late reading.
Profile Image for Michele Northwood.
Author 22 books41 followers
July 11, 2021
Tell him he’s dead: by Tony Parsons

This is the first time that I have read this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The MC, Max Wolfe, is recovering from the injuries he sustained in his last case. He is on heavy medication, so when he sees a terrorist he recently killed ambling through the streets, he is unsure if he is seeing a ghost, or if the medication is causing hallucinations.
On top of this, when he is called to a domestic incident and finds Echo, an ex-girlfriend who is being stalked and threatened by her partner, he is forced to reminisce and think about what might have been.
As the terrorist and Echo’s ex continue to make more frequent appearances. Things become complicated until everyone is embroiled.
I loved the ending which I didn’t see coming… then again, neither did the victim.
I enjoyed this book; the story was well written and fast-moving, and didn’t feel I needed to have read past books to understand the characters or the story.
9 reviews1 follower
October 5, 2024
For a free short story on Kindle, it seems hard to complain. However, after the successes of “The Hanging Club” and “Die Last”, both of which were 5* for me, this feels like a bit of a let down.
This short story comes before Book 2 chronologically and this certainly feels like it from a quality perspective.
Don’t get me wrong, just like with all Wolfe books, there is a good idea here and I think if it was a fraction longer you might have a really good short story here.

Ranking at the end of “Tell Him He’s Dead”:

1. The Hanging Club - Book 3 - 5*
2. Die Last - Book 4 - 5*
3. The Slaughter Man - Book 2 - 4*
4. The Murder Bag - Book 1 - 3*
5 Tell Him He’s Dead - Book 4.5 - 3*
29 reviews
Read
May 24, 2020
This is a book for people who want to know the detective as much as the murderer. This book has a love interest, but it is the love of a father for his child, and it is as much part of the story as the crime element. The detective becomes not just the police, but a fully rounded character in his own right. There are plenty of other characters as well and all of them are people you feel you would recognise if you met them. There are a few books in this series and I’m looking forward to reading more of them.
Profile Image for Josh Gallimore.
44 reviews
December 9, 2024
A contrived load of absolute nonsense compared to the other books in this series. This book has Max acting completely outside the law, making bad decision after bad decision and dropping cheesy one liners at the end of every chapter.

There's one decision Max makes in this book that is SO INSANE I had to put the book down and tell my partner about it. I'm planning on reading book 5 soon and I already know that the lead will face zero consequences, despite being guilty of several crimes that his higher ups are completely aware of.

The book was free on Amazon and I still want a refund.
Profile Image for Sentinelle23.
2,018 reviews33 followers
January 3, 2023
🌐A captivating novelette to read.


Echo Halstrom was giving her statement to the police officer who came to her house.

She called on her former childhood sweetheart, DC Max Wolfe, to help.

---------------------

An interesting novelette that allows you to discover the character of DC Max Wolfe, a policeman with a sensitive character.

It made me want to read more.
Profile Image for Kevin Gardner.
271 reviews6 followers
March 18, 2018
Good story

Having just finished Mr parsons debut novel the Murder bag I thought I would dive straight into this short ebook, and short is the word although it is a very good read. Recommended.
Profile Image for Lisa Clift.
482 reviews6 followers
December 13, 2020
This is too short to get into detail, and if you didn't already know Max and his background it would make no sense. He's all full of himself, and it's an unlikely scenario with too many huge coincidences.
1,181 reviews6 followers
January 31, 2018
Good Read

A short story but it still contains plenty of twists and turns and an ending that I did not see coming. Another great read from Tony
311 reviews
February 3, 2018
Tell him hes dead

Good short story
As it was easily wrote it was a book you didn't want to pyt down
The main character I liked and it would be interesting to see how he develops
223 reviews1 follower
March 11, 2018
This is a good short story from Tony Parson's. It did not disappoint. If this is his. usual standard than I can't wait to read his longer novels
Profile Image for Karolyn.
1,329 reviews43 followers
April 10, 2018
This was a great short involving Max Wolfe, I do like the Tony Parson's books, so easy to read and plenty of action usually involving Max
Profile Image for Sharon Melia.
189 reviews1 follower
January 14, 2019
An ok

It was ok. Didn't feel a connection to this book like others. An easy 3\5 stars. Would still like to read some more max wolfe.
769 reviews3 followers
April 25, 2020
Fantastic

What an absolutely amazing read from beginning to end. The storyline was thrilling and engaging, the characters had their own personalities. Thoroughly recommend it.
Profile Image for John Steel.
44 reviews
June 2, 2020
Really 3 1/2 stars. My first Tony Parsons. Will read more.
Profile Image for Tracey Honeyman.
212 reviews
July 28, 2020
It is amazing how such a short story can tell a gripping tale, have you on the edge of your seat and get the twist in as well. This one certainly did this...
Profile Image for Lisa.
79 reviews
Read
September 12, 2020
Rushed ending

Parsons delivers again with another thrilling adventure from Max Wolfe further ending felt rushed and a little forced. Still enjoyable.
349 reviews
March 28, 2021
Great short story

Just another day in the life of Max Wolfe. Usual mix of violence and villains, and short enjoyable chapters. Excellent for a quick read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews

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