What do you think?
Rate this book
Dean Grant ME #4
Dying Breath
BREATHLESS DEATH
He felt most alive when he watched them die--writing, breathless, gasping for oxygen that wasn't there. But he could only draw out the pleasure for so long before his victims expired. And then it was time to choose another...
AN AIRTIGHT CASE
Death by asphyxiation. That's what Chicago medical examiner Dr. Dean Grant was forced to conclude by the gruesome evidence before him. Recognizing the work of a serial killer, Grant knew he'd have to move fast. The Windy City was in a panic, waiting for him to crack his most bizarre case yet... a case he vowed to solve even if it was with his dying breath...
(Approximately 80,000 words. This is the fourth book in the Dean Grant series.)
About the Author
Robert W. Walker is the author of more than forty thriller and horror novels, including 4 books in the EDGE series and 11 books in the acclaimed INSTINCT series featuring FBI medical examiner Jessica Coran.
Praise for Robert W. Walker
"Masterful." -- Clive Cussler
"Ingenious." -- San Francisco Examiner
"Gruesome." -- The Sunday Oklahoman
"Frightening." -- Midwest Book Review."
"Bone-chilling." -- Publisher's Weekly
"Perfect for Patricia Cornwell fans." -- Mystery Scene
"Walker is a master at the top of his game." -- Jack Kilborn
He felt most alive when he watched them die--writing, breathless, gasping for oxygen that wasn't there. But he could only draw out the pleasure for so long before his victims expired. And then it was time to choose another...
AN AIRTIGHT CASE
Death by asphyxiation. That's what Chicago medical examiner Dr. Dean Grant was forced to conclude by the gruesome evidence before him. Recognizing the work of a serial killer, Grant knew he'd have to move fast. The Windy City was in a panic, waiting for him to crack his most bizarre case yet... a case he vowed to solve even if it was with his dying breath...
(Approximately 80,000 words. This is the fourth book in the Dean Grant series.)
About the Author
Robert W. Walker is the author of more than forty thriller and horror novels, including 4 books in the EDGE series and 11 books in the acclaimed INSTINCT series featuring FBI medical examiner Jessica Coran.
Praise for Robert W. Walker
"Masterful." -- Clive Cussler
"Ingenious." -- San Francisco Examiner
"Gruesome." -- The Sunday Oklahoman
"Frightening." -- Midwest Book Review."
"Bone-chilling." -- Publisher's Weekly
"Perfect for Patricia Cornwell fans." -- Mystery Scene
"Walker is a master at the top of his game." -- Jack Kilborn
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
4 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
About the author
Robert W. Walker
184 books77 followersAka Geoffrey Caine, Glenn Hale, Evan Kingsbury, Stephen Robertson
Master of suspense and bone-chilling terror, Robert W. Walker, BS and MS in English Education, Northwestern University, has penned 44 novels and has taught language and writing for over 25 years. Showing no signs of slowing down, he is currently juggling not one but three new series ideas, and has completed a film script and a TV treatment. Having grown up in Chicago and having been born in the shadow of the Shiloh battlefield, near Corinth, Mississippi, Walker has two writing traditions to uphold--the Windy City one and the Southern one--all of which makes him uniquely suited to write City for Ransom and its sequels, Shadows in White City and City of the Absent. His Dead On will be published in July 2009. Walker is currently working on a new romantic-suspense-historical-mainstream novel, titled Children of Salem. In 2003 and 2004 Walker saw an unprecedented seven novels released on the "unsuspecting public," as he puts it. Final Edge, Grave Instinct, and Absolute Instinct were published in 2004. City of the Absent debuted in 2008 from Avon. Walker lives in Charleston, West Virginia.
Master of suspense and bone-chilling terror, Robert W. Walker, BS and MS in English Education, Northwestern University, has penned 44 novels and has taught language and writing for over 25 years. Showing no signs of slowing down, he is currently juggling not one but three new series ideas, and has completed a film script and a TV treatment. Having grown up in Chicago and having been born in the shadow of the Shiloh battlefield, near Corinth, Mississippi, Walker has two writing traditions to uphold--the Windy City one and the Southern one--all of which makes him uniquely suited to write City for Ransom and its sequels, Shadows in White City and City of the Absent. His Dead On will be published in July 2009. Walker is currently working on a new romantic-suspense-historical-mainstream novel, titled Children of Salem. In 2003 and 2004 Walker saw an unprecedented seven novels released on the "unsuspecting public," as he puts it. Final Edge, Grave Instinct, and Absolute Instinct were published in 2004. City of the Absent debuted in 2008 from Avon. Walker lives in Charleston, West Virginia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 2, 2024
Probably the second best Dr. Dean Grant novel after RAZOR'S EDGE. Although no one survives an encounter with a serial killer by imitating an otter in this one it does have a serial killer butcher who faints at the sight of blood and gets high from huffing his victims' breath which allows him to communicate with the astral body of King Solomon, so there's that.
April 1, 2018
After the sensational releases of "Red Dragon" and "Silence of the Lambs," the publishers behind the golden age of paperback horror fiction tried to breathe new life (pun intended) into the genre by releasing a plethora of serial-killer-on-the-loose novels, as opposed to killer-animals-running-amok or demons-killing-the-resale-value-of-family-home plots that were popular fodder in the earlier years of the era. Robert Walker's police procedurals featuring Chicago Medical Examiner Dean Grant was a perfect vehicle to cash in on the hype, and thus "Dying Breath," the fourth entry in the Dean Grant series, was born.
Featuring a central female protagonist, and a slew of law enforcement types in pursuit of a sadistic killer, this novel had all the right elements to draw readers who were familiar with, and fond of, Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter stories.
Fans of Blake Crouch's "Andrew Z. Thomas" series will appreciate the early efforts here: a killer revealed early on to readers but who is unknown to the protagonists, the story of how said protagonists find the killer, and the mayhem that ensues from there. Also like in the Crouch series, "Dying Breath" does not shy away from the gruesome depictions of torture and murder committed by the killer. In fact, the murders are so jarring that I had to take a break between them and take a peek at how far along I was in the book. Each time I did this, I hoped I was far along enough that I had read about the last murder in this book. But the novel never let's up, I'm afraid, just like the hours of torture by asphyxiation the victims have to endure.
I both loved and hated elements of this book.
What I loved were that the murders are committed by a plain, middle-aged kurmudgen of a Polish butcher who is an everyday neighborhood fixture, reminding me of Victor Buono's character in the Sweeney Todd retelling from the 60s called "Meat is Meat." The descriptions of Chicago and the nearby town of Hammond, Indiana, are also poetic and hilarious, clearly written by a someone very familiar with the area. Also, the plot seems very predictable throughout the reading, yet it does throw multiple curve-balls to keep you engaged in the action. And the horror elements of the book are some of the hardest to get through--and I have read some disturbing stuff!
I also love the folklore and Jungian psychology behind the killer's motives. Very 80's and very juicy!
What I didn't like was how the author tried to make the female lead so tough, independent, and intelligent, even throwing in some neo-feminist internal dialogue to show some of her motivations, but her actual actions up until the last act made her seem anything but tough, independent, and intelligent. She gets attracted to almost any character of the opposite sex, is portrayed as emotionally unstable in her work and always needing to be redirected by her father-like boss Dr. Grant (who she also has a crush on), and who ultimately acts more like a fragile 13 year-old than a genius in forensics. Robert Walker was in no way able to create a Clarisse Starling. Instead, we have a heroine who simply motivates us to skip past many of her appearances in the narrative.
Also, the science and plot devices are kind of silly. The killer uses Valium to render his victims unconscious, putting it in the steaks he grills up for them in a ritualistic last meal. The pharmacodynamics of Valium is such that it would take quite a while to make someone sedated, let alone have the denatured drug fried up in a piece of ribeye do anything significant whatsoever. And the author would also have us believe an injection of Valium would put someone to sleep in seconds. And where was he getting all this Valium in the first place? This was the late 80s, the heyday of cocaine, not the era of mother's little helper. The killer supposedly likes to get high on CO2, but it seems to me he has a supply of high-quality downers to keep him stoned until the next millenium.
Finally, the killer makes so many stupid and rash decisions, the only reason this novel is not a short story is because law enforcement is as inept in this tale as he is. I also didn't like how by the end his character is reduced to little more than a cussing, reasonless brute.
Overall, this is an entertaining little horror/thriller/police procedural mystery for those who like 80s pulp fiction, or who like watching endless reruns of "CSI," or who can only stomach tamer serial killer fare, or all of the above.
Featuring a central female protagonist, and a slew of law enforcement types in pursuit of a sadistic killer, this novel had all the right elements to draw readers who were familiar with, and fond of, Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter stories.
Fans of Blake Crouch's "Andrew Z. Thomas" series will appreciate the early efforts here: a killer revealed early on to readers but who is unknown to the protagonists, the story of how said protagonists find the killer, and the mayhem that ensues from there. Also like in the Crouch series, "Dying Breath" does not shy away from the gruesome depictions of torture and murder committed by the killer. In fact, the murders are so jarring that I had to take a break between them and take a peek at how far along I was in the book. Each time I did this, I hoped I was far along enough that I had read about the last murder in this book. But the novel never let's up, I'm afraid, just like the hours of torture by asphyxiation the victims have to endure.
I both loved and hated elements of this book.
What I loved were that the murders are committed by a plain, middle-aged kurmudgen of a Polish butcher who is an everyday neighborhood fixture, reminding me of Victor Buono's character in the Sweeney Todd retelling from the 60s called "Meat is Meat." The descriptions of Chicago and the nearby town of Hammond, Indiana, are also poetic and hilarious, clearly written by a someone very familiar with the area. Also, the plot seems very predictable throughout the reading, yet it does throw multiple curve-balls to keep you engaged in the action. And the horror elements of the book are some of the hardest to get through--and I have read some disturbing stuff!
I also love the folklore and Jungian psychology behind the killer's motives. Very 80's and very juicy!
What I didn't like was how the author tried to make the female lead so tough, independent, and intelligent, even throwing in some neo-feminist internal dialogue to show some of her motivations, but her actual actions up until the last act made her seem anything but tough, independent, and intelligent. She gets attracted to almost any character of the opposite sex, is portrayed as emotionally unstable in her work and always needing to be redirected by her father-like boss Dr. Grant (who she also has a crush on), and who ultimately acts more like a fragile 13 year-old than a genius in forensics. Robert Walker was in no way able to create a Clarisse Starling. Instead, we have a heroine who simply motivates us to skip past many of her appearances in the narrative.
Also, the science and plot devices are kind of silly. The killer uses Valium to render his victims unconscious, putting it in the steaks he grills up for them in a ritualistic last meal. The pharmacodynamics of Valium is such that it would take quite a while to make someone sedated, let alone have the denatured drug fried up in a piece of ribeye do anything significant whatsoever. And the author would also have us believe an injection of Valium would put someone to sleep in seconds. And where was he getting all this Valium in the first place? This was the late 80s, the heyday of cocaine, not the era of mother's little helper. The killer supposedly likes to get high on CO2, but it seems to me he has a supply of high-quality downers to keep him stoned until the next millenium.
Finally, the killer makes so many stupid and rash decisions, the only reason this novel is not a short story is because law enforcement is as inept in this tale as he is. I also didn't like how by the end his character is reduced to little more than a cussing, reasonless brute.
Overall, this is an entertaining little horror/thriller/police procedural mystery for those who like 80s pulp fiction, or who like watching endless reruns of "CSI," or who can only stomach tamer serial killer fare, or all of the above.
July 28, 2019
So the copy I have is the one with the screaming lady with her head on a bag for the cover. I would never have decided to read this book were it not for the cover. I wish I knew how to post a picture in my review, cuz you would most assuredly agree that it is a spectacular cover.
That said, I'm glad I read it.
Basic premise: a serial killer zips people up in plastic bags and watches them die in his freezer. That's not a spoiler. As we, le readers, are privvy to the killer's identity from the onset and his modus operandi is made clear within the prologue. Duh!
Anyway the story is more about a trio of Forensics Experts and their police chief friend trying to figure out what we, le reader, already know. That is: a serial killer zips people up in plastic bags and watches them die in his freezer. Duh!
The characters are relatively well portrayed, though the female lead seems to find everyone attractive and one guy seems to think he is everyone's father. Other than that it was an interesting serial killer story with a pretty unique style of killings.
I feel like that last sentence reads weird...
The one I just wrote.
Not the one in the book.
That one was fine.
That said, I'm glad I read it.
Basic premise: a serial killer zips people up in plastic bags and watches them die in his freezer. That's not a spoiler. As we, le readers, are privvy to the killer's identity from the onset and his modus operandi is made clear within the prologue. Duh!
Anyway the story is more about a trio of Forensics Experts and their police chief friend trying to figure out what we, le reader, already know. That is: a serial killer zips people up in plastic bags and watches them die in his freezer. Duh!
The characters are relatively well portrayed, though the female lead seems to find everyone attractive and one guy seems to think he is everyone's father. Other than that it was an interesting serial killer story with a pretty unique style of killings.
I feel like that last sentence reads weird...
The one I just wrote.
Not the one in the book.
That one was fine.
February 24, 2026
Considering this was written in the early 80s, it’s much darker than I was expecting it to be. Great read, especially if you like serial killer books.
March 16, 2018
I'm totally in favor of older books seeing new life as ebooks on platforms like the Kindle. However, there are a few common problems I've noticed which together make such reborn books all but un-readable. First, a lack of proofreading; sentences end with commas, paragraphs lack proper indentation (which also relates to the second issue, but more on that later), etc. Second, the people who format the text file for upload have little or no experience. Having done this myself, I can say in their defense that it isn't easy, but when you're marketing a product for public consumption, that isn't much of an excuse. Clickable chapter links are a must, as are proper chapter headings; although layout is customizable, there's only so much a reader can do, the rest is left to the formatter.
As for this specific book, I was intrigued by the concept - a deranged serial killer who uses his victims' final breaths to commune with a being he calls 'Solomon' - but after being hooked, found myself wading through a mediocre - and I cannot stress that word enough - police procedural-cum-character drama. Usually, I wouldn't be so hard on a novel, but from what I gather, this is not Robert W. Walker's first book - far from it! It reads like it was hastily written, with one goal in mind: to make money. I forced myself to read the first 75% or so (some Kindle editions don't come with page markers), but then skipped over the last 25% because I grew tired of wasting my time and energy on characters I simply did not care about.
Bottom line: Life's too short to read bad books.
I'll give Robert W. Walker another chance, but I will definitely be more selective when choosing books in the future.
As for this specific book, I was intrigued by the concept - a deranged serial killer who uses his victims' final breaths to commune with a being he calls 'Solomon' - but after being hooked, found myself wading through a mediocre - and I cannot stress that word enough - police procedural-cum-character drama. Usually, I wouldn't be so hard on a novel, but from what I gather, this is not Robert W. Walker's first book - far from it! It reads like it was hastily written, with one goal in mind: to make money. I forced myself to read the first 75% or so (some Kindle editions don't come with page markers), but then skipped over the last 25% because I grew tired of wasting my time and energy on characters I simply did not care about.
Bottom line: Life's too short to read bad books.
I'll give Robert W. Walker another chance, but I will definitely be more selective when choosing books in the future.
June 11, 2018
I read this in paperback, which is relatively hard to find and most copies are pretty expensive from what I've seen. Nevertheless, Walker clearly did his research into procedural police techniques, something I will give him props for. A bit slow at times, but overall, a pretty good little pulpy mystery/horror.
October 7, 2020
I was looking for something quick and thrilling and this one was ok. We follow 2 medical examiners as they investigate a serial killer who is murdering his victims by slowly letting them run out of oxygen. It was gruesome in parts but overall not bad.
September 28, 2021
2.5 I found the killer very unique but the rest of the characters fell flat for me. This is part of a series about a team of medical examiners which was unbeknownst to me. I just grabbed it since it was a Pinnacle horror paperback and because of that chilling cover.
July 19, 2017
very good
September 21, 2025
didn’t read any of these other detective thrillers but interest is piqued. Really solid thriller(This is another backlog from earlier this year)
December 18, 2023
Industrial strength, see-through body bag with zipper. Inside the victims air taken, bag opened expelling CO2, the killer inhaling, getting in touch with his inner self, his inner demons. He thrived on the last dying breaths. The body now dumped, discarded in a dirty, disgusting rat infested dumpster. The killer a butcher by trade, he watched his father butcher his mother at a young age. The killer was kept in a freezer for long bouts by his murdering, abusive father. Now he was stalking victims, mostly homeless, nobody would care if they went missing. He wanted them younger, their dying breath fresher, he liked the control he had, the faces losing oxygen, eyes bulging, fear, terror, he felt like a vampire who could live forever, feeding on the exhalations. He started to get named the suffocator by the press. Bodies piling, forensic work on overload.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews