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Dead Ahead
With the unstoppable onslaught of large corporations taking over independent funeral directors, this story tells of one such independent funeral director in London who is determined to unload his funeral homes onto the Norwegian private equity company Steiffen-Koch, which is offering big krone for a piece of the UK funeral market.
Winston Clodpense Rott's whole work force face an uncertain future until the shenanigans of a local crime lord and two bungling cremation superintendents bring about a startling change.
Rott's team, led by Douglas Deeler, comprises a host of dysfunctional and disgusting characters, all of who, despite their hygiene and habit issues, become the core players in this wry, tongue-in-cheek glimpse into the world of dealing with the dead.
Winston Clodpense Rott's whole work force face an uncertain future until the shenanigans of a local crime lord and two bungling cremation superintendents bring about a startling change.
Rott's team, led by Douglas Deeler, comprises a host of dysfunctional and disgusting characters, all of who, despite their hygiene and habit issues, become the core players in this wry, tongue-in-cheek glimpse into the world of dealing with the dead.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2020
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September 28, 2020
Dead Ahead is a book crammed full of inventive people, places and scenes set around a dingy underworld of criminals, conmen and undertakers. Whilst the story does tie together at the end and becomes a victory for the underdogs, for the most part the book is a succession of scenes and anecdotes whose main intent is to make the reader laugh. The humour is very much undertaker’s humour, frequently dark, frequently tasteless and sometimes daring the reader to be offended.
The book can’t resist a fun or punny name. People are called Wank, crematorium workers are called Burns and Crisp, almost everyone has a silly name. Also the book mixes real places, joke places and odd variations of Willesden.
One of my favourite elements was the links between undertakers and criminals. At first, there were simple fiddles, sneaking unwanted garden waste into coffins but grew into reselling coffins, stealing clothes and jewellrey from corpses, selling used pacemakers and burying mob killings. Like much of the book, these fiddles escalate to ridiculous levels with some undertakers exploding a crematorium with pacemakers at the end.
There were a number of stand-out scenes, my favourite featured two undertaker companies who had to bring down a very fat man down sixteen floors without a lift. One company simply waits for the more professional team to bring the body down, knock them out and steal the body. Having heard my Dad tell undertaker anecdotes - this was only a little unbelievable.
This not a tight book, nor is it deep but its fun, absurdist and action packed.
The book can’t resist a fun or punny name. People are called Wank, crematorium workers are called Burns and Crisp, almost everyone has a silly name. Also the book mixes real places, joke places and odd variations of Willesden.
One of my favourite elements was the links between undertakers and criminals. At first, there were simple fiddles, sneaking unwanted garden waste into coffins but grew into reselling coffins, stealing clothes and jewellrey from corpses, selling used pacemakers and burying mob killings. Like much of the book, these fiddles escalate to ridiculous levels with some undertakers exploding a crematorium with pacemakers at the end.
There were a number of stand-out scenes, my favourite featured two undertaker companies who had to bring down a very fat man down sixteen floors without a lift. One company simply waits for the more professional team to bring the body down, knock them out and steal the body. Having heard my Dad tell undertaker anecdotes - this was only a little unbelievable.
This not a tight book, nor is it deep but its fun, absurdist and action packed.
Displaying 1 of 1 review