A review by novelbloglover
Death Perception by Lee Allen Howard

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 

Book Review 

Title: Death Perception by Lee Allen Howard 

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller 

Rating: 3 Stars 

Death Perception was an interesting story that in some ways reminded me of The Dead Zone by Stephen King as we follow a young man named Kennet who happens to have a supernatural power. Kennet operate the crematorium at the local funeral home and he discovers that he can learn the cause of death for the people he cremates, however, sometimes the cause of death on the death certificate doesn’t match what Kennet sees which indicates some foul play at work and it was really fun to unravel this mystery with Kennet. The story is very well written featured multiple points of view, different subplots, twists and conspiracies but it does have a lot of obviously religious undertones which I wasn’t keen on and they weren’t hinted at so it caught me by surprise when they were introduced. 

Another interesting feature about Death Perception was that even though there are a lot of things happening at any given point, they were all told in a very straightforward fashion meaning the story is easy to follow and you don’t get confused reading it which is something I really appreciated as a reader as there is nothing more frustrated than a confusing book. Howard’s writing style was artful when he describes the settings and people within the book and he definitely has a talent with word that rivals some of the horror greats but the atmosphere and suspense were lacking for me meaning that the twists weren’t as surprising but there felt like there was very little build up to them. While the idea of Kennet’s supernatural gift wasn’t original it was presented in a very unique fashion given that Kennet works with the dead for a living. 

Despite this I did struggle to identify with Kennet as a protagonist though as until close to the end of the novel there is no clear definition of his character and personality. For the majority of the novel he seems like someone who avoids conflict at all costs and is very much an outsider but he ended up being a really strong, badass character which just didn’t align for me as a reader. Kennet’s decision making through the novel also didn’t seem to come from one consistence core belief and while the storytelling was exceptional it wasn’t quite enough to support the character development. My main issue with Kennet is throughout the novel he is dealt a lot of hard blows and yet seems completely unaffected by them and has little to no emotional reaction to these things. This would be find if Kennet had been presented as an emotionally stunted character or someone that didn’t react strongly to things but this wasn’t the case and he seemed a little one dimensional for me. 

Overall, Death Perception was a good read sending me back to the first time I read The Dead Zone with Kennet’s power and the themes presented. I would recommend this book to reader who like a lot of conspiracy plots and interpersonal relationships between characters but it will lack vital elements for the horror, thriller and mystery readers. Despite this the writing earned a solid three stars from me.