Dead Man Walking

An Ishmael Jones Mystery, Book 2

By: Simon R. Green

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Call me Ishmael. Ishmael Jones. I am the man in the shadows, that even the shadows are afraid of. The secret agent whose life is the greatest secret of all. And some of the cases I work are trickier than others."  

A rogue agent has come in from the cold and wants to spill his secrets. The Organization wants Ishmael to find out if Frank Parker is who he says he is, what he really knows, and why he has emerged from the shadows after all this time.  

Ishmael heads to Ringstone Lodge in Yorkshire, where Parker is being held to find that an atmosphere of fear and suspicion prevails. As he and his fellow residents are menaced by a series of alarming and inexplicable incidents, Ishmael sets out to prove that it's human trickery rather than any supernatural being behind the seemingly ghostly goings-on. But matters take an unexpected turn when one of their number is brutally murdered, and once again, Ishmael must turn detective in order to entrap a twisted killer before they strike again.

©2016 Simon R. Green (P)2019 Tantor

Not worth the credit

Stop do not read book two. It is just a regurgitation of book one. Simon Green again uses the staple of a murder in a locked room scenario for the second time. Everyone is in a locked room when a murder is committed. The culprit must be one on them.

Ishmale Jones who is mysterious, lonely, logical, and intelligent in book one now has taken on a female partner. He has been without a partner since the beginning of his career. In book 1 he said he liked it that way. Now solely because it was enjoyable with Penny in book 1, she is now his partner. Penny was described as slightly promiscuous, and fun loving. Even she implies she is there to brighten up the place; wherever the place happens to be. He basically uses her as a sounding board.

She had a self-defense class in her posh boarding school and a gun handling course between book one and two. She has no knowledge of the dark side or the extensive training required for an agent. When they work together, Ishmale must be concerned about her safety and cannot use his abilities to their fullest. She is more of a handicap.

The justification for the partnership is for Penny to help him be human. Yet, John has been masquerading as human since 1986. He knows if you loose your empathy you have lost your humanity. He tells Penny if you are not affected by killing you have lost, you are no longer human. Ishmale needs that loneliness for the reader to connect with his soul.

Simon Green usually delivers the stuff that makes his characters unique. When reading the Night Side series, you know there will be things that go bump in the night and only things of the night thrive in the Night Side. With the Drood family story, there will be high-tech gadgets, shiny armor and Eddie Drood fighting something that should not be in normal reality. Ishmale is supposed to handle the dark stuff for the organization. There was no dark stuff here. Sorry this is my last book for this series. I can't deal with Penny.

AWESOME! FANTASTIC NARRATOR.

Another hit by Simon R Green. Kept me awake all night finishing the book. Fantastic story and brilliantly performed/narrated by Gildart Jackson. I have already downloaded book 3 and I hope there will more books coming out ASAP. Excellent series and most enjoyable with a superb performance by Gildart Jackson.

Good mystery great dry humor

This book is a good mystery. Its real attraction is the dry British humor that keeps you chuckling all the way through. The narration is outstanding

Entertainment

As with all his book, very entertaining.
The whodunit with a twist and snap lol.

Mysterious otherworldly being finds adventure in England

Excellent series! Very unique: plot lines, characters and their growth. Mysteries
are skillfully plotted, even tho there are no real surprises, well worth the time to travel/ solve the mysteries by the two main charters. Books are in sequence but after the first two; enjoy Ismael and his lady love’ s travels and mysteries.

Even better than the first book!

Like with the first book, I am amazed that the author is able to make this premise work. It is old-school murder mystery with funny dialogue and distinct characters. The fact that the main character is an alien with extraordinary powers gives the author some leeway in how situations are handled and, though at times it seems like an easy out, it does make for interesting character development.

I am not sure what genre this book even falls into. But I enjoyed it a lot and in this second book of the series the two main characters are developing nicely. They feel familiar to characters I've met in other books, but in a nice way.

Gildart Jackson is an excellent reader and I think his narration only improves the book! A fun, farcical mystery. I am hooked.

Great Story!

Excellently narrated. The story was a delightful puzzle, including suspense and just enough gore. I plan to continue the series.

Love it !

I love the Ishmael Jones series. They have chosen the perfect narrator for this series.

it's nice to have a great ending.

oh wow neat.. Let's not give anything away. not yet.. not now .How uncanny. must listen close..

wonderful

great performance, great story and lots of fun to listen too. Will be getting the next in the series.

Intriguing, cosy mystery story

Having listened to the first book in the series I immediately went to this one and was not disappointed. Time will tell if the settings change in later books, but this was another cosy mystery with interesting characters and an enigma to solve.

I have to single out the narrator Gildart Jackson who did another fantastic job. The different characters were given different accents/inflections/personalities and he really brought the book to life. Ishmael Jones himself is performed with a dry attitude and humour befitting of the character and I don’t think I could listen to anyone else reading these books now.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and the series so far.

It is trash.

I gave the series another try. First book got very lame at the end.
This one again.
You really do not have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what is going on at about the middle of the book but i kept hoping it would not come to that.
Really disappointing.
The parts that would be interesting are just salad dressing.
The book tries to put a modern twist on murder miseries but it feels like fast-food trying to imitate a proper meal.
Fills you up but the aftertaste is really not worth it.

It's The Avengers all over again ...

Suddenly realised that Ishmael and Penny remind me of Steed and his various female sidekicks!!!
Plot much the same as the first book - isolated house, puzzling goings-on, mounting body count, etc, etc, but with lots of interest along the way and a brilliant narrator ... let's see what the third instalment has to offer.

Not Simon Green's best storey

A little too much retrospection making the story slow. I've enjoyed his other Ishmael Jones stories much more.