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The Dead Man #7-9

The Dead Man Vol 3: The Beast Within, Fire & Ice, and Carnival of Death

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After dying in a freak accident, Matt Cahill inexplicably “wakes up” three months later with the disturbing ability to see things—terrible things—that others cannot. Drafted as a warrior in the battle between good and evil, Matt will stop at nothing to destroy the malevolent Mr. Dark. In The Dead Man Volume 3, a trio of sinister new stories tracks the reluctant hero on his nightmarish quest.

Matt’s search for a paranoid visionary who claims to have defeated a supernatural entity like Mr. Dark leads him deep into the Michigan woods. But when he finds himself trapped in a bloody siege between warring factions, his only hope for escape from an unstoppable advance of mayhem, carnage, and black magic is to trust his instincts, grab his ax, and unleash the ferocity of The Beast Within.

In Fire and Ice,a disgruntled ex-employee at a chemical company walks into the plant and starts shooting, trapping Matt and four other workers inside. As the body count rises, Matt realizes the shooter has a much bigger, deadlier plan in mind, one that could leave thousands dead. And just when he thinks the day can’t get any worse, the cunning Mr. Dark raises the stakes to horrifying heights.

Hungry for respite from his solitary mission, Matt takes a gig working security at a traveling carnival. But it doesn’t take long for him to realize that something isn’t quite right. Sure enough, a series of violent events rocks the carnival and a charlatan’s dark prophecies suddenly begin coming true. So when she foresees imminent doom, Matt knows it can only mean one thing: Mr. Dark is here, and it’s not for the cotton candy…it’s to ignite a bloody Carnival of Death.

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 24, 2012

About the author

Lee Goldberg

144 books1,914 followers
#1 New York Times Bestselling author Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award and two-time Shamus Award nominee whose many TV writing and/or producing credits include "Martial Law," "SeaQuest," "Diagnosis Murder,""Hunter," "Spenser: For Hire," "Nero Wolfe," "Missing." "Monk" and "The Glades." He's also the co-author of the Fox & O'Hare series with Janet Evanovich (The Heist, The Chase, The Job, The Scam, The Pursuit etc), "The Walk," "Watch Me Die," "King City," the "Dead Man" series, as well as the "Diagnosis Murder" and "Monk" series of original mystery novels.

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5 stars
40 (28%)
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56 (40%)
3 stars
35 (25%)
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5 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Karl.
3,258 reviews348 followers
Want to read
March 7, 2018
Contents:

001 - "The Dead Man: The Beast Within" by James Daniels (V7)
121 - "The Dead Man: Fire & Ice" by Jude Hardin (V8)
231 - "The Dead Man: Carnival of Death" by Bill Crider (V9)

There are 21 primary works and 28 total works in the The Dead Man Series written by various authors, and the concept created by Lee Goldberg (Monk books) and William Rabkin.
The books originally appeared as single books and later as a collection of 3 books together. The books consist of the following:

Face of Evil (with William Rabkin) (2011)
Ring of Knives (with William Rabkin and James Daniels) (2011)
Hell in Heaven (with William Rabkin) (2011)
The Dead Woman (with William Rabkin and David McAfee) (2011)
The Blood Mesa (with William Rabkin and James Reasoner) (2011)
Kill Them All (with William Rabkin and Harry Shannon) (2011)
Beast Within (with William Rabkin and James Daniels) (2011)
Fire & Ice (with William Rabkin and Jude Hardin) (2012)
Carnival of Death (with William Rabkin and Bill Crider) (2012)
Freaks Must Die (with William Rabkin and Joel Goldman) (2012)
Slaves to Evil (with William Rabkin and Lisa Klink) (2012)
The Midnight Special (with William Rabkin and Phoef Sutton) (2012)
The Death Match (with William Rabkin and Christa Faust) (2012)
The Black Death (with William Rabkin and Aric Davis) (2012)
The Killing Floor (with William Rabkin and David Tully) (2012)
Colder Than Hell (with William Rabkin and Anthony Neil Smith) (Jan 2013)
Evil to Burn (with William Rabkin and Lisa Klink) (March 2013)
Streets of Blood (with William Rabkin and Barry Napier) (June 2013)
Crucible of Fire (with William Rabkin and Mel Odom) (2013)
The Dark Need (with William Rabkin and Stant Litore) (2013)
Reborn (with William Rabkin, Kate Danley, Phoef Sutton, and Lisa Klink) (2014)

Profile Image for Quentin Wallace.
Author 34 books177 followers
September 30, 2015
This series has its flaws, but I'm still digging it.

THE BEAST WITHIN: Matt gets tied up with a white supremacist group as well as a This may be a little too campy for some but I liked it.

FIRE AND ICE: Mr. Dark causes a worker at a chemical plant to go on a shooting spree, and once again Matt's right in the middle of it. I think way too many innocent people died in this one but it was suspenseful.

CARNIVAL OF DEATH: I've always liked stories about haunted carnivals, and while that's not exactly what this one is, it was still pretty cool.

I can see how the graphic sex and violence may turn some people off, but just think of it as a cross between Horror and Men's Adventure and you see where the series is coming from. Overall another enjoyable read.
Profile Image for Trevor.
1,300 reviews2 followers
July 14, 2020
Another nice collection of books following Matt Cahill, on his return from death to hunt down evil. Would be nice now Matt is a settled character, to learn more about Mr Dark.
4 reviews
September 10, 2020
Excellent - keeps your attention!

It keeps you guessing. Excellent careful character development. Enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to more stories by Lee Goldberg and group.
Profile Image for Gina.
1,171 reviews100 followers
December 2, 2012
Goodreads Description- Matt seeks out a paranoid visionary who claims to have defeated an entity just like Mr. Dark. His quest takes him deep into the Michigan woods ? and into a bloody siege between warring, paramilitary factions in James Daniels? THE BEAST WITHIN. In Jude Hardin's FIRE AND ICE, Matt is trapped inside an industrial plant during a deadly shooting rampage. As the body count rises, the cunning Mr. Dark raises the stakes to horrifying new heights, putting thousands of lives at risk. Matt is working security on the midway in Bill Crider's CARNIVAL OF DEATH. But when violence breaks out and a fake fortune teller's dark prophecies suddenly begin coming true, Matt knows that Mr. Dark has arrived and it's not for the cotton candy? Buckle up...this is big ticket horror!?

Ok so I read this book for a challenge. I wanted to pick a random book with an author name of William or any form of that name. So I searched my Williams, closed my eyes, and picked. Wow...I couldn't possibly have picked a worse book. First of all it is Volume 3 and I haven't read the books that come before this so I had no idea what the hell was going on. However that isn't the books fault....its mine so that didn't effect anything other than if you want to read this series I would say start from the beginning. Secondly the book just opened with no introduction whatsoever. No reintroductions to characters or previous happenings. So again that led to confusion for me. Mr. Dark is not really explained at all except at the end when we learn that he is some kind of evil force that has attached itself to Matt Axton, the protagonist, and bad sh*t happens when Mr. Dark is around. Third, I my humble opinion, there was just too much over the top gore. It got to start feeling like a filler and some of it was quite distastful. Not that I am a prude or can't stand violence, this just seemed like too much. Also the protagonist name....Matt Axton is an alias. I have no idea what his real name is or what happened to him other than that he is dead....I think?!? As for his last name, Axton, he carries around an ax in his duffel bag to deal with Mr. Dark.

I have to ask why do people pay for such crappy plots and horrible writing?? It jumped all over the place, which might be because it is co-authored, but still, there are a lot of co-written books out there that can do a much more passable job than this.

So in summary, if you like super cheesy plotlines and lots of needless gore read this book from the BEGINNING of the series. However, I wouldn't recommend it even to Mr. Dark! 1 star. AVOID THIS BOOK!
Profile Image for Kara Jorges.
Author 14 books24 followers
December 31, 2012
Matt Cahill is back for three more adventures battling evil and searching for answers about Mr. Dark. In the first story, The Beast Within, Matt is riding his motorcycle through a strange Michigan town and becomes embroiled in a war over the woman he tries to save. It’s not just another day at the factory in Fire and Ice when Matt and the other workers get trapped inside and have to fight for their lives. Matt finally meets a woman who understands his quest when he joins a carnival, but again must battle the forces of evil when Mr. Dark turns the whole place into a Carnival of Death.

I became an instant Dead Man fan when I plowed through the first two volumes, and anxiously awaited the third. While these stories continue Matt’s saga in the same vein, they seemed to be missing a little something. I don’t expect a great deal of depth from a 100-page novella, but the quality of these stories seems to have taken a dip this time out, and they all fell a little flat. I was still glad to get my Dead Man fix, though, and I look forward to the next installment.
Profile Image for Kitten Kisser.
460 reviews20 followers
September 4, 2014
I blew through this book in a mere 2 days. I couldn't put it down. From the first page to the last it is non stop action, suspense & plenty of violent gore. Do not expect an in depth plot. The premise is very basic. The main character Matthew Cahill can see evil as it literally eats away at people. He knows these "infected" people will commit heinous acts of carnage. He knows he must try to stop whatever they have planned & odds are his arch enemy Mr. Black is at the root of it.
7 reviews
July 20, 2016
The first story did not belong and just repeated stuff that the reader already knows from reading the series. Having each story being written by different authors kind of messes up the consistency in my opinion.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
2,371 reviews60 followers
September 16, 2012
Really liked stories 2 and 3. #1 was written well but I didn't feel it fit the Dead Man series ss well. Great horror tales.
2 reviews2 followers
March 9, 2013
I absolutely hated "The Beast Within." It took me 2 weeks to finish the story, and I usually get through these in a day or two. The other ones were great.
Profile Image for Chris.
402 reviews5 followers
October 18, 2014
All reviewed individually...check them out there. One thing I can say, though, is buying these as a 3 in 1 book is the only way to go for these...as they are not very long.
Profile Image for Georgia C..
276 reviews4 followers
June 2, 2016
traveling Matt

the series is great. and I love Matt. but for goodness sake, I hope he and the dark man have a showdown soon!
Profile Image for Teresa.
99 reviews
July 7, 2013
Liked the second and third but found the 1st one to be lacking.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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