Chasing the Dead: A Novel

By Joe Schreiber

“You have a very lovely little girl,” breathed the voice on the phone. And just like that, Susan Young is drawn into a living nightmare.

A stranger has kidnapped Sue’s daughter, Veda. But he doesn’t want her money, only her suffering–and he will kill Veda if Sue doesn’t follow his every command. With detailed instructions, the faceless abductor leads Sue into a blinding snowstorm on the longest night of the year, to a place she has not traveled to since childhood. The voice on the other end of the line somehow knows Sue’s deepest, most chilling secret–an ominous incident from her past, buried long ago...

Across the loneliest back roads of Massachusetts, in the black expanse of a New England winter, Sue is forced to confront her most awful fears as she is met at each step by ever increasing horrors created by a monster who is surely something less than human. In the hope of saving her daughter from a kidnapper whose origin seems darker than anything she could ever have imagined, Sue will discover just how much trauma and fright the human body is capable of absorbing.

Set over the course of a single night, Chasing the Dead is a fast-paced, ferociously tense supernatural thriller. With the skill of masters like Dean Koontz and David Morrell, Joe Schreiber has created a tableau of shock and horror, death and destruction, that will draw you in and never let you go.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 26, 2006
• ISBN: 9780345495600

Joe Schreiber

JOE SCHREIBER is the New York Times bestselling author of adult novels Death Troopers, Chasing the Dead, and Eat the Dark. His other novels for young people include, the critically acclaimed Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick, Perry's Killer Playlist, and Lenny Cyrus, School Virus. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and children.

Reviews for Chasing the Dead

[christineellei · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I first started this book my first reaction was "ah geez ... another I kidnapped your baby - do as I say and everything will be well" story. I was mistaken. I turned into quite a good and fast moving ghost story. Not a totally original concept, but it seemed to take the best of previous attempts and combined them into an interesting read.

[ladymine-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Habe mir mehr erwartet.

[ctmsludu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was good. It was action-packed,suspenseful and on the creepy side. It was a great read and kept me on the edge of my seat, wanting to read more.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I started this book thinking I was about to read a crime novel about a kidnapping, but before too many pages had slipped by I realized I was actually in for a supernatural thriller. At less than 200 pages this book moved quickly which was a good thing, I like my action non-stop. A woman with a secret finds out that someone has her daughter and through a series of cell phone calls issues some bizarre instructions that she must follow if she wishes to get her baby daughter back alive. She follows along and as completes each step, another clue is revealed, until she knows what is going on and who the kidnapper is.I found this a mildly interesting thriller. My disconnect with the book was probably the rather far fetched story that launched this woman’s nightmare. I never could quite take what was going on seriously and so never really bought into the terror and suspense.I am afraid that Chasing the Dead will be one of those books that 3 months from now, I will have a hard time remembering.

[kmaziarz_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

At 6:18 PM on December 21, Sue Young, a single mother, receives a call that will change her life forever. The man on the other end of the phone informs her that he has kidnapped her infant daughter Veda and, unless Sue does exactly as he says, will kill Veda. Sue, a trained ambulance driver with nerves of steel, leaps into action, following the kidnapper’s instructions as closely as she’s able. He tells her to bring a shovel and a canvas sheet and directs her to drive to a particular spot in her old home town…a spot Sue has good reason to know well. When she was young, she and another child killed a man they suspected to be a serial killer nicknamed the Engineer and buried him on that spot. And now, many long years later, the voice on the phone directs Sue to dig up the buried corpse, put it in her trunk, and drive a very particular route through the Massachusetts countryside. As Sue drives the route, she passes through a series of towns, all of which contain statues of a historical figure by the name of Isaac Hamilton…but in each further town along the route, the statue is missing one more body part. At first thinking this is just a historical curiosity, Sue soon realizes that both the Engineer and the voice on the phone have a strange connection to Hamilton—a well-known serial killer from the 1800s. If she finishes the route the voice on the phone has laid out for her, the consequences may be dire—but if she doesn’t finish the route, her beloved daughter is certain to die a horrible death.Fast-paced and thrilling, this novel starts out a seemingly run-of-the-mill thriller but swiftly morphs into a story of ancient horror and paranormal evil with some genuinely chilling moments. Enjoyable.

[silversurfer_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A brilliant debut novel. Not what it appears to be, full of shocks, surprises and a terrific ending. Can't wait to read more from this author.

[timdt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Joe Schreiber gives us a lean, action packed thriller that takes place during a 13 hour timespan.

[babygirl25661 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I picked the book up based on the title and cover. I didnt know anything about Schreiber so i had no clue what to expect. I have to say this is one freaky little novel!!! Scared me half to death and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Schreiber has a way of sucking you in and making you believe that you are there....I loved it. It quickly earned it's way to my favorites list.

[callista83 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I don't normally read horror novels, in fact I think this is the second one ever. However when looking for books for this challenge, the synopsis of this book caught my eye. I am glad I gave it a chance, it is now a top 10 book of this year I'm sure!

Unlike most novels, the entire story happens in one night, December 21st to be exact.
"Sue Young, a 34-year-old single mom living in Boston, gets a phone call from a man who informs her he's kidnapped her infant daughter, Veda, and chastises her for an ancient crime she committed with her childhood friend and mysteriously missing ex-husband, Philip Chamberlain. The creepy, psycho kidnapper soon subjects Sue to an agenda that includes grave robbing, child killing, shotgun murders, zombies and various other assorted undead. Sue, an ex-ambulance driver, is tough, smart and determined to rescue her daughter."

I was scared reading this. I got really into it and felt as if I was there. Even though the book contains zombies, it almost felt like it were possible for the dead to come back to life. We're not talking zombies with their arms out, heads cocked to the side walking slowly in a large group (like on TV,) these zombies seem real! What really bothered me was that the child that is kidnapped is 18 months old. Schreiber does such a good job of showing the mother's feelings about her child being kidnapped that I started thinking how I would feel if my 20 month old was kidnapped. Although this disturbed me a bit, this just shows how good the novel is.

This book was great! I look forward to his new novel out this month!

[harpua_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It looked interesting enough I thought I would pick it up myself. Nice quick read, just a couple hours worth spread out over the weekend. Throughout the novel, I thought I had read this somewhere before. At one point I thought of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Sleepy Hollow came to mind a few times. I thought also of a Dean Koontz novel that I can’t recall the name of at the moment. But despite these similarities, Schreiber was able to string together an interesting read that combined all these ideas. While it didn’t break new ground, it definitely held my interest.

[kathywoodall · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sue Young races through a cold winter night trying to save her young daughter from a mad man. She is given a map and told to drive to several rural towns in Nothern Mass. At each town horrible things happen but Sue is forced to keep going, knowing time is running out.Very creepy and nerve racking story. Great job!

[the_hag · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Chasing the Dead we are teased with an intro that gives us a glimpse of the past the dwells inside the now grown up Sue Young and Phillip Chamberlin...a past that's coming back to do a lot more than haunt them. Sue Young (34) is a single mother and estranged for more than a year from her husband (a childhood friend)...she's getting on with her life as best as she can since her husband abandoned her, having hired a nanny and taken over the business. We find her on a typical day (which also happens to be winter solstice) headed home to meet with the nanny and see her young daughter after a long day at work. What she gets is not what she expected. Upon returning home, she receives a phone call from a man claiming to have kidnapped the nanny and her daughter and informing her that she'll do what he wants, understand what she must in the next 12 hours or he'll slit her dauther's throat. What ensues is an enthralling, grisly, and uber creepy road trip that will keep you turning pages until well into the night...and when it's all over, you'll need to sleep with the lights on! I loved Schreiber's use of a "local legend" as the basis for an entire series of murders and as the reason for her unusual and maddening road trip tonight. I recommend this Chasing the dead; it's a fast paced, horrific thrill ride!

[lesleydawn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

All in all, this was a descent read. Predictable, but as a mother I found the main character's situation truly frightening.