I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming-of-middle-age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site.  A free book was provided for an honest review.

May 2025; Zibby Publishing; 979-8989923014
audio, ebook, print (304 pages); satire

Bud Stanley is one of the most flawed characters that I've read about in a long time.  What makes this book such a good read is that Bud is enduring and someone that the reader is really hoping will get his life figured out before it's too late.

Bud is an obituary writer for a large wire service that distributes articles all over the world.  He realizes that it's a pretty dead-end job, but he has kind of given up on life after his divorce. After he goes on a terrible blind date with a woman who brings her boyfriend, he goes home and gets drunk.  Somehow, he decides that writing his own obituary would be a funny thing to do.  He makes up all kinds of stories about his life and publishes the obit.  When he goes to work the next day, people are surprised to see him because they thought he was dead.  His office management isn't thrilled with his actions and decides to fire him.  But you can't fire a dead man, so they put him on leave until they can figure out how to handle all of the paperwork. As he's waiting for a decision from the paper, his life is helped by his best friend, Tim.  Tim is a paraplegic who manages to spend his life to the fullest despite his injuries.  Tim and Bud decide to start attending the funerals and wakes of strangers to try to find the real meaning of life in this depressing world.    

I See You've Called in Dead is an interesting read with a flawed main character and a lot of humor.  There were some sections that made me laugh out loud as I followed Bud's journey.  This book was full of sarcasm and humor, despite the dark subject, as Bud made his personal journey to find life before death.  It's inspirational and will make readers reflect on their own lives and think about whether  they are living their lives to their fullest potential

Buy I See You've Called in Dead at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.

 

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