Dead Man’s Hand

Friday, February 8, 2013
I took one final glance at the dead cowboy’s fixed eyes and bloody shirt and hurried down the steps, out of the barn, and toward the waiting stagecoach, certain of only one thing – this was going to be the best summer vacation ever.

Book: Dead Man's Hand (Caden Chronicles, The) Eddie Jones, Zondervan Publishers, 2012
 

Genre: Adventure, Mystery
Target Audience: Boys 12-18
Subjects: Life after death, ghosts, crime
Summary: Most vacations don’t begin with the discovery of a dead body. And most people aren’t nearly as glad to start vacation with the discovery of a dead body as Nick is. He’s part of a group of teens that use a computer software and research gained from tv detective shows to solve crimes. So the extremely boring family vacation becomes a lot more exciting when he stumbles across a murder. Solving a murder isn’t easy, but to make it even more challenging, he first has to prove that a murder actually happened. After all, by the time the police arrived, the dead body was gone. And the supposedly dead person left a voicemail saying he was going out of town – a voicemail that came in after his death. Somehow Nick has to prove there truly was a dead body – and find the killer before he strikes again.
Notes: The first in the Caden Chronicles, Dead Man’s Hand tells the story of a teen boy searching for answers about what happens to a person after death. Nick has never believed in God, the Bible or prayer, but when he finds a Bible marked with passages that he interprets to be about ghosts and vampires (Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and the Last Supper) and has a dream in which he finds himself praying, his interest is piqued. He doesn’t find the truth in this story, but at the end of the book, all the passages are listed and grouped so the reader to do their own detective work. I get the impression that this book simply isn’t supposed to stand alone. It is written to get the reader curious about what happens to a person after death and then the answers are given outside of the story.
Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: With the notes in the back: 5/5, without the notes in the back: 3/5
Reviewer: J:-)mi

Hebrews 9:27 – Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment
1 Peter 3:18 – For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

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