A review of “Death Perception” by Lee Allen Howard

Full Disclosure – I was provided a copy of the book through the BookSirens.com website, however, have voluntarily chosen to write a review. All opinions are my own.

He knows how you died

Kennet Singleton is not your average nineteen-year-old boy. Living in a small town, Kennet is probably the youngest resident in the local nursing home. When his mom’s health begins to fail, Kennet is permitted to move in with his mother as he has nowhere else to go. Taking a part-time job as a creamer at the local funeral home pays the bills but as a result, Kennet discovers that he has been imparted with a strange “gift”. Kennet can tell the cause of his guests’ death, even before the seal on the record has been opened. How? While the cremains are still warm, he roasts marshmallows over them and sees their demise. What starts as a guilty pleasure past time of sorts almost results in him losing his job when he is discovered by his boss. But the “game” turns into something more curious when the recorded cause of death and his visions start disagreeing. Once the residents of the nursing home start to pass or go missing, including Kennet’s mother, he starts to suspect foul play. But he is hard-pressed to obtain any evidence of any wrongdoing with his boss, the retirement home director, and a local thug dogging his every move. Once the pieces start to fall into place, Kennet and his friends find themselves in danger as those guilty become increasingly bolder in their efforts to try to hide their dirty secrets.

I was first introduced to Lee Allen Howard when was asked to read and review “The Bedwetter: Journal of a Budding Psychopath” in the summer of 2019. I was immediately drawn to the story and overall writing style. Then when I saw Death Perception as an ARC offering on the BookSirens website, I immediately jumped at the chance to read another book by this author. Death Perception, while not as tense as Bedwetter, was no less entertaining and enjoyable. Still, under the umbrella of a thriller type of book, Death Perception was more of a mystery thriller and one that I could easily imagine playing out on a big screen somewhere. All of the characters were perfectly written and easy to visualize and while the story is fantastical in the premise, it was not so “out there” that was completely unbelievable. If you are a fan of dark humor, horrors, and thrillers Death Perception would be well worth your time. I am looking forward to reading more titles from this author in the future.