The Dead Room

Robert Ellis' "The Dead Room" will take you on a roller coaster ride, filled with plot twists and turns, that will keep you turning the pages without pause until you reach the shocking surprise conclusion.A young woman is found brutally murdered in her own home in Philadelphia. The mailman apparently "did it." His fingerprints and teeth marks are found all over the corpse, and he is discovered at his own home, a short time after the murder, covered in the woman's blood. A neighbor witnessed the mail carrier running away from the crime scene, drenched in blood, at the approximate time the crime was committed.Teddy Mack, a young attorney at the Barnett & Stokes Law Firm, specializing in corporate law, is asked to defend the accused by the firm's senior partner, even though Mack has no experience as a defense attorney. Because of past personal issues, Mack is revolted by criminal law, and is reluctant to take the case. However, the request is made by his mentor, which makes it difficult to turn down. He is basically told that all he will be asked to do, since the defendant obviously committed the heinous crime, is to eliminate the death penalty as an option and make sure that the accused is sentenced to life in an institution for the criminally insane, as opposed to the state penitentiary.As Mack explores the homicide and the investigation to prepare his defense, he discovers another similarly grisly murder - and another; murders committed while the defendant is behind bars. The city's populace panics that a serial killer is on the loose. As the bodies keep turning up, so does evidence of dirty politics and corrupt justice - a system that will indict, convict and kill the innocent in return for solving crimes and bringing in guilty verdicts.Mack enters a world of terror and violence, confronting his own past demons, and a very real monster in the present. He fights to save a life, and discover the truth behind the aggressive prosecution and the history of death penalty sentences by a zealous DA.Ellis writes a compelling story with well developed characters, a fascinating plot and subplots, and accurate and interesting detail of homicide investigations. Even the setting, Philadelphia, is unusual and provides a historical backdrop to this powerful novel. "The Dead Room" is also a psychological thriller. As with all of us, much of what motivates Teddy Mack, as well as the other characters, major and minor, has to do with their psychological make-up, and their past. This added psychological dimension gives much depth to the novel. Ellis' writing is spare and tight adding tension to the dialogue and storyline. This is a most unusual thriller that will keep you in suspense and shock you at the conclusion. A must read for all mystery thriller fans!JANA

One of the best parts about reading mysteries is that you think you've seen it all and then you walk out of the store with a book like this.Wow! Here are the three things I liked best ...1. So many serial killers have been inked out on the page that I thought the genre might be over and out. Wrong! This thriller sets up a whole new standard.2. The plot blew me away -- I couldn't put the darn thing down. The layers of detail, the twists and turns, an ending from somewhere on the other side of incredible. "The Dead Room" is a fabulous story.3. The characters jump off the page. The protagonist is so human, so vulnerable, so warm and real, if I knew him, I'd marry him. The antagonist, well, they're supposed to be scary and this one fits the bill!"The Dead Room" was recommended to me by my bookseller. If I could add five stars to a five star rating, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It was a wonderful surprise.

One of the few books since Michael Connelly's "The Poet" that I was completely unable to put down. Robert Ellis does an admirable job of depicting the corruption in our legal system, while keeping the heat on with a killer so ruthless it nearly curled my hair.The story is believable and engrossing. So well done that I couldn't stop thinking about it and decided to post this. I'm just glad it's a work of fiction!

A young woman is brutally murdered, the probable suspect seen running from the house and arrested. All the evidence points to this suspect, so the DA, a man with enormous political ambition, decides to try the case himself hoping for big headlines. Enter the suspect's legal representative, Teddy Mack, a young civil attorney with no interest in criminal law, and whom the DA initially mistakes for a law clerk. Truth is, Mack's spent most of his life trying to avoid criminal law, but has been forced by the partners at his firm to take the case or get out. Facing impossible odds, Mack uses his instincts and intelligence to overcome his lack of experience, and wrestles with the evidence. What he discovers is the very reason I can no longer support the death penalty except under the most special circumstances.There's more to this novel than meets the eye ... I should have suspected something was up when I realized that the story is set in Philadelphia and that there are exactly seventy-six chapters. As Mr. Ellis so wonderfully conveys in a masterful use of character and plot, you never really can be sure of anything, even if you see it with your own eyes.But this is a book about more than who did what to whom. This is a novel about art: someone who thinks he's an artist vs. someone who really is. It's about law: someone who plays at being an attorney vs. Teddy Mack, a young man who does a lot of heavy lifting and really is an attorney. Finally, this is a book about the legal system itself: the way we'd like to believe things are vs. the way it really is because, after all, the system is owned and operated by human beings like ourselves, and none of us are perfect. And yet, THE DEAD ROOM is a thriller, a fascinating story moving at breakneck speed that I found impossible to put down.I only came upon this book by luck; a dog-eared copy has been working its way through my office for six weeks. When I was finished, I gave it to my wife, admittedly a bibliophile and mystery lover, who got sucked in and left me to forage for dinner alone for two nights until she was done. The ending is big and thought provoking, and we talked about it into the early morning and even the next day. Then I passed the book on to the next person in line at the office. When asked if it was any good, I didn't say anything but nodded and just smiled.

Finished this tonight and was astounded that the intro claims this is only the second published book by Ellis. It is very accomplished writing of an old pro, in my opinion. Mr. Ellis must have served some sort of apprenticeship in some other area - it is that good. So many things to like about the book; structurally, very short chapters (I really appreciate those) which all flowed together masterfully. The protagonist is a very reluctant new lawyer who is drug rather kicking and reluctantly into a power structure and among wolves and sharks, and just seems to grow into the development of the plot. Sticks it out, keeps surprising himself, but will not sell out to "the Powers That Be", having an internal set of values which he follows. That is was all "meant to be" for him is a great plot and character development...and the ending is truly unique. Top it all off, it is a Serial Killer book in a genre which I had thought to be impossible of innovation after so many had been written; and yet this stands out as a "one off" which depends on none of the many, many books in the genre (I have read most of them). Hats of to Mr. Ellis, everyone rush out a buy a copy of this.