New York Times critically acclaimed suspense writer, Chris Knopf, reaches a new imaginative peak in this outstanding revenge novel. Imagine this: You have a nice life. You love your beautiful, successful wife. You're an easygoing guy working out of your comfortable Connecticut home. The world is an interesting, pleasant place. Then in seconds it's all gone. You're still alive, but the world thinks you're dead. And now you have to decide. Make it official, or go after the evil that took it all away from you. Arthur Cathcart, market researcher and occasional finder of missing persons, decides to live on a fight, by doing what he knows best - figuring things out, without revealing his status as a living breathing human being. Much easier said than done in a post- 9/11 world, where everything about yourself and all the tools you need to live a modern life are an open book. How do you become a different person, how do you finance an elaborate scheme without revealing yourself? How do you force a reckoning with the worst people on earth, as a dead man? *Starred Review* Arthur Cathcart considered himself a lucky man. A self-proclaimed nerd and a meticulous market researcher, he somehow won the affections of the lovely Florencia, owner of an insurance-brokerage firm, and their marriage was solid and happy, built on mutual respect, admiration, and love. Then his world implodes. He survives the carnage but decides to let the world assume he’s dead, the better to stay safe while he tries to discover what happened and who’s responsible. Knopf, whose Hamptons-based series featuring Sam Acquillo and Jackie Swaitkowski effectively mixes comedy and mystery, goes a different way here, with a high-energy, very savvy thriller. Connecticut-based Cathcart has no time for police procedure and instead acts on his instincts, using his research skills to help him find the way and even becoming a badass when necessary. While some of Cathcart’s self-assuredness as an action hero seems a bit of a stretch, the novel generates enormous tension, and the mild-mannered number-cruncher is definitely an appealing hero. It’s unclear if the novel is intended to be a stand-alone, or if it will launch a new series, but we’d very much like to see more of the engaging Cathcart. --Leon Wagner "Knopf's tale is suspenseful from the get-go, with an intellectual, yet visceral, vigilantism coursing through the pages. In a major change in direction, the author of the "Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mysteries" (Black Swan; Hard Stop) never misses an angle and manages to weave a bit of humor into a storyline that could have been purely dark. This bodes well for a really good series and is reminiscent of Richard Stark's (aka Donald Westlake) Parker novels with a dose of Grosse Pointe Blank." --Library Journal, starred review --Library Journal "An absorbing update of the classic film, D.O.A., that finds its author so completely in the zone that not a word is wasted, and the story seems to unfold itself without human assistance." --Kirkus, starred review "Dead Anyway is a perfectly rendered murder mystery with enough unpredictable twists and turns to satisfy even the most hardened aficionado of the genre...Dry humor is scattered throughout. This offbeat story told in the first-person is executed with faultless page-turner pacing and panache." --NY Journal of Books --NY Journal of Books "This book should be on your reading list. It s that good. It s amazing in what it details about digital financial hanky panky... Expect a literate, witty murder mystery and some sly comments along the way about the social and criminal scene in Connecticut... Fun book. Take notes." --Joan Baum, NPR "Knopf is not a mainstream novelist; he is different, resolutely insouciant. And Dead Anyway is a preposterous story beginning with a woman and her husband being shot in the head while sitting at home on their sofa... But nobody dislikes a revenge story, and this is a beaut. Knopf is clever, meticulous and patient... Dead Anyway is the quintessential whodunit." --Durango Herald "With Dead Anyway, Chris Knopf has achieved a creative resurgence. Arthur Cathcart is an everyman and no man at once, and the unbridled desire for truth and vengeance that motivates his every move will resonate deeply with readers. Further, the writing is absolutely relentless, both in its action and emotional breadth, and Knopf masterfully infuses some of his trademark quirk and humor. The book is entirely satisfying as a stand-alone, but the obvious potential for future installments is almost as thrilling as the near three-hundred pages that set up that possibility..." --Hartford Books Examiner "Dead Anyway is one of those deceptive thrillers that seems to suck you in at the beginning and spit you out at the end, leaving you breathless with admiration for a job well done. It s really difficult to write a revenge novel that comes out feeling fresh, but much to my pleasurable surprise, Chris Knopf has