The Dead Key

By: D. M. Pulley

Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith

2014 Winner - Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award - Grand Prize and Mystery & Thriller Fiction Winner

It’s 1998, and for years the old First Bank of Cleveland has sat abandoned, perfectly preserved, its secrets only speculated on by the outside world.

Twenty years before, amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors sold Cleveland’s largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers and employees, and thwarting a looming federal investigation. In the confusion that followed, the keys to the vault’s safe-deposit boxes were lost.

In the years since, Cleveland’s wealthy businessmen kept the truth buried in the abandoned high-rise. The ransacked offices and forgotten safe-deposit boxes remain locked in time, until young engineer Iris Latch stumbles upon them during a renovation survey. What begins as a welcome break from her cubicle becomes an obsession as Iris unravels the bank’s sordid past. With each haunting revelation, Iris follows the looming shadow of the past deeper into the vault - and soon realizes that the key to the mystery comes at an astonishing price.

©2015 D. M. Pulley (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Great Story That Leaves You Wanting More

I listen to audio books during a long commute, and this is one of those stories I couldn't wait to get back to and found myself listening to it outside of the car. It is well crafted and keeps you guessing until the very end. The narrator was excellent and not the least bit annoying (as many are in audio books). I thoroughly enjoyed it and was not disappointed in the ending (other than the fact that it's over).

Who can you trust?

Where does The Dead Key rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was one of the top 5 of the audiobooks I have read thus far.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Beatrice. Although she was only 16 she fought through the fear and perserved.

Which character – as performed by Emily Sutton-Smith – was your favorite?

Beatice

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Disturbing the ghosts can be deadly

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this thriller, because of the different subject matter (financial institutions and structural engineering). The juxtaposition of the past and the present was also enjoyable. And finally women eventually kicking the bad guys butt.

Great story, well-written

At first, Irisis' dependence on alcohol to solve all her problems seemed over the top to me, then I realized it is a problem endemic of the younger generation. The story wouldn't have worked as well if the author had left this human frailty out of her character development.

Historical Conspiracy, Intrigue in Old, Old Bank

I've got to say that I was completely enthralled and sucked in to this mysterious tale of intrigue spanning three different time periods that took place in the First Bank of Cleveland . . . first built in the early 1900s, with stunningly tall ceilings and exquisite architecture, the story begins in the 1960s, then moves swiftly to 1978, and moves back and forth between 1998 and 1978 . . . coinciding with the actual default of the city of Cleveland, the tale of the failure of the First Bank of Cleveland, is fraught with corruption, people in the shadows and an inside mole, and you are continually left wondering who are the good guys and who are the dirty scoundrels . . . and at the heart of the story are three girls . . . Beatrice, Max, and Iris . . . whose stories become forever entangled . . . Wow!!! Great book . . . needs a sequel!!!

I couldn’t stop listening

This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time; last night I was listening to the end of this book when my boyfriend walked in the front door, and I screamed because I was so anxious. This was a bargain book and I wasn't expecting much from it, but I didn't want to stop listening. I didn't just listen in my car, I listened to at home while I did chores, and I listened non-stop.

Half the book takes place in 1998 with a young engineer named Iris and the other half is about a young bank worker named Beatrice in 1978. Both stories take place in the First Bank of Cleveland, one while it is a bustling business and the other when it is little more than an abandoned office building. The story seamlessly intertwines the lives of these women and years of history and corruption and lures you into wanting the truth.