Dead Aware

A Horror Tale Told in Screenplay

By: Terry M. West

Narrated by: Gene Blake

Dead Aware is a new tale from critically-acclaimed horror author and filmmaker Terry M. West. It is a harrowing tale written in screenplay format.

As a young man, Dunlavey had a hunger for forbidden knowledge. He sought out occult practices and dark, archaic rituals all over the world. Dunlavey's thirst for arcane wisdom sent him to New Orleans. He met and fell in love with Myra, a voodoo priestess. Myra preformed a sex magic ritual with Dunlavey. This ritual allowed him to open his mind's eye, his third eye, and see the dimensional rifts that lie between our world and other places. During the ceremony, Myra's husband, Falcon, interceded. He killed Myra, but left Dunlavey alive and cursed with an opened third eye.

Fast forward to the present. Dunlavey lives in New York City. He is a private investigator that assists the NYPD with any case that is deemed occult or unusual in nature. Having lived for so long with the curse, Dunlavey has become self-destructive. He is an alcoholic. He also abuses drugs and has relationships with the wrong women. His curse forces him to constantly see negative energy and spiritual manifestations. It is akin to constantly being on a bad acid trip. Dunlavey is able to protect his apartment and office using white candles and cleansing spells, but on the streets he is vulnerable to jarring psychic residue and creatures that lurk slightly beyond our veil that could be called forth with the turn of a phrase. Dunlavey is called in to investigate a series of murders. Transients are being heinously killed and reassembled in a way that Dunlavey has never seen in his researches. As Dunlavey is drawn into the case, he soon realizes that the killer is aware of him, and able to strike out at him through his visions.

©2014 Terry M. West (P)2014 Terry M. West

Dead aware

Any additional comments?

Dead Aware by Terry M. West is a horror story told in screenplay format. This audiobook is about a private investigator that can talk to the dead. He sees what awaits in the afterlife and it’s not pretty, you could say its driving him insane. A very real horror story.

Poor Dunlavey

Dead Aware written by Terry M. West & narrated by Gene Blake. In this tale we learn about Dunlavey's inner or third eye which I believe has been left open after Donlavey let Myra use a sex ritual on him. Dunlavey is a PI that assist the NYPD with all the out of the ordinary cases. Dunlavey isn’t the ordinary PI he’s a PI that takes drugs, drinks more than he should, and has a love interest with a dominatrix. Dunlavey is called on to investigate a series of murders, eventually Dunlavey find out that the killer is a being that can strike at him through his visions.

What are some things that I’ve enjoyed about this book? I liked Dunlavey as a character, he didn’t seem like your regular authority figures. He did things like hook up with Myra and her friend, down cups of liquor while already feeling drunk, and did drugs but he still prioritized his case. The ending caught me by surprise when I found out who the villain was. It kept me guessing for majority of the book who the killer was going to be. I kind of felt bad for Dunlavey at the end of the book but it didn’t leave you feeling bad for him, he had hope in the end.

What are some things that I didn’t enjoy about this book? The style the book was read in resembled a movie script. I do understand that the author is an actual filmmaker but I’m sure a few folks would have preferred it just being told as a story from the perspective of the main character and a few others. The narrator tried doing all the voices but when you’re trying to imagine what’s being read to you, it’s tough imaging the pretty lady being described by Dunlavey being narrated by that same raspy voice that’s narrating Dunlavey. The story was also a little hard to follow, more than likely because it was written like a script. Movies usually shorten content to stay within a time limit, but I don’t think this is necessary with books.

This is the first book I’ve listened to from Terry M. West. I would listen to another he tells a good story I just didn’t enjoy the way it was told in this book. I enjoyed Gene Blake performance of Dunlavey I can see why he was picked for the character. I must admit that I googled to see if this was an actual movie or TV show after listening to the book. I received this book via promo and that had no influence on my review of this book.

Dead Awake review

Would you consider the audio edition of Dead Aware to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the paperback version, but I really like the audio version of the screenplay, so about the same.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The first character introduced in this screenplay seated in the office

What does Gene Blake bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Life and voices to the characters.

Any additional comments?

It's interesting hearing an audiobook of a screenplay for the first time. Fantastic second scene.

Confusing events

This book was a bit hard to follow during this mediums investigation into a murder.

Read as a Play

The story was good, but had I known that it was read as a play I would not have gotten it. It was to much repeating the characters names.
I received this free for an honest review