{Book Review} Conversations With Dead Serial Killers: Ashley Lister

Conversations With Dead Serial Killers: Ashley Lister

Reviewed By Steve Stred

Over the last few years, I’ve dove into Lister’s ‘Tales…’ series, which were all enjoyable, but at times felt tied to the overall narrative. That you knew certain things would ultimately loop back around to the world they were living in.

So, it was with great excitement, I dove into his next release ‘Conversations with Dead Serial Killers’ knowing this was a stand-alone novel and wouldn’t feature any of those other characters.

The story follows two brothers, one a fraudster, a fake-psychic who professes to speak with deceased loved ones. The other is a lover of all things serial-killer; writing and releasing books on them and ultimately taking his love of these lunatics even a step further.

What I liked: Lister does a great job of making the brothers a tight-knit unit while also giving them the usual sibling disgruntledness that any of us with brothers or sisters will recognize.

I really enjoyed seeing how we had this charlatan who wants nothing more than to ascend to celebrity levels of fame while stealing from his audience and those hiring him to help them, end up dealing with something he’d never expected to actually exist and who gives him the gears around the clock.

Lister does a fine job of also adding in a great police investigation element and it’s through that storyline things ultimately will unravel everything. It was a fun and tension-filled subplot.

What I didn’t like: This one was a blast from start to finish, but there was a key part at the ending of one of the brother’s storylines where things seemed to leap a bit from A-C instead of A-B-C to get there and it felt incredibly rushed.

Why you should buy this: I had a really fun time with this one and it was another great release from Lister. The brothers were great characters and it was filled with some really dark moments as well as dark humor, which worked perfectly to showcase their separate personalities. Tons of fun, with some really gruesome gore, if you’re looking for a quick, weekend read, look no further.

Conversations With Dead Serial Killers

“A clown can get away with murder.”
John Wayne Gacy, the killer clown.

Derek Turner makes his living as a psychic. But, when he makes his first genuine contact with the spirit world, it is an encounter that starts him on a pathway to holding conversations with dead serial killers.

Someone is recreating the most infamous crimes of the world’s sickest serial killers: including Jack the Ripper, BTK, Charles Albright and Ed Gein. Derek learns that it’s within his power to either profit from this situation or bring it to a needed conclusion and prevent further unnecessary deaths.

But profit can be a compelling argument.

Blending the reports from true crime stories with the lies from a professional psychic, Conversations with Dead Serial Killers explores the danger and obscenity that comes from glamourising murderers.

You can buy Conversations With Dead Serial Killers from Amazon UK & Amazon US

Steve Stred

Steve Stred writes dark, bleak fiction.

Steve is the author of a number of novels, novellas and collections.

He is proud to work with the Ladies of Horror Fiction to facilitate the Annual LOHF Writers Grant.

Steve has appeared alongside some of Horror’s heaviest hitters (Tim Lebbon, Gemma Amor, Adrian J. Walker, Ramsey Campbell) in some fantastic anthologies.