DMORT (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team) has called in volunteers from surrounding states to help with what they think will be a disaster of unparalleled proportions: the landfall of Hurricane Katrina.
Nick Polchak is used to disasters. In fact, he signs up for as many as he can. Call it his love affair with bugs and the “non-living” or his compassionate heart (not). This disturbs the on site psychiatrist, Dr. Beth Woodbridge, with whom Nick has some history. She thinks it more than strange that Nick thinks of himself as a bug instead of a human and that he is obsessed with his job.
When Nick discovers a cadaver that was dead before the storm hit, his instincts go into overdrive despite the fact that his supervisor has warned him to quit looking for the dead and start looking for the living. And that’s not the only warning. The closer he gets to the truth, the more danger he finds himself in.
He is assisted by a brave boy named J.T. who is looking for his father-in return, Nick helps the boy, taking him along for the ride on his searches. But will J.T. be in danger as well?
Once I got past the gross factor and into the story, I really liked it. Nick is hilarious. He tries his best to be annoying and aloof, qualities only his friend Jerry and J.T. can overlook. Nick’s disregard for authority offers both benefit and destruction, and gets he and Beth into a sticky situation later in the book. One has to give him credit for ultimately proving to be selfless, so much so that in heroic efforts to save others, he almost gets himself drowned and shot-not necessarily in that order.
I recommend First the Dead for its entertainment quality, not necessarily for its deep theological implications. Though there is much to think about between the covers, the story stands on its own to hold the reader’s interest.
For those not into bugs, I’ll plug Downs’ psychological suspense novel, Head Game, which was a great read.
