Give Up the Dead    by Joe Clifford Order:  USA  Can Oceanview, 2017 (2017) Hardcover, e-Book     Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Give Up the Dead by Joe Clifford is the third of the Jay Porter series. Another good one. No, I'm wrong. It is another very good one. Jay makes his living as an estate-clearing handyman. His life has not been easy. If you're already a fan, you remember that Jay had a horrific accident and is left with a permanent limp and the accompanying pain that goes with it. That should be enough to live with, but he has also lost his wife and small son to another man. He has been offered a large sum of money if he can find a missing teenage boy who might have been abducted by a radical recovery group. We all know that if something is too good to be true, dollars to doughnuts it won't be true. Jay gets himself involved involuntarily when his boss is found beaten and left for dead alongside a rural road. Jay is accused of the beating and leaving a man to die. Can the case of the missing boy and his boss on the critical list be tied together? Even if not, it makes for a good read. Author Clifford has the knack to create a plot that is bound to keep you up nights and characters that fit the plot precisely. I like Jay – maybe that's because I always vote for the underdog. Jay is a likable underdog. He lives life as he sees it. That doesn't mean he likes it – just the way it is. He has trials and tribulations but you can't help cheering for him. Even though he and his wife are divorced, she still shows signs of loving him. That's good, isn't it? Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews