Mister Brown's Bodies is a sequel in the truest sense. The novel picks up just hours after the events in Deep Among the Dead Men. Rambunctious adventurer-for-hire Bill Easter is floundering in the ocean with his partner Peggy Tey. Their prior ship sunk and now the two are starving and dehydrated on a dinghy. There's a comical exchange between the two (Bill hates Peggy) when they spot an ancient ship.
Climbing aboard the two discover the crew are all bald-headed monks under the drugged supervision of a criminal named Mister Brown. He explains to Bill and Peggy that he freed prisoners sentenced to die in a third-world country. These prisoners are global targets that would fetch high dollars from various governments. Instead of seeing them waste away under a firing squad Brown is able to drug and load them on a concealed ship that was headed to London. "Was" being the key word.
Brown has successfully brainwashed the criminals, with heavy drugs, to obey his every command in a quest to reach Heaven. But, the ship broke down and is now lifeless on the ocean. Brown makes a deal with Bill that if he can get the ship moving again he will pay him a commission based on the bounties the criminals will bring. Bill agrees and then everything descends into chaos. There's a broken ship, a jailbreak, fisticuffs, a murder plot to kill hundreds, and a conspiracy led by religious dissatisfaction.
I mostly enjoyed Mister Brown's Bodies but felt it inferior to the predecessor. Like most sequels I feel as though the author consumed most of his originality and enjoyment writing the first novel. This book seems to possess a lot of cutting room floor ideas that just didn't make the final edit in Deep Among the Dead Men. The witty dialogue and barbs were amusing and the Easter character is a delight but the end result seemed a bit unnecessary. Tepid recommendation. If you read the first book then you might as well read this one too.
