Dead Heat
2015 • 336 pages

Ratings27

Average rating4

15

This one was a disappointment. It still has some of the qualities of Brigg's writing, but none of the plot. This is not a book about werewolves, witches, ghosts or faes. This is a book about a couple traveling on a vocation to visit an old dying friend and to buy a horse. So much of this book is about those damn horses! Pages upon pages of it!

And the characters were also very prosaic. And as this was an investigative story, it really felt like an episode of Law and Order, down to the trope where every single minor characcter gets a small dose of personality, so you don't feel like they are just there to give answers to the protagonists.

The thing is that was just too obvious and forced. This, together with the horse shopping, riding, selling... makes me feel the author was experimenting with some writing techniques in order to make her creative juices flow. Like, write a lot, about anything.

Another important part of the story was Charles and Anna's struggle to come together into an agreement to have a baby. I have nothing against having this as a part of the plot, as long as it doesn't turn the whole series into a family Drama. But the thing is, there was nothing else to hang on to, so this too felt annoying and unnecessary.

There were parts of the book where I completely zoned out, specially towards the end. There was just nothing I could care about reading. One of the scenes that felt out of place was Anna's over reaction to Charles being flirted with right in front of here. Something in the lines of “Back off or I'll kill you”.

I get that this series of books are suppose to be different from Mercy's series. They are more personal, they talk more about feelings and relationships.

December 18, 2019Report this review