Helpful Score: 1
i loved this book. Very intersting & hard to put down.
Fifteen years ago, Claire O'Brien's mother and her lover were murdered. Her father was convicted of the crime. Now he has escaped from San Quentin and has contacted her. He tells her he is innocent and needs her to use her private investigator skills to prove it. FBI Agent Mitch Bianchi believes Tom O'Brien is innocent. Tom saved his life when other escapees tried to kill him. Mitch started digging into the past and sees big holes in the case. During his investigation, Mitch meets Claire and doesn't let her know he is a cop. As they grow closer, Mitch falls in love with her, but knows she will never believe his feelings are real after all of the lies he told her.
This is the third book in Brennan's Prison Break series. As with the last two books, the hero and heroine already know each other when the story starts. We flashback to many scenes from the past, including their first meeting. Since the actual book takes place over a matter of days, this allows the quick pace of the relationship to be believable.
I enjoyed this story. I tried to guess the identity of the villain based on the scenes from his point-of-view. But, I was way off base on this one. My rating: 4 Stars.
This is the third book in Brennan's Prison Break series. As with the last two books, the hero and heroine already know each other when the story starts. We flashback to many scenes from the past, including their first meeting. Since the actual book takes place over a matter of days, this allows the quick pace of the relationship to be believable.
I enjoyed this story. I tried to guess the identity of the villain based on the scenes from his point-of-view. But, I was way off base on this one. My rating: 4 Stars.
Claire O'Brien is a successful fraud investigator, assuming that they are all guilty until proven otherwise. After her father went to prison, she wouldn't, and hasn't really, trusted anyone. As she goes out to investigate a suspicious fire, her father surprises her, begging for help. He doesn't care if he ends up back in prison, he doesn't care that in four weeks, he'll walk that stretch of corridor knowing he wouldn't be coming back. What he cares about is that he doesn't go to his grave without Claire knowing the truth ~ that he never killed her mother or her lover. That he was framed.
But the begging fell on deaf ears. Until, that is, when Claire found a letter from her father in her home office. That letter let curiosity out of the bag, and Claire began her own investigation. The more questions she posed, the more questions than answers she got back, and the more runaround the received, the more she believed that her father really was innocent.
Meanwhile, Mitch (FBI agent - we've met him in the first two books in the trilogy) had befriended Claire, hoping to get close to her, truly believing that her father would eventually contact her. What he didn't plan on was falling in love with her. Now the question is - will he be able to keep her alive and prove that her father really is innocent when a psychopath made it clear he wants Claire - dead?
Even though I enjoyed the first two novels in the series, this was the perfect ending to the trilogy. Gripping, chilling, suspenseful, you truly won't be able to put the book down. You'll pick it right back up.
You're sucked into the story and follow along with Claire as she tries to piece together what had happened 15 years ago. What and why. You really feel what Claire and Mitch feel for each other, including their inner battles. Great action, tenseful scenes, an excellent mystery. Plenty of colourful characters, but not too many; just the right amount that you knew exactly who all the players were - except for one.
The more questions Claire poses, the more questions she comes up with that are left unanswered. And the more you twist and turn into the story, the more you think you believe who the psycho is that's after Claire. And I was so sure of myself, so darn sure. And I was off, way off... And I adore it when an author does that to me. If an author leaves me completely clueless until you find out exactly who it is, or all clues point to someone else and you're totally wrong in your assumption, to me... the best romantic suspense thrillers around.
Allison Brennan is definitely an author not to ignore! I can't wait for her next trilogy!
But the begging fell on deaf ears. Until, that is, when Claire found a letter from her father in her home office. That letter let curiosity out of the bag, and Claire began her own investigation. The more questions she posed, the more questions than answers she got back, and the more runaround the received, the more she believed that her father really was innocent.
Meanwhile, Mitch (FBI agent - we've met him in the first two books in the trilogy) had befriended Claire, hoping to get close to her, truly believing that her father would eventually contact her. What he didn't plan on was falling in love with her. Now the question is - will he be able to keep her alive and prove that her father really is innocent when a psychopath made it clear he wants Claire - dead?
Even though I enjoyed the first two novels in the series, this was the perfect ending to the trilogy. Gripping, chilling, suspenseful, you truly won't be able to put the book down. You'll pick it right back up.
You're sucked into the story and follow along with Claire as she tries to piece together what had happened 15 years ago. What and why. You really feel what Claire and Mitch feel for each other, including their inner battles. Great action, tenseful scenes, an excellent mystery. Plenty of colourful characters, but not too many; just the right amount that you knew exactly who all the players were - except for one.
The more questions Claire poses, the more questions she comes up with that are left unanswered. And the more you twist and turn into the story, the more you think you believe who the psycho is that's after Claire. And I was so sure of myself, so darn sure. And I was off, way off... And I adore it when an author does that to me. If an author leaves me completely clueless until you find out exactly who it is, or all clues point to someone else and you're totally wrong in your assumption, to me... the best romantic suspense thrillers around.
Allison Brennan is definitely an author not to ignore! I can't wait for her next trilogy!
Playing Dead has it all: crooked cops, the FBI, a frame job, murder, conspiracy. When you pick up this book, be prepared to sit tight for a great and fast paced story.
Claire O'Brien believes that her father killed her mother and her lover 15 years ago. Now Tom O'Brien has escaped prison 6 months before his date with the needle. All Tom wants to do is prove to his daughter that he is truly innocent. What neither he nor Claire realizes is that there are powerful men willing to stop at nothing to protect everything that they have. They also don't realize that the true killer could be much closer than they think.
B+/3.5 Romance: Hot
Claire O'Brien believes that her father killed her mother and her lover 15 years ago. Now Tom O'Brien has escaped prison 6 months before his date with the needle. All Tom wants to do is prove to his daughter that he is truly innocent. What neither he nor Claire realizes is that there are powerful men willing to stop at nothing to protect everything that they have. They also don't realize that the true killer could be much closer than they think.
B+/3.5 Romance: Hot
After reading the other two books which are related but not necessarily a series I could not wait to get to this one. To me this was the slowest of the three and the least thrilling. It was a good mystery but it required a lot of set up and therefore it felt like the first 200 pages were slow and drawn out, it certainly picked up and was a good thriller by the end, but you really had to hang in with it in order to get to the good stuff.
I thoroughly enjoy every book Allison Brennan writes! If you like romantic suspense, you'll like this one!
VERY good book. This is the first I picked up from this author and I'm hooked. It kept me in suspense with all the wild twists & turns!!!!
Allison Brennan, good as usual, ends the Prison Break series. If you read book 1 & 2, do not miss this one!
Four stars.
Four stars.
Very good reading, good story, good characters--there are places that are a little slow but it is such easy reading and keeps your attention you probably can finish it in a day or two. I like her books and read all I can find.
It was a pretty good thriller with lots of twists and turns.
Since Im always eager to discover new authors, especially in the romantic suspense genre, I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, based on Playing Dead I wont be adding Allison Brennan to my must read list. I feel that the book has quite a few flaws and that its positive aspects arent enough to convince me to overlook them.
Let me start with the things I did like. The technical aspects of the story, such as legal issues and forensics, were nicely done. They are precise and fully addressed so that the reader has all the relevant information without being bogged down or distracted from the storyline. I also liked the pace of both the dialog and the story itself. I hate books that have tons of extraneous information or, even worse, conversations that take up so many pages you wonder how the characters have time to do anything else. There are a lot of details and characters in this book so swiftness to take action on all points is critical in keeping track.
My first thought upon finishing this book was why is this labeled as romantic suspense? Reading Playing Dead brought to mind authors such as Patricia Cornwell and David Baldacci versus Anne Stuart or Linda Howard. While there is an established relationship between the two lead characters it is a secondary, if not tertiary, element. There is little time or attention devoted to it relative to the whole. As this is my first book by Ms. Brennan I have to wonder if her previous works have strong romantic elements. After all, authors are assigned to genres just as much as individual books are. No matter the case, the story was different than I had expected based on the description.
While it isnt difficult to follow the plot of this book I did have trouble trying to figure out the authors intentions. The way it is written made me unsure of what was intentionally revealed to the reader and what was suppose to be a surprise. For instance, I knew within the first quarter of the book who the assassin is, but I have no idea if I should have. The way his identity is revealed at the end makes me think that perhaps I was supposed to be held in suspense, but with the information provided through his point of view its impossible to stay in the dark that long.
I had problems connecting with the hero and heroine of this book because, while a lot of background is given, neither is fleshed out well. I cared about the resolution of the story but not the characters themselves, making it an intellectual rather than engaging read for me.
But my major problem with this book were the antagonists. In addition to the assassin there are three principal criminals at work. These three have been partners in crime for 30 years and how they managed to avoid arrest for that length of time is the true mystery of this story. These guys were so overzealous about not being caught at they had everyone but the FBI in their pockets. One of them even states this quite clearly to another. I find it impossible to believe that so many people had damaging information and only one of them uttered so much as a peep in three decades. I cant feel any real threat from men who leave a paper trail that practically screams Hey you, over here! Look at me! and then when, much to their surprise, someone notices they think the solution to their problem is to just kill off everyone theyve ever met. Okay, so thats an obvious exaggeration, but just about how I felt by the end.
Like I said at the beginning of this review, I had high hopes for Playing Dead, and while there are certainly things I liked about it, Im afraid I can only give it two out of five stars.
Let me start with the things I did like. The technical aspects of the story, such as legal issues and forensics, were nicely done. They are precise and fully addressed so that the reader has all the relevant information without being bogged down or distracted from the storyline. I also liked the pace of both the dialog and the story itself. I hate books that have tons of extraneous information or, even worse, conversations that take up so many pages you wonder how the characters have time to do anything else. There are a lot of details and characters in this book so swiftness to take action on all points is critical in keeping track.
My first thought upon finishing this book was why is this labeled as romantic suspense? Reading Playing Dead brought to mind authors such as Patricia Cornwell and David Baldacci versus Anne Stuart or Linda Howard. While there is an established relationship between the two lead characters it is a secondary, if not tertiary, element. There is little time or attention devoted to it relative to the whole. As this is my first book by Ms. Brennan I have to wonder if her previous works have strong romantic elements. After all, authors are assigned to genres just as much as individual books are. No matter the case, the story was different than I had expected based on the description.
While it isnt difficult to follow the plot of this book I did have trouble trying to figure out the authors intentions. The way it is written made me unsure of what was intentionally revealed to the reader and what was suppose to be a surprise. For instance, I knew within the first quarter of the book who the assassin is, but I have no idea if I should have. The way his identity is revealed at the end makes me think that perhaps I was supposed to be held in suspense, but with the information provided through his point of view its impossible to stay in the dark that long.
I had problems connecting with the hero and heroine of this book because, while a lot of background is given, neither is fleshed out well. I cared about the resolution of the story but not the characters themselves, making it an intellectual rather than engaging read for me.
But my major problem with this book were the antagonists. In addition to the assassin there are three principal criminals at work. These three have been partners in crime for 30 years and how they managed to avoid arrest for that length of time is the true mystery of this story. These guys were so overzealous about not being caught at they had everyone but the FBI in their pockets. One of them even states this quite clearly to another. I find it impossible to believe that so many people had damaging information and only one of them uttered so much as a peep in three decades. I cant feel any real threat from men who leave a paper trail that practically screams Hey you, over here! Look at me! and then when, much to their surprise, someone notices they think the solution to their problem is to just kill off everyone theyve ever met. Okay, so thats an obvious exaggeration, but just about how I felt by the end.
Like I said at the beginning of this review, I had high hopes for Playing Dead, and while there are certainly things I liked about it, Im afraid I can only give it two out of five stars.
Good book. I like this author
All of Allisons books are easy to read and keep you guessing.
