Playing Dead (Prison Break, Book 3)
by Allison Brennan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Allison BrennanEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-30
ISBN: 0345502736
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Playing Dead (Prison Break, Book 3)
Book Review: Didn't do it for me
Summary: 2 Stars
Sentenced to death for crimes he didn't commit, ex-cop Tom O'Brien is now a hunted fugitive. After fifteen years in prison, he's determined to prove his innocence-but first he must convince his daughter, whose testimony helped put him behind bars, that he has damning evidence of a plot to frame him.
Claire is no longer the naïve teenager who arrived home to find her mother and her mother's lover shot dead and her father holding the murder weapon. She's a successful fraud investigator who assumes everyone lies. Though Claire is convinced of her father's guilt, curiosity propels her to look into the disappearance of a law student who claimed to have proof of Tom's innocence. But seeking answers only leads to more questions, reinforcing Claire's belief that there's no one left to trust.
Obsessed with the O'Brien case, FBI agent Mitch Bianchi befriends Claire under false pretenses, certain that Tom is not only innocent but in grave danger-and not just from the cops. As the three race toward the truth, a murderous conspiracy tightens its noose-and Claire becomes the target of an ice-cold psychopath who will kill to protect his secrets.
Since I'm 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 won't be adding Allison Brennan to my "must read" list. I feel that the book has quite a few flaws and that its positive aspects aren't 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 isn't difficult to follow the plot of this book I did have trouble trying to figure out the author's 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 it's 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 can't 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 they've ever met. Okay, so that's 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, I'm afraid I can only give it two out of five stars.
Summary of Playing Dead (Prison Break, Book 3)
DEAD MAN RUNNINGSentenced to death for crimes he didn?t commit, ex-cop Tom O?Brien is now a hunted fugitive. After fifteen years in prison, he?s determined to prove his innocence?but first he must convince his daughter, whose testimony helped put him behind bars, that he has damning evidence of a plot to frame him.
Claire is no longer the naïve teenager who arrived home to find her mother and her mother?s lover shot dead and her father holding the murder weapon. She?s a successful fraud investigator who assumes everyone lies. Though Claire is convinced of her father?s guilt, curiosity propels her to look into the disappearance of a law student who claimed to have proof of Tom?s innocence. But seeking answers only leads to more questions, reinforcing Claire?s belief that there?s no one left to trust.
Obsessed with the O?Brien case, FBI agent Mitch Bianchi befriends Claire under false pretenses, certain that Tom is not only innocent but in grave danger?and not just from the cops. As the three race toward the truth, a murderous conspiracy tightens its noose?and Claire becomes the target of an ice-cold psychopath who will kill to protect his secrets.
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