Book Review — Dead Heat

Title:  Dead Heat
Author:  Patricia Briggs
Genre:  Urban Fantasy
Pages:  Paperback, 305
Publisher:  ACE Fantasy
ISBN:  978-0-425-25628-2
Opening Lines:  "The fae lord stalked back and forth in his cell of gray stone.Three steps, turn, four steps, turn, three steps."

Rating

"For once, werewolves Charles and Anna are not traveling because of Charles's role as his father's enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal. Or at least their visit starts out that way . . .

"Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The fae have started a cold war with humanity that's about to heat up—and Charles and Anna are in the cross fire."

~ Jacket copy

I got it in my head to finally read further into the Alpha and Omega series.  The first two books floored me, and I loved them.  Sadly, when I grabbed one of the newer ones, I couldn't fully remember what came before.  This started on a quest to read through the first books and finally catch up.  So, there you have it, that's why I picked this one up: it was the next in the series and I had to get my hands on it!

Anna has been plodding along on a gelding that she was given when she first moved to Montana.  While the worse is a good, solid animal, Charles feels that it doesn't fit her.  After receiving a call from an old friend, he decides her "need" is a good excuse to visit Arizona on the pretext of buying her an Arabian.  That, however, causes them to stumble upon a sick fae who could be threatening the Arizona pack.

This book was on par with the others.  I found myself tearing through it and enjoying it just as much.  Briggs did a wonderful job showing that Charles and Anna are finally getting to a point of being comfortable in their relationship.  In addition, it was nice to see that Charles had a life outside of being Bran's enforcer and pack treasurer.    Even though the book was as engrossing as the others, something felt a little off and forced about it.  I loved the concept of the fae Briggs created and the inherent tension after the events of the last book.  However, Briggs' love of horses seemed to overpower the actual plot.  Joseph's character and everything surrounding the Arabian ranch wasn't a vehicle that was used well.  In some respects, it felt forced and almost as though it was a side thing.  The other books felt completely seamless and all the elements blended together smoothly.  For me, this was one did not.  The characters were great, the felt fairly well developed, but . . .  My reservations aside, it was a good book and a fun read!  It helped continue to story and gave good introduction into the new issues with the fae.  It will be quite interesting to see how that turns out in later books.  It makes me wonder whether the new focus will be the publicity of the werewolves, or whether that will be completely glossed over by everything else!