Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs (UK edition)

Title: Dead Heat (Alpha and Omega, 4)
Author: Patricia Briggs
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Orbit (3rd March 2015)
Blurb:

THE THRILLING NEW ALPHA AND OMEGA NOVEL FROM NO. 1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER PATRICIA BRIGGS

The Alpha and Omega novels transported readers into the realm of the werewolf, where Charles Cornick and Anna Latham embody opposite sides of the shifter personality. Now, a holiday to Arizona drops them into some bad supernatural business . . .

Charles and Anna will discover that a dangerous Fae is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The Fae’s cold war with humanity is about to heat up – and Charles and Anna are in the crossfire.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

DEAD HEAT is the fourth book in Patricia Briggs brilliant Alpha and Omega series, a spin-off from her Mercy Thompson series. Charles and Anna decide to take a break and visit Arizona with the dual purposes of Charles visiting an old friend and Anna getting a new horse. Unfortunately, the trip isn’t quite as uneventful as either of them would like when the Fae start causing trouble.

Having enjoyed reading the previous three books in the series, I have been looking forward to reading DEAD HEAT. In a lot of ways the book was just what I was expecting – plenty of Charles and Anna moments, Charles being his father’s enforcer moments, a mystery of some sort – with a few unexpected things – like we get to find out a bit more about Charles’ past. Yet somehow the book felt a little bit like a filler book – like it was setting the scene for something that is either going to happen within the Alpha and Omega series or, more probably, the Mercy Thompson series. The story was enjoyable, I just wanted something more – though to be honest, I find it difficult to verbalise exactly what.

If you have read any of the previous books set within this world, then you will almost certainly enjoy this one too. It was nice to be reunited with Charles and Anna, as it has been a while since they have had a new book. It’s hard to tell when this book is set in relation to the Mercy Thompson series but some time does appear to have passed since FAIR GAME (review). This book introduces some new characters – and there’s also a couple of familiar faces who have cameos. I really enjoyed the new characters, though I’m kind of doubtful they’ll make an appearance in future books which is sad.

The plot is a little slow, but I think that’s a reflection of the fact that this book feels like filler to me. Once it gets going though, the story follows really well and there were moments where it had me turning the pages desperate to know what was going to happen next. Briggs did a good job at wrapping most of the plot threads up by the end of the book, which I liked as when I reached the final page I wasn’t desperately looking for more. Overall, DEAD HEAT is a good solid addition to the Alpha and Omega series.