Darlene's Book Nook: #Audiobook #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs @Mercys

Friday, October 21, 2016

#Audiobook #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs @Mercys_Garage #BrillianceAudio

NARRATOR: Holter Graham
PUBLISHER: Brilliance Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: March 3, 2015

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook
LENGTH: 11 hrs and 24 mins
GENRE: Urban Fantasy

The new Charles and Anna novel

Praised as "the perfect blend of action, romance, suspense and paranormal" (Rex Robot Reviews), the Alpha and Omega novels transport listeners into the realm of the werewolf, where Charles Cornick and Anna Latham embody opposite sides of the shifter personality. Now a pleasure trip drops the couple into the middle of some bad supernatural business....

For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not traveling because of Charles' role as his father's enforcer. This time their trip to Arizona is purely personal, as Charles plans to buy Anna a horse for her birthday. Or at least it 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's cold war with humanity is about to heat up - and Charles and Anna are in the cross fire.

MY REVIEW:

This is the fourth book in the Alpha & Omega series, and it wasn’t quite as dark as the last one, Fair Game. In Fair Game, we saw the relationship between Anna and Charles become strained. With his responsibility of having to mete out punishment to any problematic wolves, it took its toll on Charles and he withdrew from Anna and shut down his bond to her to protect her. Here, in Dead Heat, we see Anna’s insecurities and worries that Charles couldn’t love her if he realized that she still carried her scars on the inside. She is concerned about the broken parts of her that still exist, and how that would change Charles’ image of her if he knew. Personally, I think Charles does indeed know about Anna’s dark and broken parts and loves her even more for her ability to rise above it! Anna is also aching to have Charles’ baby, but she knows that he would never agree for her to carry the child herself since she has to change every full moon and he would never risk her safety. She tries to convince Charles that using a surrogate makes logical sense, however, that is also a complicated issue because no one knows the effect that a werewolf embryo could have on the human surrogate carrying it! Charles’ brother, Samuel, recommends that they find a human surrogate who wants to become a werewolf, just in case the Change occurs.

Joseph Sani, a very old and dear friend of Charles, surprises him with a phone call. The two were the best of friends in their youth, having first met when Charles was just 12 years old. Twenty years have gone by since Charles last saw him, and Joseph was 60 years old back then. It had been difficult for Charles to see his friend age, and now many more years have gone by. Joseph asked Charles if he would come by for a visit so that he could meet Anna, and that gives Charles a brilliant idea to buy a horse for Anna’s 26^th birthday since Joseph owns a ranch and breeds horses.

Charles and Anna make the trek to Scottsdale, Arizona. Anna knows that her husband does not consider very many people as close friends, so she is very intrigued to learn more about Joseph. Charles tells Anna that Joseph is human, and he admits how tough it was on him to see his best friend become old while he still retained his youth despite being 200 years old. We learn later that Joseph’s father, Hosteen, is the Alpha of the Salt River Pack and holds a grudge against Charles for never Changing his son. However, the law states that someone cannot be Changed against their will, and Joseph never wanted or asked for that.

What was intended to be a vacation for Charles and Anna turns into an investigation. Not only do they discover some strange goings-on in the area involving dark fae magic with ties to a certain daycare, but the danger extends directly to Joseph’s family.

I loved seeing the softer side of Charles! We rarely see his affection for others, and his pride and admiration for Joseph is so heart-warming. We see how fiercely protective he is for those he loves. I love how Briggs ended the story, and the important role that Joseph played in resolving everything. But, oh, how my heart ached! My only complaint is that Bran was noticeably absent from the storyline, except for a few small mentions. I missed Bran’s banter with Anna!

Holter Graham, as always, is a fabulous narrator. He sucks me right into the story, and I had a hard time taking out my earbuds! It’s been so long since I listened to the previous book in the series, Fair Game in 2012, so I honestly cannot recall whether he stuck to his original vocalization for Charles because he had changed it up in the second book, Hunting Ground, and then reverted back to his original vocalization in the third one. Nonetheless, his narration held me in rapt attention.

The next book in this series is not expected to be released until 2018! It’s a good thing that I need to catch up on Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series.

MY RATING: