Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

Alpha & Omega, Book 4

Synopsis: For once, mated 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, 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 crossfire.

Review: With this fourth installment, Patricia Briggs builds on the backdrop initiated in book 3 and developped in Mercy’s seventh and eighth adventures. It becomes more and more necessary to read both series in parallel if you don’t want to miss anything. War is now declared between Faes and humans and wolfs are in danger of being caught in the crossfire. At some point, they will have to choose their camp.

But for the time beeing, Charles would prefer to spend some quality time with his wife. He takes her on vacation to see an old friend of his and get Anna a horse for her birthday. But where Charles and Anna go, trouble follows.

Not only is Charles’s friend, Joseph, old and sick, but his family is also attacked by a dangerous creature. It becomes obvious that there is some supernatural mystery going on and our werewolf couple will work to resolve it, even if danger is brewing.

Without too much details, I will just stay that Patricia Briggs has created a great suspense story. It is not as fast paced as Mercy’s adventures, but it is engaging nevertheless. Some parts were perhaps a bit too slow for my taste (and with way too many references about horses), but the whole kept me interested. Sadly, with Anna and Charles on holidays, I kept missing some characters from Montana like Bran or Asil.

The good part about the story, though, is that you get to know more of Charles. This werewolf has live a long life before Anna, parts of it you discover through very interesting flashbacks. And as I am a big fan of Charles, I was thrilled about it. He is a grumpy and sometimes scarry guy, a very dangerous alpha with magical powers, but he never goes all caveman on people. No, Charles is calm, rational but still human. Here particularly, he shows some more fragile and tormented sides of himself.

Anna, on the opposite, is still too tame for my taste. On one side, her soft and calm personality is a nice change from all these badass and impulsive UF heroines. She is also no pushover and knows how to pick her fights. On the other side, I’m under the impression that everything around her revolves around Charles and her ambitions as a wife, which is sometimes a bit boring.

Their relationship however is adorable. It is one based on mutual understanding and respect, with a healthy dose of passionate love. One of two peoples so in tune with each other that they are able to read even the slightest nuances. I had trouble to believe in it at the beginning of their adventures but, book after book, I saw it flourish and become more grounded. I just love that.

3-5

gilwen 2

32 thoughts on “Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

  1. I really should be reading this series, since I love her Mercy Thompson books. I just haven’t been able to find the time to start. I think it would be great to know more about the other characters that are only mentioned in passing in the Mercy series, and learn more about the world.

  2. I’ve heard so many great things about these series and of course the adorable Charles and Anna!! I’m glad you enjoyed discovering new aspects to Charles in this one. Ann sounds like a nice mix of toughness and rational as a heroine.
    Thanks for the lovely review 🙂

  3. Glad you enjoyed this for the most part! This is one of my favorite UF series and I absolutely adore Charles as you do. I think Anna is growing with each book too, and like you said she’s no pushover, she’s just quiet, but that seems to be slowly changing with each book. Lovely review!!!!

    • Thanks 😀 Yeah, even if i keep bitching about Anna, she has really evolved since book one. I’m sure if I stoped comparing her with Mercy, I would much more appreciate her.

  4. That kind of sucks that you have to read both series to understand fully. I’ll keep that in mind if I want to read the rest of the series, I think I only read book one lol Glad you were able to enjoy the book though!

    • Well, I think you really have to if your are kind of obsessed with details like I am and you don’t want to miss anything 😉 If not, I guess the small reminders here and there should be enough.

  5. Ah, a werewolf in a healthy relationship – only we, readers of all things fantasy, can take in this information with a straight face, lol 🙂 It’s like we’re part of a secret society! :))) Have a great weekend <3

  6. I really want to start reading Briggs books in the future (this series, especially). I just don’t know if all her books are interrelated. Anyway, sorry this was not up to par for you. Hopefully, the next instalment will make up for it.

    • Not all the books are interrelated. The 1st Mercy Thompson and the 1st Alpha (the novella), and then the last ones too. But they are some quick summaries of what has been going on in each book.

Répondre à Gilwen Annuler la réponse

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *