LauraD’s review of Playing Dead (Prison Break, Book 3) by Allison Brennan
Romantic Suspense released by Ballantine 30 Sep 08

I was quite happy to find Allison Brennan’s Playing Dead in the Big Box of Books that Sybil gave me. I’m a huge fan of romantic suspense, and I’ve enjoyed Ms. Brennan’s work before, so my expectations were quite high when the cat and I became one with the couch.

Claire O’Brien is an insurance fraud investigator and the daughter of a disgraced policeman-disgraced because Tom O’Brien was convicted of killing his wife and her lover. He has always maintained his innocence but since Claire had found him in the house with the bodies, she has never been able to believe him. After Tom was convicted, Claire was taken in by another officer and his family, as she had no one else. Four months ago, her father broke out of jail and he is asking for Claire’s help to prove him innocent.

FBI agent Mitch Bianchi lied about his identity to get close to Claire, thinking she knew where her father was after the jailbreak. He didn’t count on falling in love with her, and he didn’t count on bodies starting to pile up as the real killer began to try and cover what little evidence was left behind years before. He knows that eventually he will have to tell Claire who he really works for, and that she will probably hate him for it.

“Playing Dead” is a good, suspenseful story. Claire really doesn’t want to believe her father, but information about his case is revealed bit by bit and his version of events becomes more and more plausible. There are some really creepy scenes that are from the killer’s POV, and I have to admit the killer’s identity took me completely by surprise. I appreciated the author’s effort to include some solid forensic details, so the crimes were grounded in reality. While those kinds of details might make a book a little “darker”, to me they add an authenticity to the story that makes it much more engaging.

What was missing were the emotions and relationship between Claire and Mitch. Their affair had already been established at the start of the book, although Mitch had done some significant lying. They spent the majority of the story apart, at first leaving messages on each other’s cell phones and then just plain broken up. It felt like the author had a lot more fun with the villains in this story than she did with the h/h. Independently they were well drawn characters, but as a couple I never felt a spark.

Allison Brennan has ended another trilogy with a smart tale of greed and hate bested by love and justice. “Playing Dead” will keep you up reading later than your bedtime, but you might not have the best of dreams afterward-Ms. Brennan’s villains tend to be everyday folk gone twisted. I’m hoping Claire and Mitch do indeed have a HEA.

Grade: B

DEAD MAN RUNNING

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.

Read an excerpt (scroll down).