Dead Heat

Charles was nearly two hundred years old and he'd collected very few people to love.

Charles is taking Anna to Arizona to meet Joseph Sani,

once the best friend [Charles] had in the world. It's been twenty years since he last saw his friend, but Joseph, now in his eighties, would like to meet Charles' wife. This visit would also provide the perfect opportunity to get Anna a new horse for her upcoming birthday.

While in Arizona, members of the Sani family fall victim to powerful fae magic. This is a bit surprising because not too long ago

... [the fae] had, with great fanfare, locked themselves away on their reservations, declaring themselves free of the laws of the United States. Charles and Anna begin investigating alongside FBI Agent Fisher as well as Cantrip agents, Marsden and Leeds in hopes that they can stop this fae from hurting others.

Their investigation into possible fae-related crimes was one of my favorite parts of the story. Additionally, as always, I loved the way Briggs' shines a light on how these two characters have grown as individuals and a couple since [b:Cry Wolf|2355575|Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1)|Patricia Briggs|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310494063s/2355575.jpg|2362332]. I was intrigued by the werewolf/human mix of the Sani family and felt Briggs did a great job highlighting how those differences positively and negatively affected its members.

The slower pace of

Dead Heat and Briggs' interesting yet very detailed descriptions of horses may be a turnoff for some fans of this series. For me, however, it was nice. This slower pace allowed for a more relaxed read and the horse-buying process made me wish I had the funds to buy one for myself. That said, this installment feels like the lull before the storm - the upcoming fae war - and I expect the next installment will be full of face-paced action. Here's hoping there will not be another three-year wait between installments.

"Love," he said, "is always a risk, isn't it? I've always thought that there were no certainties in life, but I was wrong. Love is a certainty. And love always gives more than it takes."

Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted from the final copy.

I love Charles and Anna, and the entire Mercy Thompson world. And this book was no exception.

I wish it had featured more of the usual secondary characters, though - Bran (I need my Bran fix!), Samuel, Asil. And I wish it had done more in terms of overall plot, between the books. If I had any criticism of the Alpha and Omega series, I'd say the primary one is that it feels like each of these books are a one-off. It's such a rich, layered world. These books make tiny nods to greater threads, but don't really move those balls forward.

Regardless, it's a world I love visiting. And what's not to love about Charles and Anna?

Re-read April 2017

I just honestly love this series, and this world. And on re-read, I'd bump this up to 4.5 stars. I still do feel like each of these books feels like a one-off ... there's big gaps between the books, and so the relationship between the characters seems to change dramatically from book to book ... but the story just really shines in this book. I cried about Maggie and Joseph, and was so happy to meet the whole Sani family (and hope we see more of them ... let's please continue on a little with some of these amazing characters!). It was great to see FBI agent Leslie again, and it was also great to see two Cantrip agents who weren't useless pieces of bullying garbage.

My heart breaks for Charles. Who wants to live forever? Not me. Not if most of the people I care about won't.

One tiny quibble: this book felt a little out of character to me, with Bran. A couple times it was mentioned how little he cares about humans... but I have just never gotten that vibe from him before. He's always struck me as a protector. He keeps himself away from humans, mostly, because like most of the old ones, the aging and death is hard to take. But all the humans in his life, he doesn't hold at arms length (like how much he cared for the vet that was the source of so much trouble in the first books of both the Mercy and A & O series). Bran holds himself a little apart from most people - it reminds me of Beauclaire, from

Fair Game, saying that it was a mistake to give someone as old and powerful as him a person to love. It makes him dangerous. I think Bran feels very very much the same (case in point: his mate). He tries to remain detached from most people... but he cares. He and Charles are very much alike in that. They try and keep, like, a moat of piranhas between them and the world... but whenever someone decent enters their sphere, they care. They are protectors. The Bran that has been established throughout the Mercy-verse would never have stood back and said "So what that there's a fae killing children, they are only human, fuck them."

I love Charles and Anna. Their relationship is so intimate, because Anna understands the taciturn Charles in a way almost no one else does, and she doesn't feel the need to change him. He's an alpha personality in a paranormal romance who doesn't act like a possessive jerk. He acknowledges Anna's strength and respects it, even as he is willing to kill anyone who hurts her. But not with any flashy "she's mine" behavior, just a simple snap of the neck will do. Sigh, how romantic.

I also love how these books reflect their relationship. While on a trip to buy Anna an Arabian horse for her birthday, the two find themselves in the middle of a fae attack. Since the fae and the werewolves have an agreement not to kill each other, Bran gives Charles the go-ahead to deal with this fae who kidnaps children and uses them as dolls. It is a super creepy plot, and dovetails nicely with the conflict between Anna and Charles over whether or not to have children. There is a brief prologue that hints the higher fae powers are letting the baddest of the bad out to play in the human world, but the intimacy of the series keeps that on the back burner. They deal with the problem at hand, and now the reader knows the fae are up to something, but picking apart what exactly that is is more of a Mercy Thompson book. Briggs does a great job of keeping these two series connected but independent.

The fourth book in the series about Anna and Charles.

As much as I love Anna and Charles both alone and as a couple, this story is not as grabbing as the previous ones. I'm not sure why. I think the problem may be with the lack of investigation and working on the murderer case. This part exists but it's not really developed. In fact, the villain reveals himself and no one suspects that person before.

I'm also not sure about the whole Chelsea thing in this story. What is the purpose of this part? She is changed into a wolf but apart from that fact and the interaction between Anna and Hosteen because of that, her impact on the story is minor. Like, her being a witch, it only helps her to fight with the fae and makes a problem for Hosteen, but otherwise is completely pointless.

So yeah, I didn't like everything about this book. But I still love Anna and Charles and want to read more about them.

This book is fantastic, like all the others in the series. But I find myself more interested in the stories not told in this book than the ones told. I wish Anna had gotten more of a character arc in this book. And I wouldn't be upset about a spin off about the Cantrip Agents or an older Mackie, either.