Author: Bronwyn Parry
ISBN: 978-0-7336-2549-7
RRP: $32.99
Dead Heat is my introduction to Australian romantic suspense writer Bronwyn Parry and one that is long overdue if this book is anything to go by.
I got the blurb for this a couple of weeks ago and have been hanging out to get my eyes on it. It arrived when I was in the middle of another book, as usual, and had quite a to-do list to get through. Having it sit next to me on my desk certainly spurred me to get through everything quickly so I could make a start.
Once I made the start that was the end of me and now here I am, an hour after I got prepared to call it a night with quite a chunk to read in the morning and I got handcuffed to the book, I swear I did, with my eyes propped open so I couldn’t look away. It doesn’t really matter why I’m still up, but the book is finished and it’s time to share my thoughts.
The scenery is a shining star in this novel, vividly detailing the bushland National Parks in NSW. The perspective is 3rd person but the majority of the story is focused on Jo Lockwood who is a park ranger so we still see through her eyes and she is a very observant woman who pays extreme attention to detail. As a park ranger it is to be expected that the outback holds significant fascination for her, as does the native wildlife and we are treated to that fascination with the descriptions and observations of the landscapes and animals that she comes across in her work.
Jo’s attention to detail and keen powers of observation come in handy time and time again throughout the book and go a long way to saving her life, the problem is that it is those same powers of observation that put her in danger in the first place.
Detective Nick Matheson has recently been posted to the area in a major change of pace from the undercover roles he has been playing over the past decade. Career credentials like that would make you think his powers of observation are also extremely well honed and you would be correct.
A lot of the suspense throughout this book is related to issues that I wouldn’t necessarily pair with the outback, the arguments for it are logical and plausible but they are still things that I would expect in cities rather than national parks out the back of beyond which goes a long way to making Dead Heat even harder to put down, if only for a much needed sleep.
The characters, well to be honest the main characters broke my heart. Both Jo and Nick have survived events that leave them emotionally damaged and closed off from personal attachments. They both have routines set in place to make sure their control never slips, to move past the possibility of emotional reactions and ‘get on with it’. While this can be an admirable trait in moderation and in the right circumstances it is not always good for long term mental health.
Dead Heat brings Nick and Jo together in the investigation of her grisly find, an investigation that gets deeper at every turn. Just how much are they set to learn about themselves before the dying pages? That’s something I am not going to risk revealing to you, you’ll have to read it for yourselves.
Bronwyn Parry’s writing style is fluid and engaging with suspense that builds progressively and some fabulous twists that then leave you looking back to see if you could spot the clues.
Considering I have been away from my deeply rooted love of all things horror for quite some time I have lost some of my de-sensitisation and a couple of the grislier passages made me physically shudder.
The only one issue I had with the reading of this book is a very minor one but it did stick with me and even now it just doesn’t seem to fit for me. There is a scene about halfway through where Nick walks into a room and there’s a crisp packet on the table, and it really jumped out at me. This book is very Australian and everything struck me as Australian except for that one tiny mention of a crisp packet, which I didn’t think was an Australian term.
Now I’m extremely happy with this book, I loved it! So in the long run one crisp packet is inconsequential – which begs the question why did I bring it up. To tell the truth I don’t rightly know but it did strike me as odd so I thought I would mention it in case I’m not the only one.
A great read that I am thrilled to have finally read, and I will definitely be on the lookout for more of her work.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Thank you Beauty and Lace for a chance to read and review this easy to digest book. I had a similar experience to Michelle, having a thousand things to do at the time I received the book, but I set most of them aside and effortlessly finished the book in one day. Brownyn Parry writes in a smooth and attention-grabbing manner making it simple to gobble up this book. A bit like chocolate cake.
As a city-slicker, I loved her detailed descriptions of the Australian countryside and the animals that make their home in it. The author clearly feels comfortable with nature as much as the heroine she creates. In fact, I would have been fascinated to read more about this.
This romantic thriller works its magic by drip feeding the reader information. Initially I found this a bit confusing, and when the dingo appeared out of the bushes early in the plot, I needed to read a further page to work out what was going on. The drip feeding worked better later in the story once I had a baseline to understand what was happening. I can’t say I found the plot “thrilling” in the way Hannibal Lecture is shocking. Perhaps I’m a bit desensitised to horror. Despite the gory circumstances of their death, none of the murders left me feeling shocked for the victims, as we were never properly introduced to the characters. But the plot certainly kept my attention.
Overall, I found the characters a bit disappointing. Initially we have little more than stick figures to identify with. Again, the details are shared with us slowly and by the end it is easier to feel sympathy with the main characters. However, I still did not feel warm towards them. I didn’t feel their tension, and (this is going to sound crass) I didn’t really care if one was murdered before the end. Both of the main characters had suffered loss in the past – a loss that was really only shared with us towards the end. Both spent the entire novel hiding their feelings, not getting involved, keeping to themselves except for work. It was hard to feel empathy for either one. They were too remote, controlled and “perfect”. Perhaps if I had been introducted properly from the start I would have felt differently.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and I feel the author’s great strength was her love of the Australian bush. I would really enjoy reading some literature from Bronwyn Parry that offered more of this.
Without really getting an insight into the main characters of the story, I found it a bit hard to become totally trapped in the novel. As the book went on it delved a little into their past and the losses they had suffered, however the storyline became a bit mudane after a while.
The descriptions of the wilderness and outback took you to a place you wish you could encounter, except for the brutal murders.
It was interesting to not know who was the killer or why they were murdering these people, but also became predictive, you knew early in the novel that obviously the main character was going to become a target and need to fight to survive.
I did enjoy the read, however it was not a book I would say captivated me in any way.
I would have liked to have had more of a connection with the main characters in the book, get to know them better to then really get emotionally involved when it became a matter of life and death.
Thankyou for the chance to read and review it.
I really loved this book in the end. A strange statement to open with I know, but I struggled to get into it at the start because I didn’t get the chance to dive in as I usually would. Once I got into the book though, I couldn’t put it down.
I can relate to the country aspect growing up n rural Australia, so it was nice to read a book with recognizable bush characteristics and also names of places and even the highways mentioned.
I really liked Nick’s character, hard and gruff but a real sweet heart underneath it all and the role he played with Jo was a very delicate thing waiting to unfold.
To be honest the story is very believable, with all the crime today it isn’t a hard stretch to imagine these things really happening in the outback and the city, which is quite frightening.
I think the ending was a little predictable but that didn’t make me like it any less. It was a very enjoyable book and I will be looking at reading Bronwyn Parry’s other books as a change to the YA and supernatural/ horror that i love to read.
A real breath of fresh air this was for me. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read something different.
Thank you for the chance to read this book I absolutely loved it and finished it at 4 am this morning I couldnt put it down .
I enjoyed the intricate plot immensely and found I was kept guessing until the last chapter .
I will definitely be looking for Bronwyn Parry’s other 2 books as I enjoy her style of writing.
Nick and Jo the two main characters were engaging and I liked the rural Australian setting .
Just a straight forward good enjoyable engaging read . Thanks Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read and review this novel
It was gratifying to read a crime novel that is set in a rural Australian community, spoken in colloquial Australian language – giving voice to the Australian crime writer genre – my favourite lines were ” Can you give the police a call? A mob of Homo idiota has been rampaging. The tanks’ full of bullet holes, the loo door is cactus and the info board’s down – they took to it with a chainsaw.”
Parry uses black humour, fast paced action and complicated plot twists and turns to captivate her audience. I love that that the lead female role was strong, adventurous, resourceful and intelligent . I look forward to reading more of her novels.
.
I’m not sure how I would classify this book – mystery, crime, suspense, romance? It doesn’t fit easily into any of these categories. A little element of each perhaps. The star of the book is the landscape.
It is difficult to voice all my criticisms of this book without giving away the plot but I will mention a few.
There are some very clumsy passages in the book that could have benefited from better editing. There was much in this book that I found unconvincing, for example the confrontation between Hugh and Nick and the depiction of the criminals and their organisation and behaviour.
My interest in the book waned somewhat when the person behind the crimes was identified about two thirds of the way through the book.
Nick and Jo are likeable characters and you care what happens to them but they lack depth.
For me this was a rather forgettable book and does not encourage me to read other books by this author.
I prefer genuine mysteries or psychological thrillers.
What an amazing read! I have a previous book of this author and just when I thought she couldn’t top her earlier work she goes and does it again! The refrences to both well known places in NSW and lesser well known places I could relate particularly well to the Tamworth/Glen Innes to Tenterfield references – right down to mention of a character managing to ”escape” a tourism conference in Tenterfield! It was a book that was worth reading and definately one I couldn’t put down. This is very easily one that has become one of my favourites. I can’t recommend it enough so if you’re looking for a book different to the normal genre you read – make sure this is your number one pick – you won’t regret it.
What a fantastic book. I love this sort of romantic thriller to have one set in the Australian outback just added to the brilliance!
Jo is the new park ranger and finds the gruesome remains of an unknown man. Nick is the new detective – no prize for joining the dots here – who must solve the case before more people end up dead. To add to the intrigue their is a mystery man on a motorbike – who is he?
This is a very intelligently written mystery with high levels of intrigue and suspense. You keep wanting more and more until there is no more than the next chapter and you just can’t put the book down!
I have never been to the NSW outback but Bronwyn Parry’s knowledge of it is in such detail that it is brought to life and you can’t but feel you are really there!
Her characters are so genuine, Jo seems so at home on the land and you just want Nick to be the one to save your life one day! The pages really jumped out at me and the descriptions of the land helped bring to life the beauty and danger of the bush.
I recommend this book to all and I’m of now to find some more Bronwyn Parry novels to read! Thanks Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to discover this fine writer!
My testimony to how much I enjoyed this book can only be that I finished it in record time! I loved the idea of a book set in a landscape that I could identify with. I was taken with the storyline from the beginning, I liked that it contained elements of mystery (sometimes I got Goosebumps) intrigue, deception and romance. I liked the fact that it did not loses itself too much in the romance part as it really was more focused on intrigue and crime. It was a well balanced read and I think Bronwyn Parry wrote a good story! I felt she was able to describe the landscape and ‘how’ the main character Jo was feeling. I find that many authors are not able to give you that ‘chilling feeling’ when writing about an incident but I definitely felt it. A wonderful book worth the read, hard to give a full description without giving it all away but readers beware – it will make you look for Bronwyn Parry’s other novels.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Bronwyn Parry’s most recent novel Dead Heat, is that Parry wrote it whilst recovering from brain surgery. That is no small feat, and the novel is not let down by Parry’s situation. It is, however, let down by Parry’s strict adherence to a well-worn formula too readily apparent at the outset of the novel.
Dead Heat begins when Park Ranger Jo Lockwood discovers a murdered body near the picnic area of the National Park she works in. Detective Nick Matheson is sent to investigate the murder and from there the novel’s ending begins to expose itself through continued overzealous foreshadowing.
Parry jumps back and forth between Jo and Nick’s perspectives, which allows her to vary the tone of the story but also to leave too little mystery in a novel intended to evoke just that. By the fifth chapter, Parry has planted a seed of doubt the size of a watermelon about each character’s credibility, in Nick’s case he even incriminates himself to the reader. But of course, Parry’s two protagonists are redeemed in the end, which comes as no surprise.
Dead Heat reads like a paint-by-numbers novel, with the author’s intentions too clearly laid bare for the reader. There were some clever sentences and images sprinkled throughout, but none so clever as to cause me to read them a second time and certainly none that I could remember once I closed the book.
I found Dead Heat slow going for little reward and would recommend it only to fans of Parry’s earlier works As Darkness Falls, and Dark Country who will certainly get more of the same.