Customer Reviews

Dead Heat

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Georgia Parish is in Nulgarra, Australia for the funeral of her grandfather.
She meets two people who got stuck in a river crossing, while driving to the airport. They are on the same plane as she is. The plane crashes and the pilot and one passenger die. It was sabotage. Georgia is so caught up with the deaths that she wants to find out who was the target and who sabotaged the plane. One suspect is Ronnie Chen, who never showed up for the flight and was found murdered.

Lee Denham was also on the plane. He is a former police officer who is searching for Jon Ming, a scientist who left China with a valuable formula and entered Australia illegally. Other members of the Cheng family are also looking for Ming in order to take him and his formula back to China.

The action never stops in this narrative. Georgia is a fun character to read. She blunders into situations but alsways manages to escape. However when she is tortured and the Chen's do something to her hand, it is hard to believe that she would be able to continue her activities with her hand bandaged and the damage that resulted.

The plot develops in a logical manner and we share with Georgia the search for Jon Ming and the attempted evasion of the Chens. However, when the author provides one plot twist toward the conclusion of the story, it didn't fit with what the reader learned about that character up to that point.

There are some exciting parts to the story and both Georgia and Lee Denham are interesting characters. Her descriptions of the Australian territory were pictuesque and added to the enjoyment of the novel.

Save for being predicable in spots, Dead Heat is a competent thriller that kept pages turning all night. Characterization elevated this novel to an above average grade with bits of humor helping out. Crooked cops, medical research, sabotage, gang wars, kidnappings, shipwrecks, plane crashes, there's a lot of adventure packed into this book. I'd love to see more of Georgia Parish in the future.

Carver's second novel, Dead Heat, is again set in Australia, and the mystery here is probably a little more tightly woven than her first effort. Reporter India Kane makes a return appearance, but in secondary role. Police moles, Chinese gangs, human trafficking and new medical breakthroughs all play a part in this intriguing drama. While not written on the literary plane of James Lee Burke or Louise Penny, the writing is crisp and the plot moves. I seem to enjoy each Carver novel more than the last.

DEAD HEAT is a rip-snortin' adventure in a wildly beautiful part of the world, the tropical rainforest coast of Australia, where killer crocs roam, deadly diseases dwell, the long arm of Communism reaches out, & a large cast of inter-connected characters fight for freedom & profit. Georgia is a gutsy heroine who takes wild chances & her promises seriously. She isn't above lying when she's cornered or running away if it means she'll live another day...until the Red Bamboo Gang gets hold of her. & that pisses her off.

Rebeccasreads recommends DEAD HEAT as an exciting, sweaty, hell-raising rampage of secrets & stories, computer programs to die for & life-saving medical research, illegal refugees & culture clashes, with death & redemption, payback & honor, all churning into one hurricane of a read!

DEAD HEAT by Caroline Carver (Orion, 17.99)
Georgia Parish, a bookseller, is in Nugarra, Far Northern Queensland to attend the funeral of her grandfather. She is to travel home by a small plane. However, the plane crashes but Georgia survives. Suzie, a fellow passenger gives Georgia a bag containing a computer disc and as her dying wish, asks her to give it to Suzie's brother. Georgia also meets Lee on the flight, a mysterious man who saves her life yet remains enigmatic. As it becomes known that Georgia has the disc, she is placed in increasing danger including having her life threatened by a Chinese gang desperate to get their hands on Suzie's brother. Georgia must get to the bottom of the mystery to save not only her own life but that of her mother's.
Caroline Carver has written a compelling thriller that never lets up on the suspense and even manages to throw a few curves to the reader just as the story begins to wind down. Length is a bit of a problem as the story goes on a bit too long. Yet, competently created characters, a fast paced plot and excellent sense of locale raise the book above the merely ordinary.

Following her grandfather's funeral, Georgia Parish just wanted to get back to Sydney, Australia, and her life. Fate had other plans. When a crash landing kills a fellow passenger, Georgia finds herself caught up in a deadly mystery. The trail takes her through Australia's extreme climates, Asian gangs, and old acquaintances.

"Dead Heat" is a mystery full of action and suspense, all well written. The characters are engaging, especially Georgia, who is completely human. The plot is well paced, the setting is incredibly lush, and the bad guys are truly evil.

One drawback to this novel is the presence of two climaxes. The first climax seems to provide the answers, and the reader feels all there is left is to wrap up loose ends in the wind down to the last page; yet, there is one more climax before the end. This is a risky technique, and some stories pull it off well. In this case, however, this final action scene is anticlimactic. It is overshadowed by the scene of triumph, much like the ending to the movie "AI."

"Dead Heat" gets three books for the anticlimactic ending to an otherwise outstanding book.

-C.W.

Georgia Parrish returns home to Nulgarra in Far Northern Queensland, Australia to attend a funeral. Knowing that the townsfolk detest her and struggling with keeping calm against the constant verbal assault of her temporary bunkmate, Georgia decides now that the funeral is over to leave where she is not welcome. She heads to the small airport hoping to gain a seat on a flight out though she knows that is doubtful. She picks up two stranded people also heading to the airport. Luck is with her as someone fails to show up for the flight.

Luck deserts Georgia as the plane crashes killing two people. Georgia learns that the plane was sabotaged and the no show was found dead on a nearby beach. Not trusting local law enforcement to seek the truth, Georgia investigates only to find Chinese thugs believe she was partners with the dead passengers, who include a research scientist on the brink of an antibody breakthrough potentially rivaling that of penicillin. Her deadly foes abduct Georgia's mother because they demand to know what she knows or else.

DEAD HEAT lives up to its title as fans will feel the torrid tropical climate of Northern Queensland especially when the corpse count rises and the crocodiles dominate the local quagmire population. The picturesque background is so compelling at times the view overwhelms a strong thriller starring a terrific protagonist. Though the villains seem more out of a 1930s Fu Manchu tale, readers will appreciate this powerful sweltering tale of murder and survival in the remote Australian swamps.

Harriet Klausner