Customer Reviews

Dead Run

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Having read the three books openly written by Clay Harvey, I find this book also by Harvey, under the pseudonym of Leo Atkins, to be one with good character development, plenty of humor and action, but with too much killing. There are too many innocent victims killed, and Harvey (Atkins) comes a little too close to treating these killings with little regret or as a ploy to get the reader to want the bad guys killed with a vengeance, or possibly a little of both. Clay Harvey's strengths for believable characters (including the bad guys), catchy humor, seeing things in an adult world through the eyes of a child, and action scenes in writing you can actually visualize all come in this book. The book has some surprises in events and character interaction within the plot which makes the book interesting. One of the surprises in the plot has the girlfriend getting more attention than and stealing scenes from the hero.

Even though the book is short, the reader is drawn into it because of the sometimes unusual and very human interaction between characters - sometimes between the good guys and the bad guys, and there are even some not so good guys. This is both refreshing and interesting. I have added this to my collection of Clay Harvey books, and am glad he is still writing. I enjoyed this book, and plan to also purchase "Play Dead" and "Dead Beat" by Leo Atkins.

At the same time in Richmond, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Knoxville, and Tennessee, three pairs of similarly dressed and armed criminals using the identical MOs rob banks. Not long afterward in a family restaurant, two gunmen seemingly set on a heist open fire killing several people. A diner, Benella Mae Sweet manages to kill one of the thugs.

However, the dead felon has close friends who vow vengeance on the avenging amazon who killed one of their own. Meanwhile Benella cares for her young niece Mary Leigh since her brother-in- law Damien died in the fracas and her sister has collapsed in shock. When the thugs abduct Mary Leigh, Benella turns to her lover private investigator Connor Gibbs for help. With the Feds involved and the criminals wanting revenge, anything can still happen and does to Connor and Benella as they attempt to rescue Mary Leigh.

DEAD RUN is and exciting thriller that never lets up until the final page. The story line works because the action seems genuine and the characters real, especially Benella and Connor. The third Connor Gibbs mystery (see DEADBEAT and PLAY DEAD) proves that Leo Atkins is a talent that those fans who enjoy an exciting private investigator yarn will relish this.

Harriet Klausner

A comic book of a story. No character development. Unlikey relationships. Stupid villains. Read as fast as you can turn the page. Save your time.