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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
stupendous serial killer romance, June 1, 2004
This review is from: Dead Wrong (Mass Market Paperback)
Archer Lowell, Curtis Alan Channing, and Vince Giordano share a jail holding cell waiting for the law to process them when all hell breaks loose as someone escapes custody. To pass time while the complex is totally shut down, the trio discusses why they are here when the conversation turns to who would they like to kill. They agree that to be successful they would have to exchange victims like the Hitchcock and DeVito movies did. Not long afterward a serial killer appears murdering three females with the same name M. Douglas as listed in order in the phone book. Next on the list is court appointed children?s advocate Mara Douglas. Her sister FBI profiler Dr. Anne McCall calls in a favor owed her by FBI agent Aidan Shields. She wants Aidan to protect her sibling. However, Aidan wants to refuse as he wants to go into guilty seclusion following the death of his brother on his last assignment. Still for Anna he will do what he cam to keep Mara safe. Moving in with her in her Philadelphia area home, Aidan and Mara fall in love, but he fears if something happens to her he will die too. The first of Mariah Stewart?s ?Dead? books is a stupendous serial killer romance starring two wonderful lead characters. The twist of who performs the killing is provided in plain sight yet the audience will wonder whether Strangers on the Train really occurred. Fans of tense thrillers that never let up until the climax will know that this novel is dead on in exciting action and a breathtaking romance. Harriet Klausner
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Off to a Good Start, January 23, 2005
This review is from: Dead Wrong (Mass Market Paperback)
SUMMARY: Three criminals are locked together in a room during a riot in the courthouse. To pass the time, they each fantasize about the three people they would most like to kill and then marvel that if one killed the other's victims, it would be almost impossible to trace. It seemed like a harmless game, until those on one of the lists starts dying. Child advocate Mara Douglas, haunted by the abduction of her young daughter, is one of the unwitting targets; her sister Anne Marie McCall, an FBI profiler, recruits fellow agent Aidan Shaw to protect Mara, luring him out of self-imposed exile after the death of his brother, a fellow agent and McCall's lover. As the killer gets closer, Mara's days appear to be numbered.
WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: Winning characters and able action sequences spur on this otherwise run-of-the-mill tale. The built-in romance is bittersweet and well-written. Mara isn't a milquetoast heroine either; she has some grit.
WHY YOU WON'T: The psychobabble spun around the killer's past and impetus for committing murders is banal and nothing new or exciting.
BOTTOM LINE: No new ground is broken, but the novel is filled with frothy intrigue. What is most intriguing is that each of the criminals and their list of victims is given their own novel to develop their stories. The saga is continued in Stewart's Dead Certain and Dead Even. Worth checking out. I'd give it 3.5 stars if possible.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CHILLING THRILLER WITH ROMANCE A PLUS, July 26, 2004
This review is from: Dead Wrong (Mass Market Paperback)
On a cold morning in February three men waiting their turn to appear before a criminal court judge find themselves locked down in one room while every lawman in the vicinity searches for a fourth convict, who has escaped. As time passes, the men discuss why they are there. Channing claims he's been mistaken for another C.A.Channing and will be released; Lowell was arrested for stalking; and Giordano is appealing his sentence for killing his wife and children because the detective lied in court. To while away the time, these three violent men play a 'pretend' game, naming three people they would like to kill if they knew they wouldn't be caught. Channing is released and Giordano and Lowell return to jail to wait for their time in court.
The suspense in DEAD WRONG is not who-done-it; since readers have a prologue that sets up the story, an advantage our leading characters do not have. The mystery of why women named Mary Douglas are being murdered baffles law enforcement and profilers are called in to help solve the case. When the third woman named Mary Douglas falls victim to another heinous crime, detectives deduce they are being killed in the order they appear in the phone book; M. J. Douglas is next on the list. Her sister Annie McCall, an FBI agent, and colleague Miranda Cahill (fans will remember her from a previous story) warn Mara to take extra precautions as they believe she is the next victim. Annie doesn't stop with the warning; she calls in a favor from another agent who is on medical leave.
Aiden Shields and his brother Dylan were undercover agents setting up a big drug sting that turned bad, leaving Dylan dead and Aiden badly wounded. He hasn't recovered from the shooting or the psychological wounds and feels guilty for not saving his brother. He's on leave from the FBI and doesn't believe he will ever be able to pass a physical exam to return to the force in any capacity. He's at about the lowest a man can be when Annie tells him she needs him to guard and protect her sister. Annie was Dylan's girlfriend and Aiden can't refuse her anything, so reluctantly he packs up his bag and heads for the Douglas home, where he is anything but welcomed by Mara Douglas.
DEAD WRONG is the first in a trilogy and a thriller to hold you entranced - if that is even the right word for what you will be as you read this one. In my lifetime of reading, there is only one other book I've turned from the back page to the front to completely re-read, as I have done with this suspenseful story. Mariah Stewart captures readers immediately, bringing a bizarre mystery to the pages. You'll know who, but not what, when, nor where! Clues will be dropped and twists and turns will develop. As readers, you'll want to chew your fingernails waiting for this killer to be caught.
The family thread is once again evident in Ms. Stewart's writing through her strong characters, as well as old friendships being renewed when her former characters return to help solve this case. Though this novel is listed as suspense, readers will be treated to a rich romance as well. And, the conclusion gives readers a strong hint as to the killer in the second story. I must honestly tell you my favorite reading genre is romance, but I wouldn't miss one of Mariah Stewart's stories for anything. This author has a true talent for writing the best stories I've had the pleasure of reading, and DEAD WRONG is no exception. This one garners a Perfect 10, a rating only given to works Romance Reviews Today reviewers consider to be exceptional reads. Stories like this will have Mariah Stewart soaring on the Best Seller's Lists.
Carol Carter, Reviewer-As posted at Romance Reviews Today
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