Customer Reviews

Deadly Night (The Flynn Brothers Trilogy)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I usually don't care for most mysteries but I liked this one. I enjoyed the story. There was an interesting collection of characters. I was intrigued with the local police and medical examiner who did not like and would not help Aidan. I wasn't sure if this was because he was an outsider or some other reason. I was interested in Aidan's search for knowledge about the two bones he found. I liked the way he followed his hunches and leads and the resulting information. This did not feel like another "churned out book". This is the first in the Flynn Brothers trilogy.

I did not like the author's cliffhanger style of writing. Many authors do this, and I have never liked it. An example follows. Page 12: In 1863 a rapist is chasing Fiona. She runs out onto the balcony screaming. Her husband Sloan is nearby outside. "Raising his gun to his shoulder, Sloan started to run." The next sentence switches to a present day scene with Sheila (for 3 ½ pages). She is being followed in a cemetery. She is pushed. "And then she screamed, because she was falling." The next sentence switches to a different character, Brendan, in a nearby town, back in 1863. Finally, on page 19, the author returns to the Sloan/Fiona scene and tells what happened next. This style of writing annoys me in the same way TV commercials do. The scenes were suspenseful and interesting within themselves. They didn't need the artificial suspense of stopping at the worst point. If the writing is good, it doesn't need artificial excitement. There were a few of these cliffhangers in the beginning of the book and many of them in the last half of the book. I am fine with a cliffhanger such as someone is killed and we don't know who is doing it. Then much later in the book, the killer's identity is revealed. It is the interrupting of a scene, for a delay of 3 to 5 pages before finishing it, which bothers me.

STORY BRIEF:
There were murders on the Flynn Plantation near New Orleans in the 1860's. There may be more murders happening there in the present day. Ghosts from the past might be communicating with present day people. Kendall reads tarot cards and has a gift shop in New Orleans. She was friends with Amelia who lived on the plantation. Amelia died and left the plantation to the three Flynn brothers from Florida who didn't know she was a relative. The three brothers come to the plantation and oversee repairs and improvements. Human bones are found on the property. The brothers are private investigators. Aidan investigates the bones and believes a serial killer may be involved.

DATA:
Story length: 383 pages. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 4. Total number of sex scene pages: 7. Setting: 1863 and present day New Orleans area, Louisiana. Copyright: 2008. Genre: romantic mystery suspense.

OTHER BOOKS:
To date, I've read the following Heather Graham and Shannon Drake books (same author).

By Heather Graham:
3.5 stars. Deadly Night. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 10/25/08.
2 stars. One wore Blue. Copyrt 1991. Review Date 2/17/08.

By Shannon Drake:
2 stars. The Pirate Bride. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 10/25/08.

This is the first novel of the prolific Heather Graham that I have read and it is book one in a trilogy about the Flynn Brothers. They have inherited an old plantation house in New Orleans from an aunt they did not even know existed. The oldest, Aiden, is a former FBI agent who left the agency after the death of his wife. His introduction to the Big Easy is an unnerving one. While walking along the muddy banks of the Mississippi he finds a human thigh bone with pieces of flesh clinging to it. He imagines the coroner will be interested in such a find, but not so. Aiden is remind in no uncertain terms that not long before, right after Katrina, bones and bodies could be found everywhere. His find means nothing. Or does it?

Until the death of Amelia Flynn, Kendall Montgomery had cared for the elderly lady who had spent her entire life at the plantation. This is where she wanted to die. Kendall was with her to the very end. The old house had it's legendary ghosts although Kendall thought such things nonsense. This despite the fact that she runs a small tea shop in town where she and her 2 employees Vinnie and Mason offer tarot card readings, claiming to clients that they can connect to the spirit world. It's all pretend on their part.

When the Flynn brothers arrive at the plantation house Kendall is making sure she has removed all of her possessions. As she was leaving through the doorway they meet. She finds Aiden to be rude, but the other two brothers, Jeremy and Zachery are quite pleasant company.

The brothers have formed their own private investigation agency. One case in particular dominates Aiden's thoughts, the disappearance of a young teen. He fears she is dead and perhaps the victim of a serial killer.

Kendall's skepticism about the paranormal starts to change. While giving a tarot card reading the skeleton on the Death card comes to life, or so it looks to her. She has dreams of Amilia who warns her of an evil that stalks New Orleans and Kendall is a particular target.

A series of frightening events bring Aiden and Amelia together; at first reluctantly and later much more agreeably . This suspenseful paranormal mystery has plenty of chilling moments and a nice touch of romance.

I usually enjoy this author's books but this book was very difficult to read and finish. It was very reptitive, almost 100 pages could be cut out because it rehashed most of the background of the story. It was a very slow moving book due to the reptition. There was more narration than dialogue and that distracted from the storyline as well. The plotline was interesting but dropped off from the first 30 pages, sometimes I forgot the point of the story it was so slow. By the time I arrived at the villain, I could not care less for anyone. Hopefully the next book in the series will pick up.

I'd give this a 2.5 stars if I could. My mother in law sent the Flynn Brothers Trilogy to me after she was done reading them. I liked the setting in New Orleans since I haven't read too many books based there, but other than that the book was just so so. The characters don't seem to be really developed (I could never get into the main characters as I should be) and the writing is just ok. The one thing that bothered me the most in the story would be coming from the point of view of one character and then the next line it would jump to someone else.
There are several parts of the book that kept me in suspense, but I was just glad to make it to the end and find out who did it. I'll be putting this in my pile of books to give away because I could never sit down to read it again. Two more to go, hope the other two brothers' stories are better.

I am usually not a fan of romantic suspense, but this one was all right. What drives me crazy in romance novels took place in this one, so I had to overlook that in order to give it a three. Kendal and Aiden spent the better part of the book not liking each other and at the same time were attracted to each other - this is pretty much a standard in romance novels, and that is what I hate about them - they are so predictable. So, to me this part of the storyline was a detriment, but other than that, it was a pretty decent read. I will read the next two books in the trilogy in the hopes they will get better. I usually like Heather Graham novels better than most romantic suspense writers, so I will look forward to the next two novels in this trilogy.

I get in the mood for something a little spooky around Halloween every year. This book and the second book of the trilogy are great books for just that. It isn't too scary, but interesting enough to hold me captive. I couldn't put this book down. I had to know what happened. I am from the south and have seen plantations just like this one. Who wouldn't romanticize about living in one? Places like this breath of history, romance, mystery and an air of something long past. Get your favorite throw and curl up with this book, you won't regret it.

I'm reading words and daydreaming at the same time. I was hoping that I'd stay up late into the night reading a great suspenseful mystery book.... this book lacks suspense. I'm on chapter 11 and still waiting for some excitement.

I enjoyed the book, but caugt a "large" editing error, which spoiled the story. Early in the book, a character is going to IRELAND for three weeks. Later in the book, the lead character wants to talk to the character on vacation, and calls her in CARACAS, Venezuela. They are in two different hemisphere's. The editor should go back to school and study geography. They are there to catch author's mistakes. I'm hoping the next two books will be better.

Book could not be read. the last words of every line were glued into the binding.
Might have been a Good trilogy if i could have read the first book. a total waste of money.

Love her books, got really fast in the mail box. Looking forward to reading this book and more of hers.