Customer Reviews

Half Past Dead

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kaitlin Wells is in prison for a crime she did not committ. She has been cut off by family and friends, so for the last 3 years she has had to learn to be self sufficient. Never again will she be so trusting. Suddenly the FBI offer her a deal, they know she is innocent, but will not let the truth out because they are on the trail of bigger prey. She can be furloughed if she will go back to Twin Oaks and be undercover for them. IN this Catch-22 she has no choice, she has to accept the deal and hope she can prove her innocence.

Justin Radner has just moved back to Twin Oaks, he has been appointed Sheriff. He is notified of her return but not told anything about her undercover work. When he meets her he is surprised by her attitude, she doesn't act like a guilty criminal, but he knows not to go by looks. Anyway he has a murder to investigate. The first in 11 yrs.

As the investigation moves forward, Kat seems to be somehow involved. The mystery of this woman is keeping him up at night. Kat finds many changes in her town, but the people are just as down and dirty as she remembers. Kat and Justin are brought togather by circumstances and attraction and after a couple of attempts on Kat's life, both are convinced she has the answer, if she can only find it.

This is a great read, I read it in one sitting. Totally riviting.

Kaitlin (Kat) Wells has spent the last three years serving a prison sentence for a crime she did not commit. Now, she's gotten a break; the government has secretly reopened her case and believes she is innocent, but they still need some information before she can be completely cleared. Therefore, she's being released on a work furlough to her home town where, hopefully, she can help them wrap it up while re-establishing her own life. However, once back home, not too many people appear to be happy to have her back. Kat's mother is near death, lost in a world of her own, and the two never really got along before. Now that Kat's a disgrace, that's even more true. Kat's sister has no use for her and even tries to bribe her to move away, which Kat can not do under the terms of her release. Yet, on the plus side, Kat's new boss does believe her and is willing to help clear her name, and to help find out who is now trying to kill her. The Sheriff, Justin Radner, is at first leery of Kat, but there is also an attraction between the two of them. It's an irresistable force. Though doubts persist as to her innocence, Justin finds himself falling in love, though he does not know the whole truth about the woman he loves.

***** This is one of Ms.Sawyer's best works. The plot is complex, and every character is presented powerfully. Plot lines cross and weave together into a mystery that will challenge you until the end. This is a keeper. *****

Amanda Killgore

Kat Wells has spent over three years in prison for a crime she didn't commit. The Feds offer her the opportunity to get out of prison early under the guise of a furlough to help them catch the real culprits behind the bank robbery, and she jumps at the chance to clear her name. Her mother and sister, who deserted her at the first sign of trouble just want her gone so that sister Tori can marry the wealthy judge's son.

Justin Radner has just returned to become Sheriff of Twin Oaks after leaving the New Orleans police force. He is not a welcome addition by some of the town higher ups including a local judge with political aspirations and the father of his teen lover who holds him responsible for her suicide. His first stop is to make sure that new parolee Kat does not become a repeat offender. He soon realizes when he catches her beating the crud out of a town bully cum rapist that she can take care of herself.

Kat excels in her new position working on the local newspaper with editor David taking her under his wing. After obtaining background information on a puzzling homicide, the two work with Justin to investigate the murder and soon, it appears that there is a lot more going on than the bank robbery including drugs, money laundering, and murder. As they are thrown together, there is an undeniable attraction between Kat and Justin, but at the first sign of adversity, he wrestles with his doubts and realizes he's falling in love with her.

Sawyer's latest is a tense and emotional drama featuring a charismatic couple's search for the truth and in Kat's dealings with her less than worthy family.

Three years ago Kaitlin Wells was convicted of robbing the Mercury National Bank. She went to Danville Correctional Facility. Now the prosecutor in her case Harlan Westcott informs her he knows she is innocent as new evidence from another investigation surfaced. He offers her a deal that will free her immediately on a work release program or she can linger for a year of two in prison until the undercover operation is completed. She agrees to help him catch the criminal once she learns her mother is dying from ovarian cancer though she knows her mother and sister deserted her.

Over the objection of the affluent, Ole Mississippi football fanatics, and those who blame him for the suicide of his high school girlfriend Verity, former big city cop Justin Radner is appointed temporary sheriff of Twin Oaks. Even before he starts he has a homicide to deal with but also looks into the bank robbery in which Kat went to prison; likewise she does too. As they compare notes, they plan to prove she is innocent while they fall in love with one another.

HALF PAST DEAD is an exciting police procedural-amateur sleuth romantic suspense with a heroine who wants desperately to prove she is innocent before her mom dies. The story line is action-packed, but also provides a cautionary tale that justice is not blind or equal as the prosecution could afford to go all out against Kat while she depended on brainless public defender way out of his league. Readers will appreciate this fine thriller that never slows down once the culprit knows the cop and the convict are searching to uncover him or her.

Harriet Klausner

Half Past Dead was an interesting story, that had - in my opinion - writerly issues in flow, development and what not. It's not a bad story, but there were a few things that just bugged me about.

The story is about Kat Wells, a woman who lived in a small town and was always a bit of a misfit - overweight and plain to her sisters thin prettiness, and unloved by her mother. All that changed when she was accused of stealing money from the bank she worked in and sent to prison and is completely abandoned by her family. Three years later, she is told by the Feds that they know she is innocent, but in order to be set completely free she has to work with them on their long-standing investigation into activities in her home town. She returns home under the guise of a work release, but in reality is undercover. No longer overweight and now considered pretty, she attracts the attention of the new sheriff, Justin - who she had crush on as a teenager- and also the confidence of her work release boss at the newspaper. Together they try to figure out answers to the mysteries in her home town, and Kat and Justin fight a heavy attraction.

It's definitely an interesting story with lots of twists and turns, but that is a bit of the problem. There are just way too many pieces. There's just so much going on that it's a bit much. There's murders, poisonings, money laundering, drugs, people being framed, vendetta's, assaults, etc. And the author doesn't do quite a good enough job tying everything together at the end. She doesn't give a clear enough picture as to what exactly was going on. You still understand it, but clearer lines connecting all the dots would have helped the story.

One of the things that really pushed the story into the "too much" range was that there were 4 people trying to kill Kat, all for different reasons. I mean, come on. One or two people out for her is fine, but four? That's just way, way too much and pushes the story into unbelievable range. Just kinda makes you shake your head and think "yeah, sure, whatever". I also had a problem with Kat not quite standing up for herself to her family. They were horrible to her. And though she didn't welcome them with open arms, she was unreasonably accepting of them. True, family is family, but there comes a point where lines are crossed and they did. As for Kat and Justin's romance, it was nice, but underdeveloped. The author didn't give it the attention it needed and didn't build the emotional ties enough so that when they say "I Love You" at then end, it worked.

So in the end, it was an okay book. I didn't hate it and I didn't love it.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

There were a few things in this book that really bugged me. Some of the details seemed lame and fake. I guessed the mysterious bad guy by the second chapter, but the writer gives you more than enough of those. There were other details in the book that were very interesting and informative. I've never considered vomit to the face as a self-defense move. The poisons and conspiracies were awesome. Oh, and anyone kidnapped in the trunk of a car should try to kick out the lights.

WOW!, Fast paced, fun read. One of her best! Loved both the hero and herione! A keeper! Great way to start the New Year!