Customer Reviews

Play Dead

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

SUMMARY: Savannah police detective Elise Sandburg has enough to deal with: a house that's falling apart, a difficult teenage daughter, and an annoying yet mysterious new partner. Suddenly, young male prostitutes start turning up dead....or somewhat dead. The tradition of voodoo in the Deep South get a new slant as freshly buried serial victims claw their way out of their final resting places. To catch the killer, Elise will have to delve deep into a past she relinquished a lifetime ago.

WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: Frasier has a gift for immediately involving you in a story. She writes top-notch suspense that is engrossing and addictive. Characterizations are complete; truly surprising plot twists abound. Frasier is a must-have addition to any mystery/suspense lover's personal library.

WHY YOU WON'T: If prostitution and/or voodoo turn you off, get over it and read this anyway.

BOTTOM LINE: Best of genre. Frasier just keeps getting better.

I read this book in one day. Something I haven't done in quite a while. The characters were compelling. The plot fascinating. The dialogue excellent. If only all thrillers were this thrilling. I like Anne Frasier's first two books but I loved this one. Her best so far.

Once I started reading PLAY DEAD, I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed HUSH and SLEEP TIGHT very much, but this is the best. Anne Frasier has a way of getting into the skin of her characters that makes every book unforgettable. Her characters are so unusual and so bent, yet by the end of the book they're part of you. I finished reading the book yesterday, but I've been thinking about it ever since.

Every now and then a book comes along that just grabs you from page one and does not let you down for the entire experience. They are few in number, but his is one of them. This book had great characters, worthy of a sequel. David was well thought out and had demons to deal with. Elise was a terrific heroine with her own shadowy past and messed up relationships to deal with, but never let her personal life get in the way of her professional life as a detective. Elise was extremely capable and did not have to have a clue bite her in the butt to see it. Here were some characters you could really relate to put into very scary situations and they handled them the way a real person might actually handle them. I don't give out many 5 star ratings to books but this one deserves it. The third work I've read by Anne Frasier. All were very good...This was the best, at least I think so.

Reading Anne Frasier's latest, Play Dead, is like taking a roller coaster ride and a carriage tour simultaneously. Unblinking, Frasier outlines the dark, mysterious side of Savannah with a bold Magic Marker and fills in the spaces with the city's innate beauty and light. The protagonists, Elise and David, may be worlds apart in personality and life experience, but they are more alike than they seem at first glance. Both are determined to solve the strange case of corpses that aren't, delving into the arcane world of root doctors and mysticism while dealing with their own inner demons.
Most authors use setting merely as a backdrop for their characters. In Play Dead, setting IS a character. Good job!

Savannah medical examiner John Casper is performing an autopsy when he suddenly realizes that the body is still alive, the man is still breathing albeit very slowly. When the man eventually dies, it is discovered that he had tetrodotoxin in his bloodstream, a poison that doesn't cross the blood brain barrier so victims are paralyzed and unable to speak, but totally aware of what is going on around them.

Homicide detectives Elise Sandberg and David Gould head the investigation. As a baby Elise was abandoned on a grave; her father was thought to be a root doctor and a conjurer so she is aware that the public will believe they are dealing with dark magic because superstitions run soul deep in Savannah. David is running from his own demons but unlike Elise he doesn't believe in the supernatural. More victims are found as body moves out of the grave before dying. The perpetrator poisons David leaving him paralyzed and needing help, but only Elise might save him if she can put all the pieces of the puzzle together in time.

Fans will find themselves reading about a different kind of Savannah one that is more like New Orleans with root doctors, conjurers and practitioners of the supernatural. The two protagonists get off to a rocky start but in time and with patience on Elise's part, they make a good team. PLAY DEAD is a compelling and memorable police procedural, made even better by the way the characters interact with one another. Anne Frasier will be appreciated by fans who like Kay Hooper, Iris Johansen and Lisa Gardner.

Harriet Klausner

The front of the book says Anne Frazier can "deliver thoroughly engrossing, completely riveting suspense!" That is every bit true for all of her books, and this one is right in line with the first two. The characters are intriquing, yet surreal, but also passionate, with all the human frailties. Once you start, you can't put it down because you are pushing all limits to determine "who dunnit". A great read.

I have enjoyed Anne Frasier's suspense novels and this one was no different. I found the characters compelling, the plot was interesting. This book was GREAT in that you had two very interesting leads with very interesting backgrounds and baggage. I was especially intrigued by ex-FBI agent, David Gould. Talk about a wounded soul. He was the big draw for me and the main reason why I loved this book so much. Elise Sandburg was just as interesting. Plot was good, great atmosphere with the vodoo and the black magic and spells. Loved that. I couldn't put this book down and highly recommend this book to suspense fans. Other authors that I enjoy and recommend: Karin Slaughter, Steve Hamilton, Julia Spencer Fleming and Michael Connelly.

This book is an excellent and quick read. I couldn't put the novel down once I got hooked! I liked the characters and the Savannah setting. Anne Frasier has hit the jackpot again! No one can go wrong by picking up one of her novels!

This is my second time reading Anne Frasier's work. She tends to specialize in the macabre & really creepy crime thrillers. This is no exception bringing in a drug that mimics death & characters who practise voodoo magic to keep readers glued to the plot.

I think its the potent power of the mimic death drug on victims that is the main draw here, you get the creeps on how it entraps victims with paralysis but with their minds remaining active.

Somehow all the talk about Strata Luna's or the voodoo priestess power and the aura she creates fell rather flat as you don't see the effects of it fall on anyone in the plotline. Its just talk about this & that type of spells that you can put a curse on people. In short, it all kind of ended up like folklore rather than adding to the mystery factor.

The detectives are the usual types with the dysfunctional personalities. Elise Sandberg, the female detective, who eagerly seeks to know her past lineage and her sidekick David Gould who reluctantly needs to confront his past.