Fifteen years ago, Claire O'Brien's life was turned upside down when she found her mother and her mother's lover both brutally murdered. Clarie's father Tom has every reason to be the culprit. After all, he did just catch his wife cheating on him with another man.
All of the evidence pointed to Tom O'Brien's guilt, all of his appeals were overturned, and the case ended with Tom receiving the death penalty for the two murders. But throughout the years, Claire has wondered what really happened that night. She was only fourteen years old at the time and just assumed her father did it since he was holding the murder weapon and was the only other person in the house.
After an earthquake gave several San Quentin inmates an opportunity to escape, Tom O'Brien fled with everyone else. Tom is a former cop and even helped the police catch the escaped convicts, well everyone but himself. If Tom goes back to jail he will be awaiting his execution in only six short weeks.
Tom's only hope is a law student named Oliver Maddox who came to visit Tom and told him he believes he is innocent and wants to help him prove it. But Tom has no idea how to find Oliver since he has been out of touch and missing for several months. Does Oliver know who really committed the crimes and if so why doesn't the police know the truth?
When Tom runs out of options, he decides to contact his daughter Claire, now all grown up, for help. Claire has experience as a private investigator and might be able to find some answers. But Claire is skeptical of Tom and believes he is guilty still. Will Claire swallow her pride and give her father a second chance and perhaps save him from an undeserved execution?
PLAYING DEAD is the third book in the Prison Break Trilogy by romantic suspense author Allison Brennan. The mystery is tightly plotted with the final reveal not happening until the very end of the book. There are several red herrings and possibilities on who the killer could be, but with so many characters it is hard to truly know who the guilty party really is.
The suspense builds up until the exciting conclusion when all questions are answered and justice is served. I am a huge fan of Allison Brennan's novels and I was immensely satisfied with this latest installment. PLAYING DEAD is an adrenaline rush of thrills and chills that is sure to win Brennan several new readers.
Dead Man Running
Sentenced to death for crimes he didnβt commit, ex-cop Tom
OβBrien is now a fugitive on the run. After fifteen years
behind bars, heβs determined to prove his innocenceβbut
first he must convince his daughter, whose testimony
helped put him in prison, that he has damning evidence of
a plot to frame him.
Claire is no longer the naΓ―ve young teenager who walked in
to find her mother and her motherβs lover dead and her
father holding the gun. Sheβs a successful fraud
investigator who figures that everyone lies. Though Claire
believes in her fatherβs guilt, her curiosity propels her
to look into the disappearance of a law student who
claimed he had proof of Tomβs innocence. But the answers
Claire finds only lead to more questions and reinforce her
belief that thereβs no one left to trust.
Obsessed with the OβBrien case, FBI agent Mitch Bianchi
befriends Claire under false pretenses, convinced that Tom
is not only innocent but in grave dangerβand not just from
the cops. As the three race toward the truth, a murderous
conspiracy tightens its nooseβand Claire becomes the
target of an ice-cold psychopath who will kill to protect
his secrets.
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