As DEAD HEAT begins, Werewolves Charles and Anna Cornick have traveled to Arizona to buy a horse as a gift for Anna's birthday. Charles has a longtime human friend who has a horse farm there, and he also wishes to make a long overdue visit. After they arrive, they find his old friend Joseph dying, and his werewolf son tries to talk Charles into changing Joseph into a werewolf, something Joseph will have none of. Although he has a number of family already werewolf, Joseph wishes to die as he lived, a human. Soon after arriving for their visit, Charles and Anna are pulled into the case of a fae who is stealing children to enable him to live off of their essence. When they investigate further, they find themselves drawn into the stories of the people they are interviewing about the disappearances of the children.

DEAD HEAT is a quiet, understated story; and very much character driven. More than just the case they are working on, it is a look into Charles and Anna's life a few years down the road from their mating. Anna has changed so much from the broken wolf Charles fell in love with. She is stronger in ways that continue to amaze Charles, and coming into her own as an omega wolf and as a woman. As to Charles, he is learning to appreciate life more, and the people who have touched his life over the years. Being over 400 years old, werewolf born and the pack enforcer, Charles has lost touch with humanity to a large degree. Anna changed that, bringing a breath of fresh air into his staid, rigid life.

The pacing of DEAD HEAT is a little slower than other books in the Alpha and Omega series. I enjoyed this and felt it fit the story; but many readers used to faster and more action packed UF may struggle a bit with the slow, deliberate pacing. This is a lull before the impending Fae War; and I think the next book will be fast and hard- hitting as the issues with the fae finally come to a head. Author Patricia Briggs also woven fascinating stories about the secondary characters involved in the case, and outdid herself with the wonderful storytelling and character insights. Briggs constructed painstaking backstories of the characters previous interactions with the fae and how it is coming back to haunt them years later. There is also the meticulous research into to world of horse breeding and training that Briggs uses to bring this world to the reader.

DEAD HEAT is the fourth book in author Patricia Briggs Alpha and Omega series. This is an engaging story in an always excellent UF series. DEAD HEAT can be read standalone for the story itself, the background of Anna and Charles is intriguing, but not necessary to follow the storyline as presented. DEAD HEAT is a highly recommended UF story in a highly recommended series.