Dead Certain: A Novel

In Dead Certain, Ella is a lawyer by day and a singer by night. She keeps her passion for singing a secret from her younger sister, Charlotte, who she loves very much. Charlotte is the free spirit in the family, pursuing her dream of writing. One day, she meets with Ella to give her a novel that she’s written and just sold to a major publisher. Ella is so proud of her but simply puts the book in her bag and goes back to work defending criminals. Two days later, she hasn’t heard from Charlotte, which is unusual, so she gets the police involved. While she waits on them to investigate, Ella decides to read Charlotte’s book, only to discover that the sister she was so close to kept secrets from her, and her story will lead Ella to whoever was involved with her disappearance.

I enjoyed this book. The plot was great and getting to read the novel within the novel was a fun treat. The story was a bit predictable, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. Ella’s character was very well-rounded; she had many different facets that made her easy to relate to.

The only reason I didn’t give it five stars was because of the language and the multiple graphic sex scenes. It honestly would have been a great book without those. Overall, it reminded me of James Patterson’s style. So if you like his books, I think you will enjoy this. It’s short and sweet, which always makes for a good summer read. The author employs the tactic of telling part of the story from the culprit’s point of view but using his real name instead of the one the other characters know him by in order to get you to try to figure out which one he is. So grab this book and go sit on a beach and enjoy.