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Read Dead Even (2002)

Dead Even (2002)

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Rating
3.79 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
0340658177 (ISBN13: 9780340658178)
Language
English
Publisher
not avail

Dead Even (2002) - Plot & Excerpts

Dead Even by Brad MeltzertFirst Meltzer asked the uncomfortable question “what if you can’t trust your friends?” Now he is back with another uncomfortable and life altering question, “how far would you go to protect the one you love?” It’s a question that new Assistant District Attorney Sara Tate and husband Defense Attorney Jared Tate have to answer. Sara took a case that she thought would show the DA that she is someone that he would want to keep around. Jared stumbles across a client he thinks might save position in his prestigious law firm. The case and client puts wife against husband. Both find themselves in a competition for their lives. Sara must win or Jared dies. Jared faces the same threat. tI guess I really shouldn’t be all that surprised that Meltzer was able to play on basic fears once again. Or the fact that readers, who had a bird’s eye view of everything going on, still wasn’t sure who they could trust. In a story where nothing is really ever as it seems, it’s a minor miracle that trust was still available to be lost. There were moments that I found uncomfortable to read; mainly when Jared and Sara were fighting for real. It is one thing to see a couple fight when they are not sure if they still love each other or when they know that they don’t and they both want an out. But to see a couple that still very much loves one another, enough to risk their own lives for the other, is something else entirely. tSecrets that once seemed harmless are revealed only to the devastation of the other. What was once logical and easily accepted is now questioned and examined for any signs of deception. This is pulse pounding and does an effective job dancing on one’s emotions as the trial looms and both Sara and Jared must give it their all to save the other while they are still not sure if the other can be trusted. If you want to know more about what Brad Meltzer is doing or any of his other books, you can visit him on his website: www.bradmeltzer.com. You should also check out his show Decoded which airs on the History Channel.

This is my first Brad Meltzer book. I've actually been looking for it ever since I read an excerpt of it online somewhere and when I saw this at my local bookstore, I didn't think twice and just grabbed it. A mistake actually - I should have at least read the online reviews.The story started off pretty normal, two lawyers in love and married, hubby is a hotshot defense attorney, wifey is the new ADA. The first few chapters were pretty interesting. Then it reached a plateau for the next 8-10 chapters before eventually spiraling downwards. Wifey started off as likeable but after a few chapters and introduced to the antagonist, she starts getting all whiney and irritating, at times even downright bitchy. Same goes with hubby - too spineless and confused. I usually like at least one of the main characters but with this one, I can't seem to identify or even sympathise with either.The plot is all over the place and there are times when I can't make heads or tails of it. Almost all of the side characters are made out to be the anatagonists. I suspect that's the author's way of keeping his readers in suspense but what irks me the most is after all those long-winded dialogues & cheesy cliches, there's almost no surprises. The characterization was weak and inconsistent - it's a case of too many suspects, too little time. However, I'm not giving up on this author. I've read reviews of some of his other books and they seemed encouraging. I might pick up another book of his but it may be a while.

What do You think about Dead Even (2002)?

This is my second disappointing stab at reading a Meltzer novel. I'm simply underwhelmed with his weak writing ability. The actual story behind "Dead Even" is really quite good, but Meltzer's characters are so utterly annoying that reading about them is the literary equivalent of enduring nails raking down a chalk board. Ugh! In "Dead Even" the female protagonist, Sara, is a complete witch (or think of a rhyming synonym) but we, as readers, are supposed to sympathize with her. Her husband, Jared, in contrast, comes off as a spineless wimp (who needs to discover the word "assertive") instead of portraying the loving and protective husband. The plot: Sara, an unemployed lawyer, finally lands a job at the NYC DA's office. However, major City budget cuts are announced on her first day of work and she fears for her job. As the rookie, she's desperate to prove herself so she takes on a few cases. One of those cases, however, was a home robbery misdemeaner earmarked for a more prestigious and well-regarded Assistant DA, but she takes it anyway. By that small act of legal thievery, Sara becomes entangled in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game full of crooked public employees, psychotic murderers, and heartache as the defendent "hires" Sara's husband to represent him. Both Sara and Jared are told, without each other's knowledge, that they must win the case or the other will die. Thus, the thrilling circus begins. And it is a great story; one that would have been marvelous had a better writer set upon it. Awful dialogue and irritating characters do not a great book make.
—Linda I

Husband and wife team Jared and Sara are both attorneys. In Sara’s first case as a new ADA, guess who is defending counsel? You guessed it, Jared. But that is the only guess you can make in this tense legal drama. Sara was fired from her last firm and took six months to find her new job. But the day before she starts, the NY Times publishes an article about budget cuts and downsizing all over the city, including the DA’s office. But Sara is determined to keep her job, so she her assistant find a way to “steal” a big case from a more experienced ADA.Little does she know what the case will bring terror, death, and discord not only to her life, but the lives of her coworkers and Jared. Who can she trust as this intense, serpentine drama unfolds? It is worth your time to find out. This is a really well written book that keeps you guessing.
—Joanne

Dead Even is a romance-novel-ish legal thriller and a step or two above qualifying as an airport book. It’s not so much a whodunit as a "who'll do it," with the primary question being who's going to bring down whom.I’m always ready to look askance at female protagonists written by men because in my literary experience such characters are usually stereotypical and shallow. Author Brad Meltzer seems to have tried hard to make heroine Sara extra tough but her internal voice isn’t realistic and comes across as juvenile and flighty.The story proceeds nicely toward the finale when there’s a massive exposition dump with seemingly endless pages of dialogue to explain and wrap up loose ends. The dump follows a climax which barely amounts to more than a pile-on of guns and absurd coincidences.Unfortunately, what begins promisingly as a clever nail-biter ultimately finds itself reading as a corny soap opera. Meltzer remains however one of my go-to writers whenever I want a non-challenging read that will hold my interest.
—Debbie J

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