Deadly Dreams (Mindhunters #5) by Kylie Brant
Romantic Suspense
April 5, 2011
Paperback
Berkley

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “I might be able to come up with something better then ‘decent’ next time. But there is no way in hell I’m going with ‘Nate the Great’.”

Risa Chandler’s dreams of death are the bane of her existence but prove to be invaluable to Adam Raiker’s criminologist team, the Mindhunters. When a case goes horribly wrong, Risa goes into hiding to recover. But dreams never fade and soon Risa will have to risk everything to once again bring a killer to justice.

Risa Chandler is a profiler with the Mindhunters group. She recently suffered a devastating loss on a case and has travelled home to recuperate and deal with what she deems her failure. Risa’s “gift” is dreams. Through her dreams she views the killer’s misdeeds. When she dreams one night of fire and death, she knows her gift is no longer dormant.

Nate McGuire is a detective with the Philadelphia police department. He is ordered to find and bring Risa to his crime scene after a third brutally burned body is discovered. As Nate and Risa investigate this hideous crime; navigating through the myriad of suspects, clues, and misdirection they find more then they bargained for. Someone is systematically killing off a group of former police officers one by one.

Deadly Dreams is the fifth book in Kylie Brant’s Mindhunter series. A twisted and dark romantic suspense; we are held hostage in the multi layered and complex world that Ms. Brandt has created. A stimulating action packed journey that takes us from the very beginning to the explosive finale; gaining knowledge from all sides. It does start out little slow as we are acclimated, along with our agents, to the detailed specifics of the crime and those involved. Ms Brant shows considerable knowledge as she maps out the police procedures for us in a clear and concise matter. The running dialog between the characters is fast and smooth-allowing you to slip right into the story with them. As the plot picks up speed, the mystery and suspense follows suit leaving us ripe with tension till the very last page.

Our hero and heroine are a delightful mixture of contrasts, adding humor and and a lightness to the main storyline. The romance is considerably less involved then the main plot but Ms. Brant uses those scenes to flesh Nate and Risa out brilliantly. I found myself becoming very vested in their outcome. They are fabulous together. The sexual tension between these two is electric. Both Risa and Nate are loyal, intelligent, hard working people. Each of them has responsibilities that they take very seriously.

As these two circle and side step their attraction to each other, you slowly start to see the walls they have built around themselves come down. I actually found myself hurting a little at Nate’s attitude towards Risa when her “gift” is exposed.

I really like that Ms. Brant doesn’t make their relationship a central aspect of the story but does manage to intertwine it with the other story lines; allowing it to merge naturally and enhance the ending. Our secondary characters are a integral part of the story from the most visible to the ones we hear about. Each one adding personality, drama, and insight to the story. Adam Raiker is a forceful personality that makes you take notice. Silent but deadly-he is a multi-faceted man. With each installment we learn more and more about what happened in his past. In this book his past has it’s own sub story and we learn great deal.

People and former co-workers of Risa’s and Nate’s lives are also visible in here which gives us valuable insight in to their emotional make ups.

I will admit I was slightly confused about the sub-story concerning Nate’s partner, Cass. Her story doesn’t have any real bearing on the main storyline nor the ending beyond a facet in Nate’s “take care of the world” attitude. It seemed out of place.

Even though we are gradually told why the crimes are being committed, the actual identity of the villain is surprising. I found the the ending to be dramatic and intense. Questions are answered and some more asked that allows for advancement of the over all arc and for our characters-showing us that this is not the last we have seen of them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by Kylie Brant in the future. Her next book in the series, Deadly Sins (Mindhunter #6), releases August 2011.

Rating: B

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