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Playing Dead
“Dear Tommie: Have you ever wondered about who you are?”
The letter that turns Tommie McCloud’s world upside down arrives from a stranger only days after her father’s death. The woman who wrote it claims that Tommie is her daughter—and that she was kidnapped as a baby thirty-one years ago.
Tommie wants to believe it’s all a hoax, but suddenly a girl who grew up on a Texas ranch finds herself linked to a horrific past: the slaughter of a family in Chicago, the murder of an Oklahoma beauty queen, and the kidnapping of a little girl named Adriana. Tommie races along a twisting, nightmarish path while an unseen stalker is determined to keep old secrets locked inside the dementia-battered brain of the woman who Tommie always thought was her real mother. With everything she has ever believed in question, and no one she can trust, Tommie must discover the truth about the girl who vanished—and the very real threats that still remain.
The letter that turns Tommie McCloud’s world upside down arrives from a stranger only days after her father’s death. The woman who wrote it claims that Tommie is her daughter—and that she was kidnapped as a baby thirty-one years ago.
Tommie wants to believe it’s all a hoax, but suddenly a girl who grew up on a Texas ranch finds herself linked to a horrific past: the slaughter of a family in Chicago, the murder of an Oklahoma beauty queen, and the kidnapping of a little girl named Adriana. Tommie races along a twisting, nightmarish path while an unseen stalker is determined to keep old secrets locked inside the dementia-battered brain of the woman who Tommie always thought was her real mother. With everything she has ever believed in question, and no one she can trust, Tommie must discover the truth about the girl who vanished—and the very real threats that still remain.
353 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2012
About the author
Julia Heaberlin
10 books2,656 followersJulia Heaberlin is the internationally bestselling writer of six thrillers, including WE ARE ALL THE SAME IN THE DARK, a #1 Audible bestseller and the winner of Best Novel by the Writers’ League of Texas. In her latest thriller, NIGHT WILL FIND YOU, an astrophysicist and reluctant psychic explores the controversial, conspiracy-laden case of a lost girl. Heaberlin first broke out with the psychologically dark BLACK-EYED SUSANS, which examines the Texas death penalty and the use of high-tech DNA to identify old bones. SUSANS was published in more than fifteen countries and a top five Times of London bestseller. Heaberlin followed that with the creepy Texas road trip, PAPER GHOSTS, a finalist for Best Hardcover Novel by the International Thriller Writers Awards that has also been optioned for television. Earlier in her career, Heaberlin was an award-winning editor at newspapers that include the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Detroit News, and The Dallas Morning News. She is currently at work on her seventh thriller and lives in Texas, where all her novels are set under its big (and sometimes creepy) sky.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 884 reviews
August 13, 2012
For a bright girl, Tommie McCloud is pretty dense. When a letter arrives from a stranger after her father's death claiming that Tommie is her kidnapped daughter, she really should have put the pieces together a lot more quickly. Apparently she slept through her Ph.D. program in Psychology--worn out, no doubt, after her many successful years on the rodeo circuit. Happily, she has a former flame--ruggedly handsome, blah blah blah--who is conveniently in the security business and thus theoretically able to run protection for her while she figures out what's going on. Oh wait, that's a pretty good reason to play dumb, now isn't it? Dumb, though, is how quickly and easily Tommie's lifetime safety is ensured. If it could be made to happen now, couldn't it have been made to happen twenty years before? Oh well, logic isn't this book's strong suit. In fact, if it has a strong suit, I wasn't able to find it.
September 14, 2012
I've just read some reviews of this book on here & i'm astounded that some people gave it 5 stars .... FIVE !! WTF !! This book is a walking Texas cliche right down to the faded red boots & the ten gallon hats .... Surprise, surprise the men are mean & moody and the women are split right down the middle, as it seems in Texas you are either a pinafored homemaker or a lasso throwing, horse riding, gun toting 'gal' taking the game to the boy's ... just like our good 'ole heroine Tommie .. didn't see that one coming. Tommie stalks about everywhere and when she's not spewing out cliched one liners or wearing too short/too tight clothes (dont ask !) she's constantly refering to what Mama used to say or Granny used to do or what her Daddy would have done .... & whatever is up 'war hero' Hudson's arse i wished he'd get it sorted as the constant grimacing hard man act was a bit much after one chapter never mind after all 35. However, I persevered as i hate to quit on a book and the last 2/3 chapters at least bring the 'story' together or maybe i was just excited to see the light at the end of a very long tunnel...... In fact the best description of all is the title, because half way through you'll feel like Playing Dead too.
July 15, 2015
This one was a slow read. It really didn't interest me until well after the halfway point, but I have to say I was impressed with that shocking ending.
May 31, 2012
Overall a very good page turner. The plot is a little complicated, but she tyes everything up nicely in the end.
The author should have done a little more research on rodeos. The main character was injured when an "eight hundred pound steer stomped on my wrist 14 years ago in a rodeo arena in Lubbock, TX knocking me from the pedastal of my saddle into mortality."
First off, NO ONE rides steers. Men ride bulls, but women don't. And never with a saddle. She mentions this throughout the book and it bothered me every time. Women don't ride bulls. Especially in college. She says "a year later... I couldn't swing a rope'. It would have been very easy to have her injured in a roping event. Somewhere in the book she mentioned the character had dated a "Goat Roper". There is no such thing in rodeo and goat tying is a women's event.
This is probably nit picking, but since my daughter is in the Intercollegiate Rodeo Association and is on a rodeo team near Lubbock, it kind of hit home.
The author should have done a little more research on rodeos. The main character was injured when an "eight hundred pound steer stomped on my wrist 14 years ago in a rodeo arena in Lubbock, TX knocking me from the pedastal of my saddle into mortality."
First off, NO ONE rides steers. Men ride bulls, but women don't. And never with a saddle. She mentions this throughout the book and it bothered me every time. Women don't ride bulls. Especially in college. She says "a year later... I couldn't swing a rope'. It would have been very easy to have her injured in a roping event. Somewhere in the book she mentioned the character had dated a "Goat Roper". There is no such thing in rodeo and goat tying is a women's event.
This is probably nit picking, but since my daughter is in the Intercollegiate Rodeo Association and is on a rodeo team near Lubbock, it kind of hit home.
April 1, 2014
The synopsis for this book pulled me in and I couldn't wait to begin reading it. Unfortunately, I was not pleased with this novel. Playing Dead opens with Tommie receiving a letter saying that she is not the daughter of the woman that has raised her. Tommie obviously finds this letter absurd; she is dealing with the death of her father, her mother's illness, and the family business.
I don't want to delve into the story too much, partly because it was confusing and partly because I don't want to sway anyone's opinion about the book. For me, I thought the writing was really flat. It was hard for me to get into the story when I didn't even like the main character of the book. The writing was confusing; it jumped from location to location and at times I didn't even know the physical location of the story. There were so many mysteries involved with this story that it was nearly impossible to see how they would all come to a conclusion by the end of the book. I fully understand that this is a fictional novel, but it was so far fetched to me that I simply could not enjoy it.
I don't want to delve into the story too much, partly because it was confusing and partly because I don't want to sway anyone's opinion about the book. For me, I thought the writing was really flat. It was hard for me to get into the story when I didn't even like the main character of the book. The writing was confusing; it jumped from location to location and at times I didn't even know the physical location of the story. There were so many mysteries involved with this story that it was nearly impossible to see how they would all come to a conclusion by the end of the book. I fully understand that this is a fictional novel, but it was so far fetched to me that I simply could not enjoy it.
August 20, 2022
There's a south-north Texas-Chicago axis that will be familiar to many, at least in in Texas & Oklahoma.
Heaberlin again gets small-town north Texas (here, Ponder) just right in this complex thriller, right down to a wind turbine scene. And, a welcome surprise, she does the same for Chicago.
Playing Dead revolves around very sympathetic characters; readers will like not just the romantic tension with Hudson, but the affection between the two sisters.
Great plot twists throughout.
Wonderful phrases & dialect: "a hot wind blowing through the open windows like God had turned on his giant blow-dryer;" "Only in Oklahoma would a religious icon get his own motor lodge," "There's no such thing as a short genealogy conversation. Existentialism takes less time to explain." "In a protective clump of live oaks," and much more.
Highly recommended to mystery & thriller readers and to those who like books with southwestern settings.
Heaberlin again gets small-town north Texas (here, Ponder) just right in this complex thriller, right down to a wind turbine scene. And, a welcome surprise, she does the same for Chicago.
Playing Dead revolves around very sympathetic characters; readers will like not just the romantic tension with Hudson, but the affection between the two sisters.
Great plot twists throughout.
Wonderful phrases & dialect: "a hot wind blowing through the open windows like God had turned on his giant blow-dryer;" "Only in Oklahoma would a religious icon get his own motor lodge," "There's no such thing as a short genealogy conversation. Existentialism takes less time to explain." "In a protective clump of live oaks," and much more.
Highly recommended to mystery & thriller readers and to those who like books with southwestern settings.
May 15, 2015
Enjoyable! Julia Heaberlin is a talented writer. :)
November 14, 2013
I hate when the description of the book sounds so great and then the book is a dud-as in boring and a little predictable. It gets one star because I admit to skimming several pages in several chapters! Sorry I personally cant recommend this one.
May 26, 2014
Oh...this book, this book.
Playing Dead is a suspenseful family drama that takes you on an adventure from the past to the present, from a ranch in Texas to the Mob in Chicago. You never know where this book is going to take a turn, or what shocking surprise is in store. Julia has a beautiful way of telling a story, without revealing too much at once. The book starts out a little confusing. It starts out instantly fast paced, and you wonder what the heck is going on. It all unravels and reveals itself over the beginning chapters. There is so much mystery and suspense in this book that you have no idea who is who, who is really part of the family, who is dead, who is alive, who is on the good side, who is out to destroy Tommie's family.
Tommie is a child psychologist who returns to her family's Texas ranch to attend her father's funeral. She receives a mysterious note in the mail that says "Dear Tommie, have you ever wondered about who you are?" and the mystery and page turning suspense begins!
There is some romance wrapped into the story, but not enough to make it anything but still a literary thriller. The heroine is hilarious. She is sarcastic, without being overbearing or annoying. I laughed out loud several times during her narrations. Heaberlin beautifully introduces you to the characters, and they are so well thought out and put together. There are quirky characters, lovable characters, and hatable characters. (Is hatable even a word? Well, it is now.)
I cannot express how much I loved this book. I am very picky about the genre "thriller." I don't like cop thrillers, and I don't like lawyer thrillers. I like family thrillers with lots of secrets that unravel the past. This book did just that!
Playing Dead is a suspenseful family drama that takes you on an adventure from the past to the present, from a ranch in Texas to the Mob in Chicago. You never know where this book is going to take a turn, or what shocking surprise is in store. Julia has a beautiful way of telling a story, without revealing too much at once. The book starts out a little confusing. It starts out instantly fast paced, and you wonder what the heck is going on. It all unravels and reveals itself over the beginning chapters. There is so much mystery and suspense in this book that you have no idea who is who, who is really part of the family, who is dead, who is alive, who is on the good side, who is out to destroy Tommie's family.
Tommie is a child psychologist who returns to her family's Texas ranch to attend her father's funeral. She receives a mysterious note in the mail that says "Dear Tommie, have you ever wondered about who you are?" and the mystery and page turning suspense begins!
There is some romance wrapped into the story, but not enough to make it anything but still a literary thriller. The heroine is hilarious. She is sarcastic, without being overbearing or annoying. I laughed out loud several times during her narrations. Heaberlin beautifully introduces you to the characters, and they are so well thought out and put together. There are quirky characters, lovable characters, and hatable characters. (Is hatable even a word? Well, it is now.)
I cannot express how much I loved this book. I am very picky about the genre "thriller." I don't like cop thrillers, and I don't like lawyer thrillers. I like family thrillers with lots of secrets that unravel the past. This book did just that!
September 20, 2016
3.5 stars.
Heaberlin is a wonderful writer. Years ago I read her novel Lie Still and had a similar reaction to how I feel about Playing Dead. I love her style, the sentences she forms and her descriptions. She has the ability to fully describe a location or a mood and I am there with her in the moment. This is a great story, it is rich in history and the characters are well drawn.
Playing Dead's downfall is that it is written like a movie and maybe that is what she ultimately wants out of this story. It has scenes, instead of a fluid storyline. Hearblin jumps from scene to scene. At the beginning of a new scene I found myself confused as to how the character arrived in a new city or a new location. There was no explanation, just a happening and a jump to it.
But ultimately, this is a great thriller, with richly drawn characters who the reader will feel they know. The audio book is well done and I found the Texas accents convincing.
Heaberlin is a wonderful writer. Years ago I read her novel Lie Still and had a similar reaction to how I feel about Playing Dead. I love her style, the sentences she forms and her descriptions. She has the ability to fully describe a location or a mood and I am there with her in the moment. This is a great story, it is rich in history and the characters are well drawn.
Playing Dead's downfall is that it is written like a movie and maybe that is what she ultimately wants out of this story. It has scenes, instead of a fluid storyline. Hearblin jumps from scene to scene. At the beginning of a new scene I found myself confused as to how the character arrived in a new city or a new location. There was no explanation, just a happening and a jump to it.
But ultimately, this is a great thriller, with richly drawn characters who the reader will feel they know. The audio book is well done and I found the Texas accents convincing.
December 25, 2022
I really liked We Are All The Same in The Dark so I wanted to check out her other books. Black Eyed Susan’s was okay as well. This book was her debut book and I can tell her writing style has changed, but this one just wasn’t for me.
May 4, 2012
Set in the remote and thinly populated town of Ponder, Texas this debut mystery thriller tells of Tommie McCloud, an ex rodeo rider and budding concert pianist (can you say incongruous) whose dreams of fame in both arenas were shattered by a raging bull. Currently pursuing a career as a psychologist, she has received a letter from a woman in Chicago indicating that Tommie may not be who she thinks she is. With the man she always thought to be her father recently deceased and her mother being cared for in an Alzheimer's facility there is really no one who can verify if the allegation put forth in the letter is true or false. Tommie makes a decision to investigate the assertion on her own and makes several startling discoveries, not the least of which are (1) the possibility that her "real" father may be a notorious crime czar currently incarcerated for the murders of an FBI agent and his family, (2) her social security number actually belongs to a long dead child, and (3) the accident that killed her older brother Tuck may not have been an accident after all. Couple these unsettling revelations with the unwelcome and persistent attentions of a suspiciously evasive, gun-toting journalist named Jack Smith and Tommie's long standing fears and insecurities and one can almost understand her penchant for using prescription drugs to escape from her problems.
I enjoy a good mystery as much as the next person, but author Julia Heaberlin has peppered PLAYING DEAD with more improbable characters than an appear in an X-men movie. In addition to the potential crime boss father, his crazy wife and the "stalker" journalist, there's Tommie's boyfriend who has carte-blanche access to FBI files and can provide her with any information she requires, her rich girl sister who prefers living in a trailer with her young daughter who has a brain tumor, the stereotypical good old boy Texas lawyer-friend, a female inmate at a local prison whose apparent unlimited access to the telephone results in on-going calls to Tommie which border on harassment and a couple of mafioso type thugs hell bent on stopping Tommie in her tracks. On top of all this there is the super-duper triple secret to be revealed.
All I can say is if you are a fan of the on-going dramas presented on daytime T.V. you should find this tome very appealing. Personally, it was just a little too soapy for me.
I enjoy a good mystery as much as the next person, but author Julia Heaberlin has peppered PLAYING DEAD with more improbable characters than an appear in an X-men movie. In addition to the potential crime boss father, his crazy wife and the "stalker" journalist, there's Tommie's boyfriend who has carte-blanche access to FBI files and can provide her with any information she requires, her rich girl sister who prefers living in a trailer with her young daughter who has a brain tumor, the stereotypical good old boy Texas lawyer-friend, a female inmate at a local prison whose apparent unlimited access to the telephone results in on-going calls to Tommie which border on harassment and a couple of mafioso type thugs hell bent on stopping Tommie in her tracks. On top of all this there is the super-duper triple secret to be revealed.
All I can say is if you are a fan of the on-going dramas presented on daytime T.V. you should find this tome very appealing. Personally, it was just a little too soapy for me.
September 8, 2014
I was thinking perhaps the more reviews a book gets, the more the rating moves to the center... maybe that's not true but it is the only way I could figure this book would get an average rating of 3.54. Halfway through this book that was packed with corny cliches and bad metaphors, I almost gave up. But I did want to find out who Tommie's biological parents were and whether she was kidnapped when she was one year old. This was a shallowly written book with underdeveloped characters. It was written like a cheap detective book. Reading this book after reading the Donna Tartt novel was like reading a comic book.
June 4, 2012
Tommie's father is dead and her mother is in a nursing home when she receives a letter from a woman who claims that she is actually her daughter, having been kidnapped as a young child. What follows is a thriller, with plenty of action and a mystery as Tommie attempts to uncover the facts of her own life. Tommie is a very very likable character who is a therapist that uses horses to treat people and children with various mental and physical afflictions. Enjoyed this story, many different threads to follow and many secrets to uncover. Good Read.
May 12, 2019
I can understand trying to write a book with southern charm but I dearly hate it when authors dumb women down. This book drew me in at first but the middle was too filled with cliches. The ending wrapped up well but some of the characters were a little too formulaic. I will try another bug this author because I did enjoy it but it wasn’t stellar.
April 25, 2016
What a slow read and such a stupid story. Also the writing is really bad. I will not go back to this author. Such disappointment.
April 26, 2018
This book was set in Texas and since I am from Texas I feel I can go so far as to say the southern attitude was overdone. The stereotype southern way of acting and manner was waayyy over the top and felt insincere. I could not relate to the characters because “fake southern” kept staring me in the face.
June 26, 2013
I was not thrilled with this book. I did not like the main character, "Tommie." It does not mean you should not read it. That is just my opinion. However I loved the other characters & the storyline. It was just a little too slow for me!!
January 8, 2016
I read this at Xmas and am sorry to say that this did not grab me and found it quite slow going. All I can really say on this one.
February 21, 2019
Brilliant and thrilling
August 8, 2022
Good twisty plot all the way to the end!
October 21, 2017
The most disconcerting book I have ever attempted. I am putting the majority of the complaint on the narrator. I think they must have been related to Sybil or equally fractured because of the total confusion of accents and dialects she tried to use unsuccessfully! A southern drawl with a teen like Yanno that’s maybe Spanish also. Ugh.
July 28, 2024
Одного дня Томмі отримує лист від невідомої жінки, який перевертає її життя з ніг на голову. Дівчина втрапляє у криваві мафіозні розбірки, дізнається безліч сімейних таємниць, серед яких і те, що вона не та, ким вважала себе упродовж усього життя.
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Попри доволі жорстокий та кривавий сюжет книга вийшла спокійна та врівноважена. Авторка робить плавні переходи від однієї дії до іншої і при цьому вміє пииголомшити.
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Написана історія більш-менш легко і зрозуміло, до словника доводилося звертатися не часто. Книга цікава і варта уваги.
⠀
Попри доволі жорстокий та кривавий сюжет книга вийшла спокійна та врівноважена. Авторка робить плавні переходи від однієї дії до іншої і при цьому вміє пииголомшити.
⠀
Написана історія більш-менш легко і зрозуміло, до словника доводилося звертатися не часто. Книга цікава і варта уваги.
May 18, 2012
I enjoyed the characters and the well-evoked wide-sky Texas setting of this thriller so much it gave me a case of cognitive dissonance—I wanted to keep reading as fast as I could to figure everything out and I wanted to go slow and have the book world I was inhabiting last as long as possible. Tommie, tough and compassionate--a former rodeo star now working on a PhD in psychology, is home for her father’s funeral when she gets a letter that throws everything she thinks she knows about her life and family in question. Was she kidnapped as a baby and raised by people who aren’t blood relatives? With her father no longer around and her mother no longer lucid there is nobody she can go to for answers. As she begins to investigate the threat of danger surfaces immediately, making Tommie desperate to protect what’s left of the family she knows and loves—her free spirited younger sister and her elementary school age niece. Plenty of plot twists kept me guessing so I figured out some but not all of the eventual outcome. I’m looking forward to reading more by Julia Heaberlin. For now, this first book has left me with a strong desire to see the small towns and open ranges of Texas for myself.
May 17, 2012
I read this for a book discussion and am anxious to get other opinions. It was an interesting mystery that kept me turning the pages, but I found that there were too many random details that were not properly addressed. A bit more character development and background would have enhanced the story line, given that much of the plot focused on what occurred in the past. I was surprised by the ending, which is good when reading a mystery. Our book discussion was canceled for tonight due to weather, maybe in skimming over for next week will offer more clarity.
June 18, 2012
Oh my goodness...not sure where to start, but this book was excellent. I felt that the first half or so moved a bit slow for me, but the last few chapters MORE than made up for it. Great characters throughout and lots of them to keep up with, which was a small challenge, but it left me wanting to hug a bunch of them! There is a WHOLE ENTIRE plot here that isn't even alluded to in the description. Overall a great book with a FANTASTIC and SURPRISING ending!! LOVED IT!!
March 22, 2016
Interesting enough that I kept plugging though. Slow enough that it took me months to do so. If you're already reading it, carry on. The ending was my favorite part. If you haven't started, it's forgettable and I'd skip it.
September 17, 2022
DNF. I made it only to page 42. Couldn’t even make it to 50. It’s so boring though it’s trying really hard not to be. Seems like the book is trying to go in too many directions at the same time while avoiding the one that would be interesting.
August 8, 2014
Disjointed narrative, uninspiring characters, and a plot that's way too far from plausible.
March 31, 2021
Very interesting story. Was not expecting the ending! At times I couldn’t put it down. I would recommend reading this one!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 884 reviews