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Whitewitch Island #0.5
Dead Heat: A Whitewitch Island Prequel Novella
In this prequel to the Whitewitch Island Paranormal Cozies, Guild Artemis Inquisitor Georgia Drake stumbles on a paranormal fight ring thanks to an old contact. But when her sting ends in murder, she's left with more suspects than she can shake a spell at. Can she uncover the killer before some of them are deported for illegal activity? And where the Hades is her partner?
86 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 5, 2023
2 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Patti Larsen
321 books552 followersI write a lot of paranormal books for someone who is afraid of the dark. And I wonder why I have to sleep with the lights on. Sometimes life is a teenaged B horror movie and I'm the one who investigates when the scary music is playing. But the voices are calling and resistance is… Yes. I am a Star Trek geek, too. And a fan of RPG’s. With a slight coolness factor since I've been told I'm allowed to join the pops.
Naw. I like being a nerdy girl :)
Naw. I like being a nerdy girl :)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 23, 2024
A prequel novella, 0.75 in the Whitewitch Island cozy paranormal mystery series, revolving around Inquisitor Georgia Drake and her mastiff sidekick, Benjamin.
My Take
Benjamin is such a sweetheart! While Larsen uses first person protagonist point-of-view from Georgia’s perspective, we hear from Benjamin as well. Well, that’s because he can speak out loud AND into her mind, so it’s still from her view point. You’ll enjoy Benjamin’s snarkiness about some of the characters *grin*.
Ah, Larsen confirms in “Dead Heat” that Benjamin failed out of the program when he was two months old and not the implied one month from “Dead Weight”.
Larsen is prepping us for the first full-length novel in the Whitewitch Island series . . . that ending . . . phew.
Part of the conflict in the story is Georgia’s family. They despise her career choice and are constantly pressuring her to take up a more prestigious position. It didn’t help Georgia amongst her coworkers that they all dislike her for her family background.
Silo is such a suck-up! Not that Xandros is much better, the lying jerk. Anyway, Silo thinks he knows all and constantly tries end runs around Georgia. The boy does not think!
The primary issue in “Dead Heat” is an "illegal" fight club. It seems there are "legal" ones, and the supposed difference is that the former is more of an exposure risk to the humans.
Larsen’s world has many of the problems ours does what with immigration issues and crazy one-sided laws. It is sad, although the plan Aziel and Thiago cooked up was pretty clever.
It’s a confusing wrap-up with so many characters trying to claim Sibyl. As for the cause of death?? I dunno. It seemed contradictory. It feels as if Larsen was rushing through this story.
There’s action with the undercover at the fight and the mop-up afterward with plenty of character interaction. A good bit of which didn’t make sense.
The Story
Guild Artemis Inquisitor Georgia Drake stumbles on a paranormal fight ring thanks to an unliked contact. But when her sting ends in murder, she's left with more suspects than she can shake a spell at.
Can she uncover the killer before some of them are deported for illegal activity? And where the Hades is her partner?
The Characters
Inquisitor Georgia Drake, who has dragon blood and necromancy powers, works for Guild Artemis. The sweet, prudish Benjamin is her sidekick, a black mastiff puppy, a failed Hell Hound, Georgia adopted from the Hades Hound program ("Dead Weight", 0.5). Conscio and Caprice are a mated raven pair Georgia rescued from a bad situation who now work with her. The Drake family appears to be high muckety-mucks — her grandfather seems to be a dragon? He is a Dragon Sentinel while grandma is also a Sentinel. Mattew is Georgia’s older brother who is a rising star in the World Paranormal and Supernatural Forum. Her mother, Morgana, is Emissary to the North American Magic League, and Dad is the Guild Nemesis’ Chief Defender.
Elias Barrow is Georgia’s hunter partner who’s missing.
Guild Artemis is . . .
. . . magical law enforcement. Lead Lorne Ortos heads up the team that includes Georgia and Elias. Hunter 1st Rank Lake Silo is a new hunter who knows everything. A special snowflake, he’s related to Guild Artemis Sentinel Harrison Kane. Nepotism, anyone?
Agent Brine, a merman, is part of the Hades team. Thaumaturge Wither Ground is a necromancer and medical examiner. I’m not sure what Guild Hestia is. In charge of sentencing maybe?
Xandros Ashbourne is an only son of a wealthy family, wasting his money on self-enhancements, and spoiled rotten.
Marcellus Granite, a stone giant, runs the fight club. Boaz is Marcellus’ brother. Sibyl Bael is a demon assistant owned by Marcellus and wanted by so many others. Octavius Dole, a human, owns the property where the fights are held. One of the fighters is Aziel, an imp, who is managed by Thiago Rush.
Dante Laught, an incubus, used to run the fight club.
There’s a formidable enemy out there, one who’s changed the rules of the game. Hel is where the illegals come from. I think Imperious is a “city” in Hel?
The Cover and Title
The cover has lightened up with the rays of pinks angling across the ceiling in the background with the lightest pink a spotlight for the fight ring behind Georgia. Part of that background appears to be a crowd of people. Georgia takes up most of the left with her long dark hair, blue sunglasses and huge hoop earrings. She’s wearing a burgundy, purplish suit jacket with a white blouse and that pink scarf around her neck. In the upper right just under the author’s name and the info blurb is the black Conscio, backwinging to attack someone. The title starts at about Georgia’s chest and ends with series info about this novella. All the text is white with a black outline.
I think the title is a reference to how the victim died, but the “Dead Heat” still doesn’t make sense.
My Take
Benjamin is such a sweetheart! While Larsen uses first person protagonist point-of-view from Georgia’s perspective, we hear from Benjamin as well. Well, that’s because he can speak out loud AND into her mind, so it’s still from her view point. You’ll enjoy Benjamin’s snarkiness about some of the characters *grin*.
Ah, Larsen confirms in “Dead Heat” that Benjamin failed out of the program when he was two months old and not the implied one month from “Dead Weight”.
Larsen is prepping us for the first full-length novel in the Whitewitch Island series . . . that ending . . . phew.
Part of the conflict in the story is Georgia’s family. They despise her career choice and are constantly pressuring her to take up a more prestigious position. It didn’t help Georgia amongst her coworkers that they all dislike her for her family background.
Silo is such a suck-up! Not that Xandros is much better, the lying jerk. Anyway, Silo thinks he knows all and constantly tries end runs around Georgia. The boy does not think!
The primary issue in “Dead Heat” is an "illegal" fight club. It seems there are "legal" ones, and the supposed difference is that the former is more of an exposure risk to the humans.
Larsen’s world has many of the problems ours does what with immigration issues and crazy one-sided laws. It is sad, although the plan Aziel and Thiago cooked up was pretty clever.
It’s a confusing wrap-up with so many characters trying to claim Sibyl. As for the cause of death?? I dunno. It seemed contradictory. It feels as if Larsen was rushing through this story.
There’s action with the undercover at the fight and the mop-up afterward with plenty of character interaction. A good bit of which didn’t make sense.
The Story
Guild Artemis Inquisitor Georgia Drake stumbles on a paranormal fight ring thanks to an unliked contact. But when her sting ends in murder, she's left with more suspects than she can shake a spell at.
Can she uncover the killer before some of them are deported for illegal activity? And where the Hades is her partner?
The Characters
Inquisitor Georgia Drake, who has dragon blood and necromancy powers, works for Guild Artemis. The sweet, prudish Benjamin is her sidekick, a black mastiff puppy, a failed Hell Hound, Georgia adopted from the Hades Hound program ("Dead Weight", 0.5). Conscio and Caprice are a mated raven pair Georgia rescued from a bad situation who now work with her. The Drake family appears to be high muckety-mucks — her grandfather seems to be a dragon? He is a Dragon Sentinel while grandma is also a Sentinel. Mattew is Georgia’s older brother who is a rising star in the World Paranormal and Supernatural Forum. Her mother, Morgana, is Emissary to the North American Magic League, and Dad is the Guild Nemesis’ Chief Defender.
Elias Barrow is Georgia’s hunter partner who’s missing.
Guild Artemis is . . .
. . . magical law enforcement. Lead Lorne Ortos heads up the team that includes Georgia and Elias. Hunter 1st Rank Lake Silo is a new hunter who knows everything. A special snowflake, he’s related to Guild Artemis Sentinel Harrison Kane. Nepotism, anyone?
Agent Brine, a merman, is part of the Hades team. Thaumaturge Wither Ground is a necromancer and medical examiner. I’m not sure what Guild Hestia is. In charge of sentencing maybe?
Xandros Ashbourne is an only son of a wealthy family, wasting his money on self-enhancements, and spoiled rotten.
Marcellus Granite, a stone giant, runs the fight club. Boaz is Marcellus’ brother. Sibyl Bael is a demon assistant owned by Marcellus and wanted by so many others. Octavius Dole, a human, owns the property where the fights are held. One of the fighters is Aziel, an imp, who is managed by Thiago Rush.
Dante Laught, an incubus, used to run the fight club.
There’s a formidable enemy out there, one who’s changed the rules of the game. Hel is where the illegals come from. I think Imperious is a “city” in Hel?
The Cover and Title
The cover has lightened up with the rays of pinks angling across the ceiling in the background with the lightest pink a spotlight for the fight ring behind Georgia. Part of that background appears to be a crowd of people. Georgia takes up most of the left with her long dark hair, blue sunglasses and huge hoop earrings. She’s wearing a burgundy, purplish suit jacket with a white blouse and that pink scarf around her neck. In the upper right just under the author’s name and the info blurb is the black Conscio, backwinging to attack someone. The title starts at about Georgia’s chest and ends with series info about this novella. All the text is white with a black outline.
I think the title is a reference to how the victim died, but the “Dead Heat” still doesn’t make sense.
January 27, 2024
It takes a special talent in an author, to persuade the reader to become part of their story, and this author has it. The characters are fascinating, quickly grow beloved to the reader, and they grow, as well as fill out with the length of the story. The plot is straightforward and easily followed, and the premise is stopping the illegal fights as well as discovering who the real murderers are. I most certainly recommend this book to all paranormal readers.
September 3, 2024
I was concerned when I first saw this book was about fighting rings, a traditionally gross and touchy topic, but Patti handled it delicately and with respect.
I had no need to worry.
This prequel in an extremely interesting start to a series.
You get sucked into the story immediately and want to know everything about this world.
We get an extended amount of knowledge in how a supernatural Inquisitor's job would work.
A great start to an amazing series!
I had no need to worry.
This prequel in an extremely interesting start to a series.
You get sucked into the story immediately and want to know everything about this world.
We get an extended amount of knowledge in how a supernatural Inquisitor's job would work.
A great start to an amazing series!
December 14, 2024
Tis review is for Patti Larson Whitewitch island book - Prequel ...
The whitewich island books are a delight. I just love Benny, the mastiff. The whole book is easy and causes you to feel close to each and every character. You will get a lot of pleasure from this book.
The whitewich island books are a delight. I just love Benny, the mastiff. The whole book is easy and causes you to feel close to each and every character. You will get a lot of pleasure from this book.
December 23, 2024
Georgia is so lucky to have Benjamin and the 2 ravens. Plus her dragon's blood, her powers and her experience. The story line was intricately woven with so many culprits, all bad. So much fun to read.
October 27, 2023
I hate cliffhangers
Warning— this sucker ends with a cliffhanger. It was a good story as far as it went, but—did I tell you that I hate cliffhangers?
Warning— this sucker ends with a cliffhanger. It was a good story as far as it went, but—did I tell you that I hate cliffhangers?
February 23, 2025
Terrific!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews