Dead on Arrival

by Kiki Swinson

Kiki Swinson's "tension-packed" (Library Journal) and "unrelenting" (Publishers Weekly), bestselling novels deliver startling twists, unforgettable characters--and a stark, unforgettable portrait of life in the South. Now she detonates an explosive tale about a couple who can't get enough--and a risk that will exact a merciless price . . .

Nobody will get hurt
Dawn and Reese Spencer just can't get ahead. Between her desperate desire to start a family and his gambling debts, they barely keep afloat, even with well-paying Norfolk International port jobs. But their calculating co-worker has the perfect plan: help him smuggle containers of precious, illegal--human--cargo past U.S. Customs.

Nobody will know
For Dawn, risking the innocent lives of undocumented immigrants is unthinkable. But Reese persuades her that no one will get hurt. And once things proceed without a hitch and a fortune starts rolling in, the Spencers are sure their dreams are about to come true . . .

Nobody will live to tell
Until several immigrants turn up dead on arrival. Until Reese bets more than he can ever repay. Now the Feds and cold-blooded loan sharks are closing in . . . as the real brains behind the operation start killing off loose ends. And between love, lies, and revenge, it's every betrayer for themselves--no matter how lethal the cost.

270 pages, Hardcover

Published April 24, 2018

About the author

Kiki Swinson was born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia. She discovered her flair for writing after completing her first novel, Mad Shambles, while serving a five-year sentence at a federal prison.
After being released in December 1996, Kiki later went on to self-publish Mad Shambles. Her passion for writing didn't stop there. Writing feverishly into the wee hours of the night, she completed her second novel, Wifey, which was published by Melodrama Publishing. After the success of Wifey, Kiki penned the sequels I'm Still Wifey and Life After Wifey, as well as The Candy Shop and A Sticky Situation.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you look for any positivity, you won't find it here. 1 of 10 stars

[Tia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could've been a definite 3.5 rating, however the awful ridiculous characters, the juvenile language (you would think Reese and Dawn are in their thirties, but they talk and act like twenty-somethings) and the anti-climactic/plausible ending ruined it. The plot didn't seem fleshed out and it had holes. We needed back stories on the workers. What interested me was the plot, but something got mangled and lost. I liked Reese grandmother and Dawn's sister and father. What I didn't like was how Reese spoke to her father and then blurted out that stuff at the end......WHAT?

There's so much more, but I'll stop here. I've read The Wifey Series, The Score Duology and some standalones by this author that I enjoyed. I had high hopes for 'Dead on Arrival'.

****That cover has nothing to do with this story.

I was provided an eArc of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

[Denise Gilliam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good it was definitely a page turner. Reese and Dawn were a dang trip. Reese was a gambler and tried to compensate losing money by doing some underhanded stuff with his friends. Like they say you can’t always want that fast money because it comes back to not you in the butt. All this money they thought they was going to make ended up getting them in a whole lot of trouble. I felt so bad for Dawn she got caught up because she was Reese wife. It’s a lot more to the story but you have to read it to know. Kiki Swinson you did a great job with this book. I recommend this book to everyone to read you won’t be disappointed at all.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This idea had promise, but the book was poorly written. The characters were unlikeable and not fleshed out. The story itself was predictable and had more than a few plot holes. I only read the whole thing because I had already started it and wanted to be one book closer to my reading goal for the year.

[Diane Rembert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reese is a married longshoreman that is deep in debt and being pressured by his wife Dawn to start a family. Add to that a gambling addiction and he finds himself in a serious situation. So, when a co-worker approaches him about side jobs on the shipyard, he gladly accepts...until he realizes the containers he’s being paid to move involve humans.

The situation becomes even worse when a few of the humans arrive “Dead On Arrival”, and millions are at stake.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book by @authorkikiswinson and I was not disappointed. Imagine my surprise when I found out this book deals with human trafficking, because January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. I highly recommend 💎💎💎💎 read, but I would’ve loved to find out more about Dawn’s parents...especially the father’s infidelity.

[Michelle Leonard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fans of Kiki Swinson will likely hate this review. I’ve never read any of her other works but I did not enjoy this book. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. They were either naive, insecure, or just downright dumb. To be fair, I probably would have enjoyed this book when I was in my 20s and urban lit was really hitting the scene. As a middle-aged mother of 2 young black boys, I really struggled with Dawn and Reese’s decisions and actions. As for the writing, the word choice felt odd and out of place. This was a NetGalley advanced reader’s copy.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced thrilling storyline full of many lessons of why it is very important that you are careful on who you decide to marry. Character development written to allow you to feel the emotions of the characters. Kiki always brings great writing to life. I recommend this five star read and look forward to reading more from this author.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dawn is crazy for staying with Reese all he did was bring her down he was selfish,a snitch and he had a gambling problem. He got what was coming to him but in the end did Dawn live or die that's another story.

[Carmen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd be hard pressed to find a more poorly written book. This author has maybe 200 vocabulary words in her repertoire.
She can't describe her characters so simply compares them some half baked celebrity or other.
How many times can she use the 2 word phrase "he roared"?
Dawn is married to a complete jerk named Reese who has no problem gambling away all of their money regardless of the debt accumulating in their lives.
Making "quick money" is no help because just as drug addicts put garbage into their bodies he leaves every dollar on the poker table.
Reese works at taking containers off ships. His real money comes from thefts.. until he moves some containers of Asian slaves to a rail car. A couple escape the second time he does it.. one is killed by a coworker trying to get him back.
Now that dead Asian has agents doing a deeper dive and they find the others.
Stupid thinks he'll still be paid.
Sure.. lose 80 slaves and think you won't be paid by bullet in the head.
He still acts stupid when he learns the head of the group organizing the Slave swap and a coworker are found dead. I hated Reese who tries to justify everything he does and lies all the time about stopping the gambling. And Dawn, the peabrain, who hasn't left him long before all this.
I wanted to kill her myself when she gets her neighbor killed!
After all Reese has done to hurt people: he finds full acceptance from his Grandma who raised him with love, but this doesn't keep him from trying to rip her off.

/ The end was even more ridiculous.. the Asian posse hadn't killed any of the other wives of Reese's co-conspirators, so why Dawn?

[Chris Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

man listen... i have read like 2 or 3 of her books before and i enjoyed them (i believe it was the mark and the score)... so when i see this one, i gave it a shot.

i will say that the cover is deceptive. the story doesn't match the cover haha it's more so a thriller, but if you read Kiki's books, then you kinda get that... this story, to me, BESIDES some crazy screw-ups like comparing the main character, Dawn, to the ACTRESS Toni Braxton (which.. i'm still scratching my head about, but sure... except NO THAT'S INACCURATE!!.. but i digress) had potential, and promise, until it seemed like she aint know where to go with the story after a while. It kinda gets your heart racing and then when it comes to the pay-off? BOOM...

i was gonna give it 3 stars, but nah. 2 is more accurate.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to say go the umpteenth time that characters weren't fleshed out.
Dawn looked like the "actress" Toni Braxton? OK.
The premise was interesting.
Dawn's husband Reese gets talked into a job that will get him and a few of his coworkers/friends $10,000. Reese has gambling debts. The couple themselves owe everyone money.
Only thing is that the job involves human trafficking for a powerful Chinese man.
Of course something goes wrong. Now everyone is tense and later, on the run.
I couldn't bring myself to care and all the characters were annoying. Some more than others.
Eh. 2.(barely)5 stars.

[Samantha Razz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was ok, just feel like it was missing a few things. I wanted to know more about Dawn's father infidelity; at least a 1 on 1 conversation between Dawn & her mom on how the mom felt when she heard it. Seems like it was swept under a rug. The sister was an annoying character. Dawn really made some dumb decisions but I guess the author was showing how love can make you do some crazy things. I feel like if Dawn had to die than the girlfriend or wives of Reese's friends should've died too.

- I like how Dawn family supported her despite the negativity. I also liked how there was actual an ending to the story. This story did not need a part 2.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. I like that it was fast paced, and that it was written from the first person perspectives of Reese and Dawn. The plot also had a lot of potential. However, I didn't like the sex scene (explicit and seemed out of place because neither of the MCs really liked each other it seemed), there were a few typos (not a lot, but still there), and I didn't like how Dawn treated her mom and dad. I also felt like the ending was rushed, and the cliffhanger was unnecessarily stupid. This book was also a great example of how a bad husband/horrible relationship can bring you down. 

[Katrina johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is no where near as good as her other books. Like the other reviews said the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the book and honestly the title doesn’t either. I finished this book because I was waiting on the plot twist or something but it never came. It reads more like a short story than an actual novel. Definitely left me with a confused look after finishing it. I have sooo many questions. I also didn’t like the way it ends. Just wasn’t a great read like her previous works.

[Michael Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reese and Dawn are financially in dire straits. Many couples are. In addition to making nice money though, Reese is a degenerate gambler. Working at the port in Norfolk, an opportunity that is way too good to be true materializes. The result of carrying out the scheme will be devastating. I hated the fact that easy money came and went out of Reese's hands like Jiffy Lube. Bodies were dropping like flies as the novel progressed.

[Vnunez-Ms_luv2read · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a fan of Kiki Swinson, but this book just did not do it for me. I could not get into the plot, nor the writing. The main characters made some of the silliest decisions that just was a bit far-fetched for me. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

[Kenya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't really get into the story because all of the characters annoyed me. They were making stupid decisions from the beginning of the book until the end. This story did have the potential to be great, but the delivery fell short for me.
*I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review*

Kenya E
Soul Sistahs Book Club

[Laronda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The character in the book Reese did that want to take responsibility for anything in his life. He let greed and money to have him kill at the end . He wss very naive and put his wife Dawn through so much as taking up for him to her family and co-workers.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reese wanted to do things his way never wanted to listen. Human trafficking is a crime. And if reese would of listened to his wife dawn and stop gambling his money things would have been OK. Sad part he brought heat to there home.

[Diadra Brogcinski · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a struggle for me to finish.. the writing style seemed juvenile and choppy. The story line was good but the characters were not. I just wanted it to end but I kept reading hoping it would get better. In the end, it just… ended without any real resolution. It was just disappointing

[Mrs Tee Booktique · Rating 4 out of 5]

MrsTeeReads

This was a whole mess. Reese and Dawn stayed in my nerves! I was pulled in from the prologue and was not expecting all the drama that unfolded. I still don’t know why they were together and if they really loved each other. But what I do know is this was wild!

[Brandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a Kiki fan and this just didn't do it for me. It was not her usual storytelling, pull you in and keep you on the edge of your seat story.

[Elise Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, hard to put down. I just need to know what happened in the end??

[Anna London · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book it had me on the edge of my seat I would love too know what happened to Dawn she really didn't deserve to die I hope that she and her family be ok.

[Linda Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, been a while since I read a Kiki Swinson book. Came together very well!

[Lunden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't see that coming. *sarcasm*

Honestly, I have read way better books by Kiki. The storyline had potential but fell short and was very predictable.

[Nichole Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

KiKi Swinson you are so wrong for leaving me hanging with that ending. Once again I really enjoyed this book. It

[Kandise Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man o Man I have tons of unanswered questions, I hope there is a part 2. Great enjoyable read overall.

[Letesa Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book but sad ending.

[Chevelle Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I enjoyed the story. Is there more to the story.
Keep writing great stores . Keep up the good work. God bless you.