Deadlock: A Novel

by Iris Johansen

In Iris Johansen's Deadlock , Emily Hudson is a renowned archaeologist who travels the world to save priceless artifacts from theft or destruction. Her best friend and partner, Joel Levy, is always at her side―until one day, when her entire crew comes under attack. Joel and Emily are held hostage by a sadistic captor who is determined to find the missing link to a legendary treasure. For weeks they struggle to survive against terrifying odds, pushed to their limits―and beyond… John Garrett has worked for the CIA, British intelligence, and whoever else was willing to pay for his services. This time, a Washington operative hands him what at first appears to be just another assignment: to track down, and save, Emily and Joel. But it quickly becomes much more, especially when Garrett finds himself drawn to someone as dauntless and bent on revenge as Emily. Soon, they're catapulted into an astonishing adventure in which nothing―and no one―is what it seems. And lives hang in the balance as one man and one woman unravel the explosive truth behind a conspiracy hidden for generations.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Romance, Mystery Thriller

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

Iris Johansen is a New York Times bestselling author. She began her writing after her children left home for college. She first achieved success in the early 1980s writing category romances. In 1991, Johansen began writing suspense historical romance novels, starting with the publication of The Wind Dancer. In 1996 Johansen switched genres, turning to crime fiction, with which she has had great success.

She lives in Georgia and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.

IRIS JOHANSEN is The New York Times bestselling author of Night and Day, Hide Away, Shadow Play, Your Next Breath, The Perfect Witness, Live to See Tomorrow, Silencing Eve, Hunting Eve, Taking Eve, Sleep No More, What Doesn't Kill You, Bonnie, Quinn, Eve, Chasing The Night, Eight Days to Live, Blood Game, Deadlock, Dark Summer, Pandora's Daughter, Quicksand, Killer Dreams, On The Run, and more. And with her son, Roy Johansen, she has coauthored Night Watch, The Naked Eye, Sight Unseen, Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder.

http://www.irisjohansen.com

Reviews

[Jeanne Adamek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough but definitely not a book to re-read for me.

[J.C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh... Where Are We Going and When Will We Get There?

Brief Synopsis:
When Emily Hudson, an expert in artifacts for the United Nations, gets abducted it sets off a around the world chase fueled by revenge and greed. Introduced throughout the escapades are a host of characters with unique skill sets that all are focused on determining the significance of an artifact called Zelov's Hammer.

Overall Impressions:
DEADLOCK was not a terrible book; but it missed the mark in a lot of areas. The entire time I was reading it I had no direction to where the author, Johansen, was taking me. There is no reference to the significance of the artifact and the motivations of the characters. Ergo, the reader is taken on a 'round the world balloon trip with no real destination in mind. It may be like receiving a treasure map with no "X" on it and not knowing what the treasure might actually be. The only motivation is to hopefully get to the end, which is ultimately unsatisfying.

On the other hand, sometimes books can be a solid read based on the characters and their development alone. I had an extremely difficult time relating to any of the characters. The "romance" in the book is so bizarre and difficult to comprehend, and whatever gains might be expected from a romantic involvement is negated by the sheer implausibility of the entire situation.

Overall, this book goes back and forth, jet setting from one country to another without any significant details that one might wonder about when considering bypassing airport security other than the typical explanation in DEADLOCK: "So and so character is very good at what he does." There are a handful of conversations that are retold over and over, and over again.

DEADLOCK just does not deliver. This is my first Iris Johansen book, so I cannot comment regarding the comparison of her previous books; but, I can imagine that fans of hers may enjoy this book since there is a certain writing style that others may appreciate.

Good reading,

Plants and Books
For More Reviews, Visit My Blog

[Calli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Johansen's female characters are starting to seriously get on my nerves. I like strong female characters, and have read many books with such in the last few years. However, there is a difference between strong, and abrasive. Johansen's female protagonists are increasingly abrasive, bull-headed and annoying. Instead of using sense, they do some really stupid things just to avoid what they think are slights to their intelligence (ironic) and capability. The storyline often got buried in all this nonsense and was stilted in the process. Even the romance was contrived and choppy.

[Rinske · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goed verhaal. Leest makkelijk weg. Ik irriteerde me alleen steeds meer aan de hoofdpersoon. Ze is nogal drammerig. En wil continu de dingen op haar manier doen en luistert niet naar de 'experts'.
Daarom ⭐⭐⭐

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book by Iris Johnson to be quite different from other of her books I have read. First of all the back story is about Rasputin, the Russian Revolution and Christianity. Emily Hudson and Joel Levy are arifact experts working for the. U. U. searching for a hammer. Emily and Joel cross paths with with Stanton an evil sadistic hired killer also trying to recover the hammer. The CIA concacts John Garrett to find Emily and Joel when they are kidnapped and tortured by Stanton and his men. Garret and Emily team up to locate Stanto. Emily wants revenge for Joel's death. Getting revenge was a strange
thing for me to wrap my head around. In other of Johansen's books although they wanted to solve the crime and have the culprit pay for his crime; getting revenge wasn't so blantently apparent. As to be expected, Emily and Garret form a bond that will hopefully take them into the future.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid bit of trash — well plotted and fairly fast moving. It’s basically a tangled knot of potboiler staples: It’s a romance novel, thriller, historical fiction and religious detective tale, all rolled into one big blob. There’s lots of rape and torture too. Sexism runs deep in it, to the point that men are referred to by surnames and women by their first names, like masters and pets. The female characters show strength through silent suffering or being abrasive, and in all respects are weak second bananas compared to the super macho hero (or for that matter compared to his male second bananas) and everyone is white, of course. My first and probably last read of a book by this author.

[Amaya Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iris Johansen's novel Deadlock, contains levels of mystery, action, and in some extent a level of romance. This novel has captivated me into different emotions from start to finish through the connections Johansen made between her characters and the situations they found themselves in. While reading her book I tried to find connections between the story and its title, though at first it was quiet difficult to do so, I found that the deeper i read into the novel the more the title began to have meaning and occasionally even changed its meaning for different chapters. I finally came to my own conclusion that the meaning of the titles connection to the story, basically represented the stalemate that every person faced when they tried to take power that did not belong to any one person.
Johansen writes her book around a hammer known as Zelov’s Hammer. The hammer seems to be tied to almost everyone of her characters. The hammer’s complex history nearly drove multiple characters of the book to insanity in search for it. The secrets of the hammer was under protection of a few men of the church, in her travels the main character Emily Hudson stumbled upon the path of terrible people looking for the hammer. She constantly questions through out the book whether or not she would make it out alive.
Emily Hudson the main character starts off being introduced as someone who is driven by curiosity. She is an archeologist who is employed by the United Nations to recover objects from hot spots around the world, places that are in constant treat of bandits and bombings. After facing a traumatic kidnapping she is driven by both curiosity and revenge, to find the people connected to the torture of her friend Joel Levy and herself on mountains in Afghanistan . Once she is rescued by Garrett and time passes on she develops a longing to protect all of the people that have helped her heal from her time in the mountains. Trying to find answers the more that Emily and her friends dig into the history of Zelov’s hammer the more they uncovered about both historical past and a repeating present.
I found that while reading the book i loved that Johansen was able to create a character that was neutral and able to stay strong for the rest of the group. Irana Povak seemed to understand the pain that went on around her and no matter what happened to her personally she would always put the well being of those in need first. Not entirely ruled by the church Irana still had faith and was very understanding of another’s point of view, even if she didn't agree with it. However there were places in the story that needed a bit more attention and more detail. The background of Stanton and his connection to Zelov was skimmed. As a reader i felt as though there was not enough information for the climax of the story to be one hundred percent entertaining, it had a lot of “meh” moments in regards to detailing. DeadLock as a whole book however was entertaining and had a very good story line that was entertaining to a degree as well as easy to follow.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Iris Johansen book. It was a good mystery thriller that kept me intrigued and not wanting to put it down until the end. Yes, it followeed a sort of tried and true formula, but that's the key...true. It works. The strong woman attacked by forces beyond her control, aided by the equally strong and mysterious man that she is not sure whether to trust or not. They work together to seek answers and revenge, and of course fall in love in the process.

The plot was complicated, which I like, filled with interesting historical references to Rasputin and the Romanoffs, and took place in many different places around the world.

Having just read a rather slow, tedious book before this one, I was relieved to find this story gripping and interesing. I looked forward to being able to get back to it at the end of the day and was only disappointed that it took just a couple days to read...then I had to find another interesting book. Luckily I had another Johansen book waiting on my 'to read' shelf.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always liked Iris Johansen, her stories and her romances are always interesting, and the history she ties into it makes each story even better. This story was tied to the Romanovs and the killing of the Royal family in the Bolshivic revolution. How she ties that to present day is very interesting.

My only problem is that due to the fact that i've read so many Iris Johansen books, I know her pattern of writing, and it has become fairly preditctable. (Ex. the main guy is usually former military with lots of money, a sidekick who is good at absolutely everything, the girl is strong but doesn't have the same resources that he does. they get together then something happens to push them apart, then at the end the get back together.) Despite this, she is still a pretty good writer and i will continue to read the stories she writes because the stories interest me.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was truly the worst book. I found the first part interesting and thought I was in for a thriller about chasing an artifact. Nope. More than half of this book is characters discussing their need to protect each other and how they have to stop the urge to protect each other. There is the weirdest romantic plot line that is just so absurd. It ends with an archeologist uncovering her hidden ninja skills and saving the day.

[Sharon Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must be getting old. Cause every book I read gets better & better. I thought this book was great. It kept me on the end of the chair. All I can say is read it.great suspense.

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, intense but falls flat nonetheless...,

I've not read any of Iris Johansen's books, so I've nothing else with which to compare this for her; so this review is based upon like books by other authors.

The book is intense and the action almost constant; there certainly aren't any breaks long enough to throw off the pace of the story. The characters are all developed through conversation and occasional short 'thoughts' but I didn't feel as if any of the people in the book were especially likeable, yet some were understandable. I think that the author relied on the readers being able to relate to the characters and thus `know' them.

I think where this book really fell flat for me was in the writing style. First off, the author tends to use the same phrases over and over and over; a few examples would be "he/she made a face" (nothing more, never a better description), "hands clenched at her side", "she moistened her lips", and "dammit" (I don't care if a book has cursing or not, but its annoying when the one word is used throughout; there were maybe 2 or 3 other curse words used once or twice, but dammit came up excessively), and these are just a few of the compulsively repeated phrases. Second, the author's desire to keep the story moving seems to have led to a total lack of description of person, place or thing; nothing and no one was given much more than a cursory explanation. Third, and perhaps most aggravating to me, was the fact that there was always an answer, or someone within reach who could provide the answer, no matter how ridiculous or unreasonable the circumstance. These all may be considered nitpicking, and I concede to that point, but these are my impressions of the book.

I like novels that move quickly, I like suspense, but there was just such an intense drive to keep the story moving that a lot got left out and the book still manages to be over 350 pages long. So far as the 'romance' goes, it was bland and seemed to be there because the author wanted it, but building relationships and the ensuing jealousies, when tied up in what is supposed to be life-and-death circumstances, is just a bit too much for my taste.

So, the story is good, the character development is lacking and the apparent need to move the story (for the sake of suspense?) a little too obvious. I would recommend the book as a diversion, but it's certainly nothing spectacular. I don't know that I'll look in to anything else this author has written.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

591-LP A new one by Iris, with new characters as far as I can tell. Emily Hudson is an archeologist working for the UN rescuing artifacts from museums in danger of being looted or destroyed. She and here companion Joel Levy are in Afghanistan with a team packing up items from a small museum way up in the mountains. They are rushing to beat a impending storm and Emily sends the team in their truck ahead while she and Joel make one last check of the building. On the way down the mountain they come on the wreck of the first truck and find their teammates dead. Before they know it they are surrounded and carried off to an isolated village. Their captor, a non Afghani with an Australian accent begins asking about the whereabouts of a hammer. Emily denies any knowledge and soon Joel is slowly tortured as Emily repeats her ignorance (which is true) .
When Joel is finally killed and Emily is given to a native warlord for his enjoyment in an attempt to elicit the information, she is able to strike back and at the last minute is rescued by John Garrett, a smuggler and more who has been hired by the CIA to find her. Whetted your appetite? I hope so because the rest of the book will keep you stuck to your chair till you finish.
ISBN - 978-1-4104-1446-5, Suspense, Pages - 384, Print Size - L, Rating - 4.76

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-Read 1/19/2017
I still think that this story has an interesting plot, and it was entertaining...However, I don't think it's anything spectacular.

I didn’t know what to expect of this book, once I started reading it I realized how awesome it would be. It all starts with a hammer. A hammer that is nowhere to be found, but it is said that this hammer once found, will lead to an enormous treasure. Emily works for the government, collecting valuable items from museums, when she is sent to a museum in Afghanistan she and her team get captured by an evil man named Staunton, he wants the hammer. The hammer was supposed to be there but she doesn’t even know about the hammer, yet Staunton will scar her life forever. Garret, retired CIA agent goes after and saves Emily, but then Staunton comes after them both. Will they make it out alive? Or will Staunton kill them all ? And what about the hammer?

Wow when I finished this book I was really impressed. The book was just amazing! I was just so into the book there were parts were I almost bit off my nails! I definitely recommend this book, it was incredible, had an original plot, and was so well written! Wow! Must read!

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading Iris Johansen since she was writing pure romance, and have enjoyed her moves to suspenseful romance, romantic suspense, and now pure thriller. That said, I felt like this book was just average. The mystery plot seemed needlessly complicated (as are most things that involve Rasputin and the Romanovs) which left little time to develop the many characters featured in the novel. Only Emily really seemed fully fleshed- the others were all caricatures rather than characters.

This would make a good beach read, but is likely to disappoint readers looking for Johansen's signature heat; the focus here is definitely on the mystery rather than on the relationships. The book was well-written to be sure, but never really delved into the motivations of the characters or provided much of an explanation for the ever-growing body count. All in all, not Johansen's best work by a long shot.

[CF · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! A real page-turner. This is a book I found on a train, and for it to be this good, I was not expecting that. Iris Johansen is an excellent crime fiction writer and I was very impressed with this.

Emily Hudson and her friend Joel Levy have been kidnapped by a ruthless criminal called Staunton, who is after the old Russian Tsar's hammer and fortune. He will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants. He has ways and means into everything Emily does. All he wants is her.

Emily does whatever she can do escape and finds help through a brave former criminal, who now occaisonally works for the CIA, called Garrett. He is called into action by Ferguson, an agent who wants all the glory for himself.

Meeting friends and not knowing who to trust after such a terrifying ordeal leaves Emily with a complex, but she is brave and plucky, and has an instinct to protect others.

This is really a great read and I can't really say too much as it would give too much away!

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a page turner! I had a hard time putting it down. An archaeologist and her assistant is kidnapped and tortured for information on an artifact they knew nothing about. One of them is rescued and cared for by a former military special forces soldier. The kidnapper wasn't finished with the archaeologist and as she becomes stronger she is looking forward to meeting him again because she has every intention of killing him. Without giving anything away this is about the best review I can give. The only other thing I can say is let the action begin.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been reading Johansen for years and this book was a disappointment. I didn't care for the characters nor the plot. And of course, without those there's nothing left to enjoy. I did finish reading it, but I could put it down easily and find something else to do such as clean my house or go for a dentist appointment!

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an exceptional thriller. Kidnapping, torture, murder... The heroine is an extremely likeable woman who meets a champion unlike anyone she has ever known. Drama played out across 3 continents. Very engaging read.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read.....lots of suspense , action and history!

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

**MINOR SPOILERS**
This book is a standalone.
Emily is an archeologist working for the UN who is sent to dangerous places to help save antiquities. In her latest assignment, she is sent to Afghanistan. Just as she is leaving, she and her good friend, Joel, are captured by ruthless mercenaries who believe that she has an antiquity desired by a mysterious figure. She knows nothing about it. They torture Joel to try to get her to talk. Because she knows nothing, she helplessly has to watch her friend being tortured and eventually killed. It was not explained why they thought the friend knew nothing as they did many assignments together including the current one.
The CIA is trying to locate Emily and Joel and, because he is desperate, the person in charge of finding them, Ferguson, reaches out to John Garrett. Ferguson betrayed John in the past, but he decides to blackmail him into helping. Ferguson says he will go after a friend of John’s and put him in jail. John agrees but had already seen the news and had decided to try to get information before Ferguson’s call.
Once John rescues Emily, he takes her to Greece. He gives her time to recover without talking about what she has seen. This does not seem likely, though he immediately lets her know that he is attracted to her (he usually only has s*x with wh*res. Yay?). He also tries to pull a little information from her in order to get started on a search for the mercenaries but generally doesn’t press. That seemed self defeating.
The mercenaries find him before he finds them. Emily decides to do something extremely reckless and foolish when she finds out that they are coming. Rather than talking to John about their disagreement about a plan, she jumps out a window and runs away which was not a mature response given the situation.
It also seemed unlikely that the CIA did not know where they were. Because they have a file on John, I would have been surprised that they did not know about his home in Greece. In addition, I would have thought they might be able to track him or his friend through their phone or other means.
John had a very difficult childhood. His father introduces him to the mercenary side of life and takes him to the danger zones of the world. Despite that, he has a good sense of honor and decency.
There is one point where Emily tells John everything, she can remember about being a hostage. She tells him and then forgets most of it. I know people do selectively and purposefully forget events, but Emily says that she is strong. It felt contradictory. Iin addition, she demands to be a partner in their efforts, but does not add any strategy, tactics, or other help to the plans. She may have had a gun but generally, she just seemed to be hot air. She is willing to take on the bad guys and seems to think the force of her will or her desire for revenge will result in her being successful.
Minor spoilers: the way that Emily, John, and their group handle a few situations seemed unlikely. It drew out the story but I did not think that an experienced person, such as John was, would have handled it that way. In addition, there is a point in the story when the villains knew their location and did not take advantage of it. That was very unlikely.
I liked the secondary character, Irana. She was very interesting, caring, and amazing.
One writing habit the author has is to have an internal dialogue that is interrupted by an event. When this happens, a dash is used. For example, “Emily wondered –“ and then the phone would ring or something similar. It was an overused device and I noticed it in other books by the author as well.
The book alternated between John and Emily’s point of view with a couple of scenes from the point of view of others.
I do not plan to continue reading this author. I had read a couple of books in the Kendra Michaels series that were written with her son and, while the first book is very good, the series fell off after that. I had wondered if the author writing solo might be better but, disappointingly, that was not the case. I only finished in order to write a review.

[Nathaniel Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUMMARY
I read Deadlock by Iris Johansen. The main characters are someone who works for the U.N. called Emily Hudson, her best friend (not for the entire book) Garrett, a doctor and former Catholic nun, Irana, the antagonist, Staunton, and his main man, Anton Borg. Emily Hudson and her best friend Joel Levy are assigned to go to a museum. Along the way they get captured by Staunton and are taken to an unknown location, where Levy is tortured and killed because Emily would provide no information of an item that she did not even know existed. She was rescued and Staunton kept planning to get Emily back in whatever manner he could, such as blowing up a hospital.

EXPERIENCE WITH THE BOOK ***SPOILERS***
This book was a very interesting book. There were parts of the book that I liked a lot and some some parts that I did not like so much. It seemed to be the stereotypical fiction book that has some type of battle between protagonists and antagonists. There were some parts of the book that contained a bit of adult content, but there wasn’t much. I can definitely say that this would be a book that anyone with hardly any sense of maturity might not want to read just for that reason. Then again, this is a book from the adult section of books. Overall, this is just like any other fiction book that I would read. It contains an antagonist who wants change to benefit only himself/herself and cares nothing about what (s)he does to achieve that goal and cares nothing about what happens to anyone that may or may not be in the way from him/her reaching that goal. There are also mini struggles and subplots where someone escapes in the end of one of those and small bits and pieces of planning for next moves that should be made and whatnot. Interestingly, the final struggle that ultimately leads to the death of the protagonist or antagonist and decides the fate of all things was a rather short one, only about a half of a chapter or so in length. It consisted mostly of the main protagonist and the main antagonist trying to kill each other in a forest, with the antagonist seeming to possess more powerful weapons, tools, and higher skills than the protagonist, as per the stereotypes of this classification and genre of novel. It also contained some of the less important, but still main, characters off to the side, in this case treating some characters for injuries and not engaging in combat with some followers of the antagonist. The end was about the winners of the aforementioned final struggle planning for the future and how they should go about things. And of course, there was also some rejoicing over the victory achieved.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the first page, I found this story riveting, and somewhat surprising. It was straight into a dramatic situation, and what was, I thought, a main character, was killed off quite quickly. However, after this opening scene, I really had trouble working my way through the rest of the story.

This was my first Iris Johansen book, and I have to admit that I had to change gear to read this book.

I will admit that I have only ever read books in this genre written by male authors, and a female author added a whole new dimension that I wasn't used to.

With most action/myth/adventure books that I have read, the pace is quite fast. More effort is put into describing the surroundings, the action, and the adventure. With Iris' book, a lot of time was spent on the interaction between the characters and their emotional development. I found this, sometimes, quite tedious.

When the action was being described, I really liked it, but this did not happen often enough for my liking, with large, and frequents, parts of the story given to describing, ad nauseum, how much the main female character wanted to be in control, and how much the main male character stopped her from doing this, and wanted to protect her.

There were other characters, but they seemed a bit "cardboard cutout". The smart guy, the silent, loyal guy, and a woman who has been a nun, but now runs a hospital. All of these characters are very loyal to the main male character and do not mind traipsing around the world doing the main male character's bidding and making sacrifices without question.

All in all a slow read.

[Trupti Nayak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me to the edge of suspense. It was thrilling and made you read as fast as possible. We have Emily Hudson who is been kidnapped by Staunton. They are behind Zelov's hammer which is the key to the Russian Tsar's treasury of billions. There are 4 amulets which help in reading the map to the treasury. 3 of them are with Zelov's family in America. They don't know it's importance and want a continuous supply of money. Babin is the person behind the kidnapping. But he is just a middleman. We have the Russian Church and a very rich man named Peter Joslyn involved. After rescuing Emily who has witnessed the murder of her friend Joel, Garrett takes her to Dr Inara for her healing without droppig her off to Ferguson. He promises Emily to help her kill the person who did this with her and her friend.

The cat and mouse chasing was excellent with additional characters of Mark Pauley(Computer geek), Dardon (Garrett's friend and pilot). The twists in plot, the dialogues were excellent. The feeling was that you are seeing everything with your own naked eyes. Lot of Russian history during the time of world war is mentioned. It is little informative with respect to Russian history and a little creative fiction. Overall a fine read.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of cheesy, but mildly entertaining. The plot was full of intrigue and romance, even if it was not all quite believable. Artifacts curator Emily Hudson is interrupted in her current quest to preserve treasures from a defunct museum in Afghanistan by an evil man who is searching for the lost fortune of Tsar Nicholas Romanov. Staunton captures and tortures her associate in an effort to learn the whereabouts of Zelov’s hammer, which will provide rhe final piece of the map needed to locate the fortune that was intended to sustain the Romanov family in exile. Enter the hero, Jon Garrett, an ex CIA and M16 operative who has been sent to rescue Emily. Of course, they fall for each other. But head strong and fiercely independent Emily refuses to play the part of damsel in distress. She demands equal time and status in seeking her evil captor Staunton to extract revenge. There are many more characters on both sides, and a nod to the history of the Russian revolution. This was a pretty good summer/beach book but it will probably not make any list of best fiction.

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just prior to leaving on a road trip I stopped at my local library to get an audiobook that I had just checked online was in. Unfortunately 30 minutes later it had been checked out, just minutes before I arrived at the library (darn, I should have placed a hold on it). So, in looking thru the “mystery/thriller” audiobooks available on the shelf, the librarian told me she had not read any of this author’s books but that she was very popular. I checked it out and got on the road.

What a disappointment! I especially had a hard time with the protagonist. I like intelligent, capable, strong female characters but this woman was stubborn, annoying, and abrasive – UGH! She demanded everything be done her way, on her terms! Overall, this story just didn't do it for me.

Highly doubt I’ll read/listen to another book by this author.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Deadlock" is probably one of Iris Johansen's better thrillers for one reason: Her villain was positively chilling. It's pretty hard for me to not roll my eyes at her villains, but she happened to push the right buttons with this one.

Johansen is always pretty quick to get the action going, but in this case, things take off almost immediately. We're barely introduced to the main character, Emily Hudson, when she and her partner, Joel, are taken hostage by some men who are looking for something called "Zelov's Hammer."

Unlike most of Johansen's books, where torture takes place off-screen...Well, the torture still takes place in another room, but Emily can hear Joel's screams as the chief antagonist, Staunton, attempts to torture the information out of him--or rather, get the information out of Emily by torturing someone she cares about. This goes on for a long time, until Staunton finally decides it's time he moved on to Emily. Before he can lay a finger on her, however, she is rescued by John Garrett, a filthy-rich mercenary who does jobs for the CIA and MI6. She makes John promise to help her exact revenge on Staunton before the two of them escape.

In many ways, this is still a typical Iris Johansen novel, and it was at this point that I began to realize just how much I dreaded the inevitable arguments between the heroine and the love interest; namely, whether the heroine was going to put herself in danger or not, and whether the two of them were going to have sex or not. At the same time, there were a few places where I was pleasantly surprised, mostly in the way the whole thing comes together.

Zelov's hammer, as it turns out, belonged to a man who worked with the infamous Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin. Furthermore, Rasputin was just a puppet; it was Zelov who was pulling all the strings. At this point, I hadn't read any Iris Johansen books that involved a character who actually existed in reality. (As in, Rasputin. Zelov did not exist.) I'm a sucker for historical fiction, and it was interesting to read Zelov's diaries as the mystery continued to unravel.

The jacket summary stated that there would be "shocking betrayals," and I rolled my eyes, wondering who the traitor would be. I noticed that Johansen had, a couple of times, picked the character I liked the most as the traitor, although I can't say I didn't see it coming. I thought I knew who the traitor would be this time. I didn't, however. In fact, the only thing shocking was that there were no betrayals, unless we're talking about Rasputin's betrayal of Nicholas. You know, the tsar. I felt humbled and grateful that I hadn't figured out every single secret to Johansen's novels. I also really liked how the "Big Bad" turned out to be something completely different from what I was expecting. I guess Johansen can still surprise me after all. Well done.

As far as weaknesses go...It's more of the same, really. John Garrett is no better than any of the other love interests. I specifically remember that when he comes on to Emily, she says, "I don't want this," and he immediately answers, "Yes, you do." EXCUSE ME? What the hell, Garrett (and Johansen)? You do NOT know what Emily wants better than she does. And even if she does want it, you don't have any right to harass her. NONE. "Wanting" is not the same as "consenting."

And once again, Johansen's xenophobia rears its ugly head. When Garrett reads about Emily's abduction, he talks about how good she is, going off to other countries and preserving priceless historical treasures for people who would "just as soon kill her as look at her." Yes, Garrett, do go on about how those darn people in the Middle East just don't understand her white woman's burden. They just don't appreciate what she's doing for them, because there's no way they can take care of their own artifacts. It's not like they have the right to do what they want with their own things.

And of course most of the mooks are from the Middle East, because the beginning of the book takes place in the Middle East. In Afghanistan, to be specific. Because everyone in Afghanistan is evil and murderous. The man Staunton hands Emily over to--a man who tries to rape her before she's rescued just in time by Garrett--is also Afghan. I'm not saying that there aren't violent people in the Middle East, but I call a pattern as I see it.

In a system where I can only rate a book between 1-5 stars, there are several levels of 3-star books. This is one of the worse 3-star books. Regarding the plot and most of the action, I should have enjoyed this book more than I did. Unfortunately, I had a very uncomfortable feeling through most of it due to the torture at the beginning. What makes it worse is that Joel and Emily truly do not know anything about Zelov's hammer. I mean, that doesn't make the torture any worse, of course, but it's harder to read through, knowing that there is literally nothing either of them can do to make it stop.

At one point, Joel's eyes are burned out. I have a huge problem with eye trauma, and reading that part almost made me sick. I mean, it's not like we even see it happen, but the mental image really stuck with me, far after the scene had ended. It's brought up again at another point, later on in the book. There is also a rape of another character, although it doesn't take place "on screen."

I feel that "Deadlock" is definitely darker than most of Johansen's other books. Please make sure to take care of yourself if you choose to read it. At the same time, the plot takes some turns that I didn't see coming. I'm glad I continued to read it.

[Amanda Ohnmeiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started with a lot of action and thrill. I was eager to learn what was going to happen and flew through the pages. This book frustrated me because the whole time I was reading, I was wondering about Emily’s actual home and family. She was flown from country to country- wasn’t there family waiting for her?

The treasure also had holes. The story never really explained it clearly and the end was the same. It only sort of tied the romance and left mystery with Irana.

The best way to summarize is this is a good story with a few holes.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story with a lot of moving parts and characters. The role of history and religion with wealth and harm was intriguing. The story covers many countries and is focused on new characters instead of looking to the main ones from Eve Duncan’s world. The story is descriptive and thought provoking, especially if one likes Russian history of the tsars and Rasputin. Romance has a slight role, but most of the story is intrigue, problem and crime solving and the role of friendship and history. A good read.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johansen's female characters are pretty much all stubborn and bull-headed, but are deeply concerned with the other characters in the story. The bad guys are always terribly evil. This book does not deviate from that formula. The supernatural elements seemed to be toned down in this book, that was a nice change. The 'romance novel' elements, while still there, were also toned down somewhat, which was a welcome change.