I have three confessions to make: 1. I’ve got the scar of gunshot on my forehead. 2. I don’t remember an entire year of my life. 3. My name is Kellen Adams…and that’s half a lie. Girl running…from a year she can’t remember, from a husband she prays is dead, from homelessness and fear. Tough, capable Kellen Adams takes a job as assistant manager of a remote vacation resort on the North … remote vacation resort on the North Pacific Coast. There amid the towering storms and the lashing waves, she hopes to find sanctuary. But when she discovers a woman’s dead and mutilated body, she’s soon trying to keep her own secrets while investigating first one murder…then another.
Now every guest and employee is a suspect. Every friendly face a mask. Every kind word a lie. Kellen’s driven to defend her job, her friends and the place she’s come to call home. Yet she wonders–with the scar of a gunshot on her forehead and amnesia that leaves her unsure of her own past–could the killer be staring her in the face?
“Christina Dodd reinvents the romantic thriller. Her signature style–edgy, intense, twisty, emotional–leaves you breathless from first page to last. Readers who enjoy Nora Roberts will devour Dodd’s electrifying novels.”
–Jayne Ann Krentz, New York Times bestselling author
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Dead Girl Running by Christina Dodd is the first novel in Cape Charade series. Kellen Adams does not remember a year of her life, and she has a gunshot wound on her forehead with no clue how she received it. Kellen is a United States Army veteran who is the assistant resort manager at Yearning Sands on the coast of Washington. Leo and Annie Di Luca, the owners of the resort, are going away for a holiday and leaving Kellen in charge. Kellen notices some bones in the yard as she arrives with guests and goes to inspect them believing they are that of a wild animal. She is shocked to discover that they are human bones. The victim is identified from her ring as Priscilla Carter, the previous assistant manager who left unexpectedly. Lloyd Magnuson is responsible for transporting the victim to the morgue, but he disappears along with the bones. Kellen uses her skills to investigate the crime. She does not know who she can trust and anyone on the estate could be guilty.
Dead Girl Running is well-written and has a steady pace. The book captured my attention from the very first page, and I was captivated until the very end. The story is complex with many twists and turns (which I love). There are three major storylines in the book and, in the end, they all come together. There is the murder of Priscilla, smuggling, and Kellen’s missing year. The setting sounded beautiful yet haunting. It is the perfect locale for nefarious activities. The resort sounds like a lovely place to spend a relaxing few days (when they are not finding dead bodies). The mystery was well-crafted, and many readers will be surprised when the solution is revealed. I could feel the suspense as it built up and the tension as it increased. There is some romance sprinkled throughout the story and it blended nicely into the book. I discovered after reading Dead Girl Running that it ties into the Virtue Falls and Bella Terra series. I had no problem, though, with reading Dead Girl Running as a standalone. Dead Girl Running is a gripping tale that will have you on the edge of your seat (and hoping you will not fall off). Be prepared to stay up late to finish Dead Girl Running. My rating for Dead Girl Running is 5 out of 5 stars (I loved it). I am eager for the next book in the Cape Charade series to find out what happens next.
I loved this book with all the twists and secrets! Christina Dodd always delivers masterful suspense!
Another great thriller from the amazing Christina dodd ! Dead Girl running is a great suspense read with awesome characters and a great plot line. It’s main character kellen is so interesting and the way her mind works is cool as hell ! Their is a lot going on in this book and we don’t know til almost the very end who’s behind the killing,but as usually dodd is a master of anticipation,and I love it!! Even after all these years dodd still knows how to get your attention and keep you interested.
This is one of those book that you just can’t put down so be ready for a marathon read when you pick it up! Christina really nails the suspense with this one! Loved it!
/ 5 rounded up!
You guys, I LOVED Dead Girl Running by Christina Dodd! This is an action-packed, ominous book and it deserves to be read!
Dead Girl Running focuses on a woman named Kellen Adams and a remote resort in Washington state called Yearning Sands Resort. Soon after Kellan takes a job as assistant resort manager at Yearning Sands, a dead body is found on the property while the owners of the resort are gone leaving Kellen completely in charge. But little does everyone know, Kellen is also on the run from her past which is about to catch up with her.
The writing was superb; the remote resort combined with murder, power outages, and raging storms – thrilling! I loved Kellen and the way the author mixes past and present in this book. It was a super fast read that left me wanting more. I didn’t actually know it was a series when I started, but I’m glad it is and I hope book 2 comes out quick. There was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but nothing major enough to make me angry. I am the person that gets mad when a series ends books with huge cliffhangers and you have to wait a year + to read the next one. The ending left me anxious for the next book, but without that nasty HUGE unknown.
Final Thought: Why is this my first time reading Christina Dodd? That is all.
Dead Girl Running in 3-ish words: Brilliant, Complex, Creepy
Emotionally charged, edge of your seat, action packed romantic adventure filled with danger, passion, intrigue, betrayal, thrills and chills of the unexpected. Watch out for that cliff…… loved it!
My goodness this story had me riveted and kept me guessing from one chapter to the next. Loved the world building and charter development, could not get enough of the drama and suspense. (was so upset every time I was interrupted by life) If you are looking for a spine tingling, brain teasing and thrilling read look no further. The cliff at the end just got me … can’t wait to read what happens next and eager for this series to continue.
When I first picked up Dead Girl Running and saw the publisher, I assumed this was a romantic suspense, or at least that there was a romantic undercurrent to the plotline. That wasn’t the case and the book only had a hint of romance in the final few chapters of the book. Now to be fair, I’m not seeing the author or publisher market Dead Girl Running as such, but I want to be sure readers know this up front. Dead Girl Running is the first suspense thriller from Miss Dodd’s spin-off series, Cape Charade. And while I expected some romance, I didn’t find the book lacking at all, containing many hallmarks of a good mystery/thriller: an interesting hook, secretive characters, building suspense, and some great twists.
Dead Girl Running features a main character, Kellen, who is trying to make a new future and home while protecting herself from her past, some details of which she can’t recall. I found her character really intriguing, if a bit different and distant. While I didn’t quite connect with the character off the bat, I enjoyed the slow reveal of her story and the significant character progression over the course of the book. What did hook me was the mystery. I wasn’t expecting many of the details and driving conflicts. Though the start was a little slower and the pacing took a bit to get used to, the suspense steadily increased, offering surprise reveals and plot twists that kept me guessing and reexamining the clues and secondary characters. The ending was absolutely great- keeping my pulse thrumming and my eyes glued to the e-reader until late at night. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more titles from the series and would recommend this book to anyone looking for high suspense with minimal romance.
*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*
This one will have your head spinning with all of the twists and turns! Kellen lost a year of her life and remembers very little. She does remember the husband who abused her and attempted to murder her. She remembers her cousin who gave her life for her.
She is now living at a luxury resort as the assistant manager. The owner and her husband are leaving her in charge until they get back. Then body parts start being discovered. Who is doing this? Who are friends and who are enemies?
Of one thing I am sure of-even if you figure out who done it-you will not figure out the ending!!
Mysterious gunshot wound to the head, stolen identity, and time missing from Kellen’s life. Kellen remembers some things and others she does not. She remembers that she hated her husband and prayed that he was dead. She remembers that Kellen is not her real name but something is missing and Kellen is having trouble putting together the pieces. When a woman’s body surfaces at the vacation resort in which she is employed, Kellen has to try to investigate the murder while trying to run the resort while her employers are gone. The twists and turns in this book had me on the edge until the end. Awesome start to the Cape Charade series and cannot wait to read the next book.
The twists and turn in the story will keep you reading til you finish the book
Enjoyed every minute of this.
I often turn away from books classified as “thrillers”. They usually are not my style of story.
I like Ms. Dodd’s work and this sounded interesting, so I thought I’d give it a try.
I’m glad I did.
It’s dense and convoluted. Different time lines weave in and out.
Evil and goodness are there, but it can be hard to tell one from the other until the end.
It’s quite a ride and well worth it!
Never disappointed in her books!
A quick start to the action but confusing, initially, with so many flashbacks, subplots etc. This author has used those devices in prior works but not quite to this extent, I think.
One can’t argue that Christina Dodd knows how to capture the attention of her audience as she creates extremely complex stories around characters who are not at all boring.
Christina Dodd has long been a one-click author for me and continues to surprise me, captivate me and at times scare me witless.
I was hooked from the very beginning. Kellen is a strong but deeply flawed heroine, with layer upon layer of secrets. Murder mystery with lots of action and suspense.
I loved Christina Dodd’s DEAD GIRL RUNNING. The setting is wonderfully atmospheric (think Daphne DuMaurier), the story is thrilling and beautifully crafted, and the characters are so clearly drawn that I could see each one in my head as I read. And, in addition to being an elegantly woven mystery – mysteries! – with terrific characters, DEAD GIRL RUNNING is emotionally powerful in marvelous ways. I’m already in line for WHAT DOESN’T KILL HER, the next book in the Cape Charade series, which is coming on 1/29/2019.
Dead Girl Running is a gripping, fascinating story about a woman who has run from her past and completely changed the direction of her life. She is now Kellen Adams, an assistant manager of a remote resort in the Pacific Northwest. When her predecessor’s body is found on the property she finds herself investigating the crime and drawing on all of her past and present talents to find the killer.
Kellen was such an interesting character! Through flashbacks we find out she had a different name and was in a bad relationship. When she left that persona behind she became Kellen Adams and through that change gained her strength and fought an internal battle to become a stronger person. Kellen went through some trauma where she lost a year of her life and as this mystery unravels, so does her memory. Through those flashbacks we saw her past, but I really enjoyed discovering who she is now.
Kellen’s head trauma caused her to become a little robotic. She see’s things almost android or computer like at times, listing off other characters attributes in bullet points that are unemotional and analytical. I know this is done on purpose so you can see her character grow and she does! She gets warmer, more emotional, and human as the novel rolls on. It took a little getting used to but once I did I was totally enmeshed in the story and really wanted to see this new persona that was emerging.
Dead Girl Running was a great start to this new series and for those of you who love Virtue Falls, they are only a few hours up the coast and you get a quick peek at a couple of characters to satisfy that fix.
I was given a book by this author for my honest review and it was honest!
Dead girl running is a good suspense. Identity switch, amnesia, murders in a resort, number of suspects , it has all the required elements.
The pace was good. Most of the characters were interesting. The whodunit part of it was engaging.
I couldn’t figure out who the killer was till the big reveal.
Am definitely going to wait around for the next book in the series.
WOW !
Good story