Dead Spots

Scarlett Bernard, Book 1

By: Melissa F. Olson

Narrated by: Amy McFadden

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

When LA’s vampires, witches, and werewolves make a mess, they call Scarlett Bernard to clean it up. Her ability as a null erases all magical traces from anything—or anyone—that comes within ten feet of her, and keeps humans in the dark about the city’s paranormal activity. One night when she’s called to a grisly crime scene, Scarlett is spied by the all-too-human LAPD cop Jesse Cruz, who strikes up a deal with her: he’ll keep quiet about the supernatural underworld if she helps him crack the case. She agrees, but the city’s chief vampire, Dash, starts to suspect Scarlett is behind the murders and will reveal all she knows of his shadowy empire. Now it’ll take more than Scarlett’s unique abilities to clear her name, keep the underworld underground, and track down the real killer.

©2012 Melissa F. Olson (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

solid UF without romance emphasis

Solid Urban Fantasy - not too much romance and the heroine is relatable, fully-fledged, and mostly lacking in cliched UF/PNR attributes (insatiable sexual prowess, uncommonly good looks, superpowers that appear far beyond her known powers, crushing feelings of inadequacy, inability to make a decision, annoying sidekicks, or closets full of the perfect heeled black leather boots and endless catalogues of specialized weaponry, for example). Scarlett is smart but not too sassy, practical rather than superficial, and not whiney. She has a few too many trust issues but they are understandable considering what she's been through in the last few years. She has a habit of feeling that things are all her fault that may lead to a overblown guilt crisis at some point in the series. Her power (or anti-power, as she calls it) is unusual: she's a Null, and magical beings that come within her radius of power lose their magical abilities - vampires and werewolves become human, witches cannot use their magic. The author uses this ability to good effect in several scene.

The magic system is well-explained and makes sense. The setting is current day Los Angeles, but realistically so and without a lot of Hollywood glitz or designer name-dropping. There is a romantic triangle, but this book is really not focused on the romance, so there are no eye-rolling romantic declarations, posturing over possession of the girl, or explicit sex scenes. The plot is solid, with enough clues and twists to keep you guessing. There are some fun references to literary history in the vampire background. The storyline wraps up at the end in a satisfying way, though a sequel is hinted at by a surprise plot point at the end. The characters are complex and feel "real" rather than just being archetypes (with the possible exception of Dashiell, the head vampire). I thought this was pretty impressive for a first novel.

The audiobook narrator is Amy McFadden. She does a creditable job but it's not outstanding. Her pacing and delivery are spot on. Like the book itself, it is more than adequate but less than extraordinary.

not her best book

I listen to this book after I had already listened to the boundary series. it is worth reading as background to that world, but in my opinion it's nowhere near as good.

Great Supernatural Mystery

I liked this book. It reminded me of the Gail Carriger Soulless books set in the present instead of the past. The idea of a null is very interesting. The storyline was well thought out and I enjoyed listening to the world unfold. I liked the characters and enjoyed the romantic triangle that is setting up. I hope that Melissa Olson turns this into a series. I thought Amy McFadden was a fantastic narrator. This is the first time I've listened to anything she narrated and I would definitely listen to her again.

Absolutely entertaining!

Story was very good...not crazy about love triangles...but can't wait to read who she picks.

Hooked like a fish

This is a fantastic start to a series. The characters are so real and so sympathetic. Scarlett herself is flawed and yet badass. Dashel does one thing to make you hate him, then the next sentence makes you feel sorry for him. Also the love triangle between Jessie, Scarlett, and Ely is wonderful. Dear Stephanie Myer, THIS is how you write a flawed, insecure heroine in a supernatural love triangle.

Decent Story

3.5 Stars for me!

My rating range of this story... 3.25 - 3.75 Stars
If significant, why?

Main Character Ratings...
H = 6/10
h = 6/10

Was cheating involved? No though it is somewhat of a love triangle.
Any major triggers to be aware of?

Scenes with heat... Not really
What point does it start? It doesn't
How much of the story? 1%
Anything beyond M/F? No
If yes, explained

Heat Rating... 2
Clean or Fade to Black - 1 or 2
Normal to Descriptive 3-5
Detailed Descriptive Sex - 6-7
Um, Wow, Beyond Descriptive Sex - 8 or above

Was there so much sex or unrealistic sex that you rolled your eyes and/or skipped forward? Nope

The back story... The blurb says it all

The Romance... It was hard for me to see it but it was mostly between the h and the police officer.

The drama explosion... Getting the evidence to the head vampire.
Did it feel real or contrived? Mostly real
Was it OTT? No
Separation involved? No
Was it resolved properly or rushed? Mostly resolved

Final Notes...


HEA or HFN? Neither

ugh

I enjoy the Scarlett Bernard series, but one thing that drives me absolutely crazy is how she makes every situation worse and ignores simple solutions.

For instance, at one point she could VERY easily clear her name by providing an alibi to the cardinal vampire by admitting she was 1. with Eli most of the night and then doing a job for the witches immediately afterward at the time 3 murders were committed and 2. by bringing the werewolf witness forward to tell everyone that he came into contact with 2 different nulls that night (Scarlett, shortly after arriving on scene and another null who was escaping the crime scene as Scarlett arrived).

She never speaks up even though doing so would be an EXTREMELY simple solution. her thought process and reasoning for NOT explaining herself is entirely illogical and even though the people she deals with are scary, her not showing any sort of back-bone or sense of self-preservation is infuriating.

Loved the characters, story line an narration!

Picked this book up on sale and I am so glad I did! I love books by laurelll k. Hamilton and other strong female characters and this was a great book to add to my collection.

Suprisingly pleased

O.K., I admit it... I bought this book because there was nothing out by anyone I usually read, it came well-reviewed by someone I like, and, yes, it was on sale. I will say this- no spoilers here.
Having said that, I actually really enjoyed this book. It wasn't the entirely new twist some reviewers had lead me to believe with descriptions of a wholly new type of paranormal creature- I can think of at least two series with nulls, the Parisol Protectorate (we need spell check) and the Carol Marie MMonning (again I don't know how to spell her name- I'm blind and don't see these things so I'm mostly making up spellings), in which the heroine is actually called a "null" with the power to nullify supernatural powers. Even so, it was funny, well-written, and engaging enough that I didn't get bored despite usually being the jerk people refuse to watch mysteries with since "I'm always saying, "obviously it's so and so, the affair and the motive are too obvious" ten minutes in. It wasn't brilliant, but I wanted to read it in a single sitting, and I didn't guess what was going on until well into the second part.
The bad guys are bad, but they are also human- in a manner of speaking. They aren't all bad, and the good guys, such as they are, aren't all good. After all, the heroine does crime scene disposal for a living- ie she hides crimes from the cops to pay the bills. I liked the complexity of the characters, even those provided mostly for comic relief, like the adorable and occasionally hilarious roommate.
I read some complaints about the narration, and, though a huge amount of that is a matter of personal taste, I liked her- eventually. It took me some time to like her, past the sample even, but she's right for it. Just the right mix of bored, amused, and terrified. She does the male voices justice even if they don't want to make me throw my clothes off (which would be weird and possibly confusing to my sexual identity).
A little more on the characters in the potential love triangle- I was fully ready for the "bad BOY" who is sexy and who she is just too stupid to resist and the good guy she should eventually end up with. That's just not the case, no matter how much the heroine wants to make it that way. I obviously still have the guy I want her to end up with- sexy cop just has to beat out sexy bartender werewolf in my book everyday, but they're both actual people with complex personalities, and the sexy bartender werewolf surprised me with his depth- not an easy thing to do. I might even be O.K. if she ends up with the wrong guy, though that usually results in throwing books across the room (obviously metaphorically now that I use my precious I-phone to listen). I also liked that, while there is some romantic stuff going on, and there is some off scene sex, there is no graphic sex, no explicit scenes I need to mute when my husband/friends/ occasionally co-workers walk into the room for the huge amount of mocking that follows. Plus, that kind of sex, graphic and frequent, just gets old after a while, so this was pleasantly refreshing in that sense. There's also none (or very little) of the constant thinking about- and then sharing with us- sex at all times, like during fights or body disposal, which is all too common in these kinds of books- plus, it's creepy to be thinking about getting laid while actually chopping up a body- eew. I like a romance. I want my heroine to end up happily ever after, but me personally, I don't need it graphically. If you do, try Sookie Stackhouse (I'm O.K. if I misspelled that- it's clearly made up), or anything by Carrie Arthur or the Anita Blake books or... the list goes on and on.
This NEXT SENTANCE is'nt a spoiler, but you may want to not think too hard about it as you read the book.. the thing SOME PEOPLE SAID WAS A SHOCKING ending, not particularly a shocker if you were paying attention. When people say there's ONLY one possible reason for something, even if they follow it up with, but that's impossible, remember we're talking about vampires, witches, and werewolfs. Reassess impossible. Still, it was a fun cliff-hanger ending.
One final note... the second book, Trail of Dead, is out and not on audible or on the audible coming soon list. What gives? I'm kind of craving to know what exciting gore/romance related misadventures one of my potentially favorite heroines gets up to. Give me book two or at least a release date or explaination OF WHY I'M CONTEMPLATING MY FIX ELSEWHERE (GASP). We grow impatient, possibly with torches and pitchforks.

UF at a new angle

I didn't think there would be much to take me by surprise regarding urban fantasy, but I was taken back, in a good way, by this new kind of character, the "null". Scarlett is indeed a nice addition to the world of paranormal and urban fantasy. The plot is good, the action is fast-paced and all the other characters are well-defined. Also, there is that damn nail-biting cliff-hanger in the end: how did THAT person manage to undergo THAT kind of transformation!?!
The switch between first-person and third-person narration actually made sense, too bad that Ms. McFadden didn't switch also when narrating: it took me some time to make sense of the story on the beginning of each chapter. On the plus side, she was better with keeping up with Jesse's Spanish accent throughout the story, which is better that in Susannah Sandlin's novels she narrated... Not my favourite story-telling person, but I've heard worse.
Overall, good start of a new paranormal series. Will be impatiently waiting for the sequel!