Dead Certain

A Novel

By: Adam Mitzner

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

Ella Broden is living a double life.

By day, Ella works as a buttoned-up attorney on some of the city's most grueling cases. By night, she pursues her passion for singing in the darkest clubs of Manhattan.

No one knows her secret, not even Charlotte, the younger sister she practically raised. But it seems she's not the only one in the family with something to hide. When Charlotte announces she's sold her first novel, Ella couldn't be more thrilled...until she gets a call that her sister's gone missing.

Ella starts investigating with the help of Detective Gabriel Velasquez, an old flame in the NYPD, and what she finds is shocking. If art imitates life, then her sister's novel may contain details of her real-life affairs. And any one of her lovers could be involved in her disappearance.

Desperate to bring Charlotte home, Ella works through her list of suspects, matching fictitious characters with flesh-and-blood men. But will it be too late to save the sister she only thought she knew?

©2017 Adam Mitzner (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Mixed Review

I have enjoyed Adam Mitzner's books in the past and the basic principle of this book is very good. However, the end was not really surprising and I was surprised at the explicit sex scenes. They did not help the story and were not necessary. I was disappointed in general.

Sleeping With The Enemy... Murder She Wrote !!

This novel had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out which characters are real life and which are from Charlotte's imagination. You see, Charlotte had sold her first novel which she gave a copy to her sister Ella to read. Very shortly thereafter Charlotte went missing. After Charlotte had been missing a couple of days, Ella decided to read the book. The book contained details that caused Ella to suspect that it was reflective of Charlotte's real-life love affairs which Ella knew nothing about. Ella was hiding her own double life from Charlotte. Which one of Charlotte's lovers could be involved in her disappearance?

The characters are developed well enough and the three different perspectives provides some insight into what others are thinking which adds to the mystery. Suspend disbelief and enjoy because this is definitely one of Adam Mitzner's best.

Erin Bennett’s performance is great. Her voice is well suited for this novel and she performs the different characters very well.

Recommend...

The only mystery here is what happened to Mitzner.

I can't say enough bad things about this book, which I actually made myself finish simply because I couldn't believe Mitzner could have written such worthless crap and wanted to give him every chance. Well, it was a wasted 8+ hours.

The plot is absolutely absurd, the characters totally inane. Our "hero" is the dumbest attorney you have ever met. (After she asks a potential murderer out to dinner in order to trick him, she writes: "I hang up, feeling both dirty and empowered." Seriously?) She is also a singer by night, performing in secret under an assumed name. And while you might think this alter-ego is a big part of the story, given the publisher's summary, she actually only sings once in the novel. It's pretty much irrelevant except for the fact that that's where she meets her latest crush...and there are many of these crushes--she, or her sister, have dated or are about to date every single male character in the novel except for their father. It actually gets pretty silly: The client accused of murder? She dated him. The cop investigating her sister's disappearance? He asked her out...On and on it goes. Was this supposed to be a MYSTERY?

As if the idiotic "plot" wasn't bad enough, there is a "novel" within the "novel" (our hero's sister has written one, which turns out to be a Big Clue when she goes missing because she often based her writing on her own life). So you actually have to follow the silly storyline TWICE: once in the sister's novel and then when the exact same thing happens to the sister in "real" life.

And the writing itself!!!! Here's a sample, so you can be forewarned:

"As soon as I'm far enough from the apartment that I stop fearing Matthew jumping me, I text Marco: 'Meet me at the bench.' Matthew knows the bench. We had sex on it in Central Park one night when there was not enough time for a hotel. Officially it's called the Waldo Hutchis Bed, a fifteen foot-wide granite sculpture capable of seating at least ten, near 72nd street on the east side of the park. After using it to quench our sexual desire, I googled it to find out what its inscription meant."

"Quench our sexual desire." Seriously? As I said in the title of this review: the only mystery here is what happened to Mitzner, the author.

The "plot twists" some of the other reviewers have talked about can be seen a mile away. And the ending!!!! It's almost like if Mitzner was given a word count and he needed to write another chapter just to reach it.

I have been a Mitzner fan but I will think twice before downloading his next novel. It certainly won't be a pre-order.

Oddly Mixed Up Writing Hurts Book

The first half or so of 'Dead Certain' grabbed me. But then Adam Mitzner poked his POV into other people's heads and I reeeeely wish he hadn't. Perhaps if his deadline wasn't so pressing, or an urge to show-boat some writing pyrotechnics didn't divert his good sense... Well maybe this could have continued its journey toward 5 stardom. Instead the suspense went flaccid. And for some reason the editors allowed him to insert a totally mystical chapter written in the POV of a ghost!

Can't recommend this thing even though Mitzner's written some fine books. And even though Erin Bennett does a fine job of trying to save all of this scrambled stuff.

Save your credit for something better, maybe by Mitzner.

A festival of clichés and poor story development

A plot that does not ring true and characters thin as autumn leaves do not help the credibility of this book. Adam Mitzner, you can do better...

To Stare a Kller in the Face

Ok....I must say Adam Mitzner...? Wow you did this book!!!!
Erin Bennett you 🎸 Rocked that narration like none other.
i love Thrillers and this was as erie as the Rapper Tupac Shakur writing a song ... predicting his own death. The central character in this novel is Charlotte a freelance College writer. She is offfered a book deal for a novel she wrote depicting her own death . She disappears after handed over the novel to her older more responsible sister Erin, who is a lawyer.
This book will have you on the edge of your seat trying to find out which characters are real life and what is Charottes imagination. While leading a double life of her own her sister Erin reads her book to try to sault out where her sister has disappeared too and finds out so secrets that may cause her own demise.
This is definitely an awesome summer read. I don't want to give you too many Clues because this Audiobook is well worth your purchase.
Official DeAnn DeVille Review.
Author, Narrator, Blogger DeAnn DeVille.

Good story, good narration

The ending was predictable, but I still found myself interested in how everything would tie together. The narrator was easy to listen to, and the story went quickly.

Not worth the credit!

What was most disappointing about Adam Mitzner’s story?

It was all sex and a murder and really no mystery or story line.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Dead Certain?

I would keep the story line and throw everything else away.

Any additional comments?

I could not identify with either of the characters. It was just about jumping from one bedroom to the next. There was no substance or redeeming characters or events. I never saw anything that even hinted at being a story written by a man.

Great story and narration!!!

What did you love best about Dead Certain?

It has a fast moving plot and keeps you riveted right from the start. The characters develop nicely and the different perspectives give you great insight into what everyone is thinking.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Certain?

When the killers perspective comes into play.

What about Erin Bennett’s performance did you like?

She has a wonderful voice and plays out the different characters very well.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

She wrote about her own murder ....

Any additional comments?

Adam Mitzner is blossoming into a top of the live mystery writer. This is definitely his best yet and I can't wait for what comes next.

Good book to listen in the car

Some books are so intense or gripping, that paying attention to the road and traffic might become a problem. in this case, the story is good enough, well written and well narrated to make for an entertaining commute without making it unsafe. Also, unlike with some other books, I never had a problem turning off the car and leaving the story at pretty much any point. Helps with being on time to work, when you are not glued to the story to the point where you sit on the office parking lot waiting for the end of the chapter...

Cleverly written

Enjoyed both the writing and the excellent narration. This book has an interesting way of telling the story from the murdered victim, to the narrator sister to the murderer themselves!

so bad

this book is dull and really fake. the the characters of one dimensional. I tried really hard to finish this book but it was impossible as it was so bad. save your money and buy something else.