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.

A great start to this series

What made the experience of listening to Dead Spots the most enjoyable?

It's always better listening to a book if you've got a good narrator as they make the characters more real in your mind.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Scarlet, because she has to endure a lot and she still has strength and fire.

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

Scarlet: The Null

Excellent Urban Fantasy

Urban fantasy with vampires, Werewolves & witches Oh My!!
The good news is, Scarlet isn't a teenager in love with the vampire. Very refreshing.
Scarlet goes from being the clean up crew to an investigator. It's a pivotal point in her life. She has more than her share of issues to sort out, so a love triangle is just what she needs. The language is a bit rough, but no graphic sex. I would let my high schooler listen to it.
The narration is great & is worth the credit or cash.

Why did I wait so long?!?

If you could sum up Dead Spots in three words, what would they be?

Awesome, new characters!

What did you like best about this story?

A great new paranormal species!

Which scene was your favorite?

The final battle!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Bring on book 2!

good but not great

I enjoyed the story a lot and look forward to the next entry. The reader was good but the character voices were not easy to distinguish between.

Great Urban Fantasy Book

The narrator did a great job. I enjoyed this first installment of the urban fantasy series and can't wait for the next book.

re−reading and still a lot of fun

I'm rereading the series and enjoying it like the first time. Even though I remember the main plot, I forgot the details. for example, I've totally forgotten how some of the characters were so disgustingly authoritative in the beginning.
The world building in this series is solid and the characters are not so cookie cutter similar. if you haven't read the books and are into urban fantasy, this series is highly recommended. It might not hook you in the first book, but you will come to love the world and its characters.

Flawed but with great potential

“Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in.” ― Shannon L. Alder

Scarlett Bernard is one pragmatic lady. Of course, she has to be considering her job is supernatural crime scene cleanup. As in, get in, clean up the mess, steal the body, and book the hell out of Dodge before the cops arrive. She is truly good at her job, and her boss, the cold and distant Dashiell, Master Vampire of the city, may be scary, but he pretty much allows her to do her job without interference. But then, the worst happens.

She gets caught. Caught by a newly minted detective, Jesse Cruz, just after she arrives at a scene more bloody and grotesque than any she has ever seen. What happens next is fast paced action with terrific world building and interesting characters. I first read the book back in 2012, and enjoyed it then. This time I listened to the Audible edition narrated by Amy McFadden (one of my favorite narrators) and, as sometimes happens, I liked it even more as I listened. Scarlett is a strong character with a well-developed, though brutal, background and is likeable. She isn’t perfect, but that is what makes her interesting. She has taken horrific hits in her life – but the one she walks into later on is absolutely devastating and Olson does a rather wonderful job of writing the horrors of betrayal. I would have liked her to be more mature in her interactions with others – her tendency to cope a nasty, self-serving attitude at times was a downer. I am hoping that the next books will show growth in her as a character (especially since I own them all). Her behavior isn’t as horrendous as other female characters in the genre, but I am hoping for more maturity in upcoming works.

There are some things that were irritating. The Dreaded Love Triangle. Irritating! Not only do love triangles make me retch, this one felt stilted and unnecessary, dragging down the storyline. Also, the POV switches between characters and from first to third person erratically and unnecessarily. Irritating, but not as irritating as the lurrve (titter titter, Groan) triangle. Olson’s take on werewolf psychology was more interesting than a lot of other books in the genre, and her friendship with the Alpha and Beta were more realistic than many others. The Alpha isn’t as ‘Alpha’ as in other books (thank the Goddess!) and the tortured Beta was very realistically portrayed in the vein of “I never wanted this in the first place.”

So, flawed, it isn’t perfect by any means, but I still enjoyed it as much as I remembered, and Amy’s narration was, as always, spot on.

I'm not into Vampire Books BUT....

Any additional comments?

I'm not into Vampire books, but this was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it, and will probably do more vampire books. These are a lot better than I thought. I guess that's the purpose of the daily deal and the specials- to get the reader to try something different. I am usually not disappointed.

Despite the love triangle it's a good story

I enjoyed the story overall. It is well written and I like the majority of the characters. I'm not a huge fan of the love triangle aspect but I am looking forward to the next in the series.

Unique Twist on an Overdone Genre

I am really tired of books where the entire plot is based upon the fact that the characters are vampires, werewolves and witches. If the book has an interesting premise, well developed characters, a plot that actually requires you to think or introduces you to new ideas and pulls you in emotionally either through humor, sympathy or in some other way AND some of the characters just happen to be vampires, werewolves or witches, then that is fine.

I liked this book because while the plot focuses on the beings themselves, rather than on some larger worldly issue or event, the author introduces a new being that made this book different from the 900,000 other books covering the exact same plot. The main character is a Null, and when otherworldly characters are in her range, they loose all of their power and become human. I don't know if this plot device is enough to sustain multiple books, but it is enough to set at least this first book apart.

One of the pluses of this new character is by her very nature, she is kind of a non-entity. Her importance isn't in what she does, it is in what she makes others "not" do. As a non-entity, then the author doesn't have to spend a lot of time developing Scarlett's character and personality. In fact most of this book seems to reenforce that she has very little character or personality beyond her ability to cancel others out just by her presence. She is certainly not emotionally connected to other characters.

This was obviously an introduction to a series. When I read it, I realized that there were the beginnings of some interesting characters and some interesting story-lines waiting to be developed down the road. For the first book in a series, I think the author did a good job of piquing our interest to learn more. It remains to be seen if she can keep that interest as the series progresses.

The narrator was OK. Occasionally slipping into the annoying category.