Cape Charade #1, The spin-off series of Virtue Falls. I requested this off NetGalley with no expectations of actually getting to read it and was ecstatic when I was approved, so thank you very much HQN. It's been about a decade since I've read Christina Dodd, I enjoyed her historical romances and then she started writing the PNR and I couldn't get into them and missed Virtue Falls but if they are anything like this book I will go back and read them. Dead Girl Running is so chock full of stuff and has so many things going on, the book was addictive. The main character Kellan has a past and it's doozy of a past. She's missing a full year of her life, has a scar from a gunshot high on her forehead, she served in the military but was medically discharged and something so traumatic happen in her early adulthood that it changed who she was. After being discharged from the military Kellan was looking for some place to call home, a sanctuary where she could but her demons behind her and the luxury resort in the middle of nowhere Pacific Northwest seemed like the perfect place.

Because this is the first book of a new series and because Kellan has such an immense past especially since one year is missing from her memory there are flashbacks, quite a bit of them, but they are necessary not just for the story but as character development. As things unfold with the main plot Kellan is reminded of her past and she starts to look at it differently. Not to mention just about everything from her past is coming to slap her in the face and she has no choice but to face them head on. It all starts with the body of a mutilated girl being found on the resort premises, even more discouraging when it is discovered to be a former worker at the resort. Kellan left alone for the first time to manage the resort on her own is left trying to figure out everything. The elderly owners who are on vacation take pity on her and send their great nephew to help out with security, but Kellan finds something about oddly familiar about Max Di Luca.

The romance is secondary to the main plot but is essential to Kellan and her character development. The secondary characters are quirky and fun ranging between a silver screen actor, a stern and almost unlikable guest relations manager, and a handful of veterans Kellan served with in the military. Overall, the main plot was great it kept me guessing and had a few red herrings to lead you astray but the overall book with all the distractions and Kellan not knowing who to trust any more adds to the frustrations of getting to the bottom of the problem. This was a great book and I look forward to reading more from this series.

Perilous, twisty, and sophisticated!

Dead Girl Running is the first novel in a new series by Dodd that introduces us to Kellen Adams, a skilled, determined young woman with a past rife with secrets, violence, and memory loss and a present filled with stolen artifacts, ruthless smugglers, and dead bodies.

The writing style is intricate and intense. The characters, including the hardworking, scarred heroine are multi-layered and mysterious. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine into a compelling tale filled with mixed emotions, red herrings, deception, abuse, manipulation, romance, friendship, and murder.

Dead Girl Running is an intelligent, entertaining, action-packed tale that has all the elements you look for in a romantic suspense novel and is an excellent start for the new Cape Charade series.

I could not put this book down. I really do feel bad for Kellan in this book, so much happens to her. This is a good whodunit book. I really hope we get more about Kellan and Max in the next book as I feel unfinished with them at the end of this book. I will mention you don't have to read the Virtue Falls books to read this series. I would recommend reading those also as they are great books but don't feel you have to to read this awesome series.

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.

It soon becomes very apparent why this book has this title, and the non-stop action will keep you page turning. This woman should really not be alive, and when all the facts are presented she should not survive.
We are offered a story from a resort in the State of Washington, and it quickly turns to a story in the State of Maine, and with detours of short stays in other parts of the country. Our main character is very likeable and we walk in her shoes, she has evolved into a tough cookie, but has a lot of compassion, but you wonder how is this woman even alive?
With so much action and questioning who is the main culprit or the Librarian, you will be sure your right, but are you? Wait until the other shoe drops, and we are off with more action, yes, there is never a dull moment here! You will be reading to the end for answers, and yes it takes to final page to really get solutions.

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harlequin, and was not required to give a positive review.

Dead Girl Running begins Christina Dodd's new Cape Charade series with a bang. Smuggling, stolen artifacts, murder and blackmail all within the first few pages let the reader know just what kind of pace Dodd is going to set for the book, and she lives up to it. Running's heroine, Kellen Adams, is a puzzle of conflicting pieces: strong, intelligent, independent, while also plagued by nightmares, emotionally fragile, and not always sure she trusts her own mind. A retired Army veteran, Kellen has been through the war zones (literally) but some of her worst nightmares happened in the United States. She has a gunshot wound scar on her head and can't remember a year of her life.

Dodd (Because I'm Watching) does a good job of introducing the reader to Kellen, and let's us see Kellen's confusion and divided self more and more as the book progresses. Kellen spends most of the book trying to live up to the memory of her cousin and make her proud- only to discover that while she pretended to be that strong person, she actually became that person. In trying to solve the murders shaking up her quiet life at Cape Charade, Kellen finds herself dealing with a suspicious possible-federal agent, obnoxious hotel staff, suspicious guests, and friends she thought she knew and trusted. Then in comes security expert Max Di Luca (of the Bella Terra De Lucas) and Kellen gets even more confused. She doesn't know Max, but something about him seems familiar. Could he be a part of her missing year? The ending of Dead Girl Running was as energetic and action-packed as any action movie. But what I liked best was that Kellen remained the independent warrior she had trained herself to be. She didn't need Max to save her, she saved herself. Repeatedly.

Readers should be warned that the end of Dead Girl Running isn't the end. We have to wait until next year's What Doesn't Kill Me to answer some of the questions about Kellen's past- not to mention what she decides for her future! But the mystery to Running is solved, so don't fear a cliff-hanger of an ending! Dead Girl Running does contain some scenes of domestic violence and abuse. Dodd handles these scenes and their emotional aftermath with sensitivity, but readers should be aware for possible triggers.

Fans of Dodd's Virtue Falls series will cheer this move down the coast to the Yearning Sands Resort and new readers will wonder how they went so long without reading anything by Christina Dodd. A must read for all mystery/suspense lovers!

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

I have read a lot of Christina Dodd's books, she is an auto read for me and I love her stuff. This is a spin-off of the Bella Terra and Virtue Falls series, sort of. She is one of those authors that I don't read the blurb. I wanted to be surprised as I read the book and I was absolutely blown away by this book.

Unique, inventive, captivating - this plot is all that and part Gothic, part assumed identity, part amnesia victim, part who done it and totally fascinating. The heroine is a survivor and the plot is slow to give up her full story, which makes you just want to know all the more.

Kellen Adams has been the assistant manager of Yearning Sands, a high end destination resort on the Washington coast for a few months. She has been many things in her life and lived many places and all she wants now is a place to call home. At Yearning Sands she has been hiring her friends, Army vets, to try and do that. It is January and the slow season so the owners, Annie and Leo De Luca, are taking their vacation to visit relations in California. They leave Kellen in charge and the remaining staff, some of whom really resent her, have few guests to care for.

When the head of security takes off on vacation too, Kellen is concerned to be in charge of that area also. But, as a former Army Captain, she rises to the task until a body washes up on shore and a dark and deadly side of Yearning Sands is revealed. The De Lucas' decide to send their nephew, Maximilian De Luca, to aid with security and something about Max has Kellen's memories of her past resurfacing. Kellen knows someone at the resort is a smuggler and a sadistic killer and with few people she can trust, Kellen will have to discover who that person is.

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.

Book Info
Paperback, 368 pages
Expected publication: April 24th 2018 by Harlequin Books
ISBN 1335144366 (ISBN13: 9781335144362)
Edition Language English
Series Cape Charade #1
Characters Kellen Adams
Other Editions (1)
Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK BLURB


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 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?

My Thoughts


Every time I see these statements 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. it was apparent to me that there was more to the story than a case of amnesia.

As got into the book that fact was driven home pretty quickly as the plot thickens when storms roll in outside while the picturesque resort becomes almost a prison for those inside.

A place filled with tension from the fear that one among them is a cruel murderer, a murderer whose next victim could be any of the guests or staff under Kellen's care.

As the story plot plays out its twists and turns take readers through past as well as present conflicts that Kellen must face before things come to a rather anti-climatic ending that did not play out quite as I expected it to.

Conflicted about this one as it of course ended with a huge revelation for Kellen that did not see coming and did not appreciate as a cliffhanger ending.

There are several threads explored in this story which I found excellently executed and yet at the same time felt could have been explored further.

While this was a good read it could not erase my preference for the authors paranormal offerings that read years ago.


[EArc from Netgalley]
On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

Dead Girl Running is a very atmospheric thriller. Set on the west coast during winter in an upscale resort that's mostly empty for the offseason. Throw in a mutilated body washing ashore and we've got ourselves something to work with!

Kellan is our protagonist and narrator. Kellan has a murky past:

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.


She takes the manager position at Yearning Sands because she wants a home, stability and not to be anywhere near the East Coast. Little did she know as soon as the owners left to go on vacation that all hell was going to break loose. Luckily, Kellan is a BAMF, ex-military and knows how to get shit done.

I loved being inside her head. She's logical, rational, hyper-organized, intelligent, ballsy and reads people well; she suffers no fools. She's drafted some of her colleagues/friends from her military days who play pivotal roles in this story, many of whom I really liked.

There are almost two separate narratives co-occurring within this story, so the question becomes how or when will those plot lines converge?

This story is well plotted with great pacing; the overall construction of this story kept me on my toes. Whodunnits should make the reader think and in my opinion, the who that done it shouldn't be easy to figure out. It wasn't but what really reeled me in was trying to piece together Kellan's past. Kudos to Dodd for the breadcrumbs. Some of those breadcrumbs had me shaking my fist and asking, 'what does that mean?!?!?' followed by an ARGH!!!!!

The ending comes together in true mystery, action packed fashion with a couple surprises. I was actually worried the closer I got to the end that it was going to cliff me, but it didn't. Which now leave me scratching my head as to how this is going to become a series, but I guess that's for Dodd to know and us to find out.

Recommend to mystery/thriller fans.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley.

Dead Girl Running feels like a retelling of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, with a little Terminator, a smidgen of Psycho, and huge amounts of gothic romance added. However, 'romance' may be a little misleading, since there isn't much.

Kellen Adams has one heck of life. She was an orphaned girl who had an extremely abusive marriage. Her husband planned to kill her, with the full knowledge and support of his sister, who could have appeared in Psycho. She escapes and assumes the identity of her cousin (the real Kellen Adams), joins the military and becomes a Captain, is injured in the line-of-duty, released from service and then loses a year of her life to amnesia, and subsequently moves to the far Pacific northwest to take on the job of assistant property manager. She then becomes embroiled in a murder-smuggling plot, with an ending that manages to circle back to her lost year. Nothing seems to be off limits in this book. Aliens could have landed and I wouldn't have been surprised. The only missing touch was the lack of wolves howling at the fog-covered moon.

The book features a huge cast of characters, with the requisite quirky senior citizens, hormone-driven young lovers, greedy people, suspicious actions, and hot men. There was an added distraction of a 'notecard' popping up every time Kellen saw someone, kind of like when the "Terminator" met a character and the analysis of that character popped up for him to read, but this is supposed to be the way that Kellen thinks of information about people and events.

I enjoyed the first part of the story except for confusion of who the character really was in the first chapter; I just knew I didn't like her. The story was initially intriguing and it felt like an old-fashioned mystery at first. It wasn't long, though, before all the gothic elements started to take over the story and I felt like I was reading an old Victoria Holt book, except the heroine never had to sneak across a parapet. By mid-point, I found myself beginning to skim sections, learning that not every character is what he seems. However, it was the ending that killed my enjoyment. When I roll my eyes, it's not a good sign; I think I am bowing out of book two.

This was my first experience from Christina Dodd. I'm not usually a fan of romance and I felt that this would have been a stronger book if some of the romance was taken out.

It was an enjoyable read for the most part but I felt like there were some aspects that were very unrealistic to me. The way that some of the information was presented in the book was a tad bit like reading cliff notes or like a police report. Ehh. this was a tad annoying to me.

There also was a TON of information presented in the novel and it left me confused with the information at times and was hard to follow.

I also was not too impressed with the villain and was hoping for more twists/turns to the thriller.

Thank you to Harlequin and Netgalley for the advanced arc.
Overall 3 stars for me on this one.

So Christina Dodd is one of my favorites. This one was , eh... It was good story telling but I was floundering through the majority to get to the meat of the mystery and I really missed the love story. If you are expecting the H/h kind of story look, somewhere else. I didn't guess the "who dunnit" and that's always positive. I will happily read another of this author but this will not be a re-read.

Love a hot mess? Then this book has your name written in it. Gosh that sounds mean, but hot mess is all I’ve got.

Kellen Adams takes a job as an assistant manager at a remote vacation resort where she hopes to find sanctuary. But when a woman's dead and mutilated body is discovered, she's soon trying to keep her own secrets. Kellen wonders--with the scar of a gunshot on her forehead and amnesia--could the killer be staring her in the face?

Dead Girl Running lacked flow. It read much like what I imagine a boat on choppy seas feels like, bouncing and twisting all over the place. I pushed myself to read this book even though most of the time I dreaded picking up my Kindle. I finished it because I was curious enough about what happened to Kellen before the resort to want to know how that story resolved itself. But I found the resort story boring, distracting and unbelievable in places.

Be prepared for a bit of a cliffhanger. Since this is the first book in a series, this is understandable. However, this reader won’t continue with the series. The questions I had were answered, so I’m not left wanting to know any more about these characters.

Well, I feel bad for bashing an author’s baby so I’ll finish this up. This is the first book I’ve read of Dodds, but I’m willing to give her another try. Anyone out there have a recommendation?

An enthralling adrenaline soaked novel. Kellen is the new gutsy and kickass hero that we never knew we needed!

I've read oodles of Dodd's books over the years and this one did not disappoint. It was a good solid thriller that kept me guessing most of the book. Many neat twists that added to my enjoyment and had me sure I'd figured "it" out. Only to a small measure. This is one of those books you need to start really early on a day that you can devote your entire day/night to as you will be unable to leave it unfinished. Several reviewers mentioned a cliffhanger but I felt the ending just was a promise of more to come.

I throughly enjoyed the gothic feel of the resort and the descriptive presentation of this remote area of the North Pacific Coast. With both the mysterious past of Kellen's and trying to determine the who and why of the murder, you get a double mystery that will occupy your mind each time you lay the book down so prepare for a late night once you get solidly into this twisty tale.

I've heard great things about Christina Dodd but had never had the chance to read one of her books, so I was excited to dive into this one. The blurb alone was filled with mystery and certainly looked like something right up my alley. Unfortunately, the reality didn't quite match up to my expectations. There is mystery, but there were just too many things that pulled me out of the story. Not only do we get information by way of info dumps, but the descriptions of people in Kellen's life read like military or police records. Given Kellen's background, it is understandable to a degree that she would think this way, but it felt more like reading a vital statistics record than a story. The timeline moves back and forth between Kellen's past and present and in most cases, this doesn't bother me, but the jumps were so frequent that they became tedious and at times, confusing. These are things that I could've overlooked had the mystery drawn me in, but so many things were completely over the top and unbelievable that I found myself in a state of incredulity by the time I read the final page. I realize that with fiction we have to allow for some suspension of disbelief, but this one was just too much for this reader. I won't go into the details on those so as not to give spoilers, but suffice it to say that given my experience with this first in the Cape Charade series will be my last.

I have read many a book by this author with this one being one in a long time. I was happy it also started a new series. This one I soon realized was a bit different than what I was used to reading from her. The other ones was the Chosen series with a touch of paranormal with this one not having that element. That is fine it had another one I love to read deep mystery. The main character herself is a big mystery with her having you constantly wondering what next. Her life is a one that you are given tidbits that have you glued to it wanting to know what would be revealed next. Kellen also has quite a bit of drama happening around her with things popping that will bring danger closer to her again than ever before. I like that this had several mysteries weaved into one that kept the intrigue at a high factor. Other characters support this one that make this one fabulous whole read. She also pops at the end with one banger of a surprise that will have you reeling. Will for sure grab the next one when ready.

Dead Girl Running is the first in the Cape Charade series by Christina Dodd. This book was so good. I have been reading the Virtue Falls series and some I have liked and others not quite as much but Dead Girl Running is on another level. Can you imagine not having remembered a year of your life but wait, that's not all-you have the scar from a bullet wound on your forehead. Great foundation for the story. Kellen Adams has created a new life for herself in spite of what she doesn't remember from her past. She is managing a hotel in the wilds of the Washington State and surrounding herself with former Army teammates as staff for the resort. All is going according to plan until the owners leave for a vacation and a dead body turns up, Well, part of one. The action is non-stop from there. A note of interest to those who read Ms. Dodd is that the Di Luca's who own the resort are from Christina Dodd's Bella Terra series (which was another good series so time to go back to re-read now).

3.5 Stars. This was pretty much a straight thriller, though it was released by a Harlequin imprint. I was expecting, and I wish there had been, more of a romance in the story. The story itself was exciting. The suspense plot was completed, but the romance was left feeling wide open? I see this will be a series, but I have no idea if it will be the same characters or new ones.

Kellen Adams is a girl running from her past. Some of it she remembers vividly in her dreams at night. Some of it, a whole year to be exact, has been lost from her mind. She has taken a job as the assistant manager of a resort hotel in coastal Washington state, and she is determined to make it her home. She was a captain in the Army, and after her discharge, she invited friends from her unit to come work at the resort with her as well. When the owners take a vacation for the first time in a long time, and Kellen is left in charge of the resort, all hell breaks loose. When they find a dead body on the property, everyone becomes a suspect, and Kellen isn't sure who she can trust, even her own people.

Kellen was a very interesting character. The things she has lived through were almost beyond comprehension, and she just kept moving forward as best she could. Being in her head was quite intriguing, and witnessing how her mind worked was really cool. She basically sees a dossier in her head for each person she meets. Almost like a flash card with a list of facts about the person, along with her feelings about them. I liked how she could assess situations and decide the best course of action quickly. She was also a total boss babe with her athletic and fighting skills, which she picked up in the Army. I enjoyed getting to know her. I also appreciated that she was a bit of an unreliable narrator, in that you didn't know if she was accurate in some of her assessments of things and situations, because of her memory loss. So that made the plot even more twisty.

The suspense plot was quite intricate, and took many twists and turns. It kept me guessing who the villain was until the end, which was great. But, again, I was wishing for more of the romance to break through and become a bigger part of the story. I was disappointed when it didn't, and I was left feeling unsure how things might proceed between them in the future. I've never read this author before, and there are no details about book 2 yet, so I don't know if the same characters will be at play, or if it will focus on someone new. I'm hoping we get more of Kellen's story in the future, and I'm definitely interested in seeing where that goes.