Playing Dead by Allison Brennan is the third book in the Prison Break Trilogy but it can stand alone. It's about Tom O'Brien, an ex-cop imprisoned and sentenced to death for his wife and her lover's murders. Claire, his daughter, believes he is guilty until she meets Oliver, a law student who claims to have proof of her father's innocence. She starts questioning everything about what she knows about her father's guilt and his fifteen year imprisonment. This story grabbed me and didn't let go! I was in the dark about who done it until the very end of the book. The mystery and suspense was nail-biting and had me on the edge of my seat holding my breath! It was a thrilling ride! This mystery is well executed and very well written. I've had this book on my shelf for a few years now, but never felt the need to read it. I told myself that this year I would get some of my older books read, and I am so glad I did! ( )

Started April 19th, 2014.
Too long, very complicated, romance was as in the other books and not very good.
While a lot is explained and it may at times be necessary, but nearly all persons have a backstory and with a story-arc spanning 30 years it was just too much. Some other reader might like it, that even minor characters are very detailed and given live, but to me this was just 20-30% too long in reading time and distracting. Also overly complicated. Which in the end, under pressure to solve the crimes and connect everything, was not very satisfying and not very realistic. Such datamining to compile all facts to a conclusion would normally take months or years, not hours or days.
Some scenes where similar to scenes from her other books, like she has copied from her self. As I read some books out of order, this may be the first instance she used that scene and the other the copy, but it is a copy every way.
And the ending was as expected, not too surprising.
It is a page-turner nonetheless but no recommendation.
While not bad, the Prison Break-Series relied too much on plain romance and the sex scenes (with some perverse exceptions) where plain.
I regard these 3 books as the worst so far, but may be I am just reading too many of her books in too little time. ( )

This romantic suspense had a good plot and plenty of exciting fast paced action but at the beginning I didn't care for heroine because she didn't believe in her father and the hero's secret was too big to hide. FBI agent Mitch starts dating Claire to see if she is in touch with her fugitive father.
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Brennan is an expert at creating tough, realistic heroines. Her action sequences are taut and suspenseful, and her ability to deliver solid thrillers is rare. That said, there's nothing really new here. This is the third in the Prison Break series, and it shows. Brennan's a solid, capable author and her stories are unquestionably good, but break no new ground and are in danger of becoming repetitive. ( )

Good story, realistic characters. Allison Brennan is a great storyteller. I loved the interaction between Claire and her father and Claire and Mitch. These interactions make Claire someone you want to have as a friend. I always enjoy reading Allison Brennan's books. ( )