Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: The Dead Don’t Mourn
SERIES: Dead Generations #2
AUTHOR: Anne Russo
PUBLISHER: JMS Books LLC
LENGTH: 266 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 20, 2021
BLURB:
Sequel to The Dead Don’t Lie
Three months have passed, and Ian and Adam are both struggling with the memory of that fateful night. Consumed with guilt, Ian carries on with his day-to-day existence with little success, while Adam adjusts to his new life as a cold-blooded killer.
But both men face a new challenge when Adam’s latest target, a crime boss’s beautiful daughter, enters the picture. It’s a dangerous assignment that forces hidden jealousies and not so buried desires to the surface.
Yet as Adam and Ian’s desperate situation escalates, they find their chaotic world dealt another heartbreaking blow when tragedy strikes a member of their group. The devastating event compels Ian and Adam to confront their feelings for one other. Yet with sinister forces at work against them as well as the dark story of their families’ joined and tangled past, will Ian and Adam fight to build something real together? Or will they find themselves torn apart once more?
NOTE: This story contains scenes depicting a suicide attempt and/or suicidal ideation as well as substance abuse/recreational drug use. This is book 2 in a series and ends on a cliffhanger.
REVIEW:
Adam, a doctor, was plucked out of his world by Ian and thrown into the life of an assassin. In this second book, Adam is a bag of mixed emotions, whose ups and downs are further exacerbated when he is instructed to get close to the daughter of a crime boss.
The Dead Don’t Mourn is the sequel to The Dead Don’t Lie, and I found it as frustrating to read as it was entertaining, and there was plenty of both. But I am pleased to say that this was less of an emotional tennis match than book one. In this installment, imagery focused more on emotion and events than wallpaper and lighting.
This book is a continuation of the story, and given the events in book one, it is no wonder that Adam is about as mixed up as a bag of frogs, cold one minute and launching off in another direction the next. He has found that he can be an efficient killer but is torn up with remorse when other factors kick in. Adam isn’t in a good place. He can’t escape the life he’s been thrust into, and he misses his old life. He loves Ian but has difficulty reconciling everything making all his actions extreme. As a result, Adam is a mass of anger, hurt, and sorrow.
Distracted, Ian seems to be losing control of a few things, including his people and his emotions. Ian was raised to keep everything buried deep, proving he has no weakness. Yet his walls are being demolished by Adam. His team are a family, albeit a dysfunctional one that must cope with events that hit the heart. However, within the life of an assassin, one never knows who friend or enemy is.
At the head of them is Katherine. She is evil, cold-hearted, and scheming. The assassin’s businesswoman and other complicated things. She’s one of those people who, given the job, you know she must be brutal and calculating, but damn, you want a bullet to find her. Every encounter with her leaves me frustrated and wanting to see her buried.
For the majority, while doing the job, the story delves into family history, making some aspects from book one a smidge clearer, albeit not unexpected. The story is an extremely dark offering, full of death, destruction, hurt, and confusion. And while my heartstrings were pulled in all sorts of places and, yes, I cried too – I also yearned for some element that would allow me to smile. The love between Ian and Adam is palpable, and for me, Ian was a star. For the majority, I sympathized with Adam, too, but towards the end, his constant quickness to judge – ‘I love you’ and ‘hate you’, I know better than you – lines lost my sympathy – albeit I felt guilty for feeling that way. I think that I needed some glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
I’ve got to say – that given the vibes at the end, I am looking forward to the next book and for more secrets to be revealed. As interesting as this story is, I hope that the next one will be the conclusion as I’m not sure my heart can take another cliffhanger ending. I want revenge to be the order of the day and for the boys to get their HEA.
RATING: 
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