canadianbookaddict's review against another edition
5.0
Holy cow! This book is dark, violent and so steamy. It isn't for everyone so if you don't like violent books.
Dead Man Walking is Priest's story and boy what a story it is! I was so hooked into this one and I didn't want to put it down that I ended up telling my husband to go pick up some take-out because I really didn't want to put it down so that I could make dinner.
This book is book 6 in The Fallen Men series and it is a stand alone book.
I give this 5 out of 5.
Dead Man Walking is Priest's story and boy what a story it is! I was so hooked into this one and I didn't want to put it down that I ended up telling my husband to go pick up some take-out because I really didn't want to put it down so that I could make dinner.
This book is book 6 in The Fallen Men series and it is a stand alone book.
I give this 5 out of 5.
smithrachaelynn's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve been looking forward to Bea and Priest’s story so much! Even though this could be read as a standalone, I really think reading the other books added so much to their story. Lots of great plot and I loved what they brought out in each other.
get_literary_'s review against another edition
5.0
"I'd been following her too. Gentle Stalking, nothing to harmful"
Bea is a sweet girl in her big sister Lulus shadow and Priest is the possessive, psycho enforcer for the Fallen MC. Throughout this book you get to see Bea find herself as a person outside of her sister and parents expectations and priest discover that despite his trauma he can still fall in love and deserves to do so. The twist in this book absolutely shocked me!
Bea is a sweet girl in her big sister Lulus shadow and Priest is the possessive, psycho enforcer for the Fallen MC. Throughout this book you get to see Bea find herself as a person outside of her sister and parents expectations and priest discover that despite his trauma he can still fall in love and deserves to do so. The twist in this book absolutely shocked me!
loveandotherstories's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
devongemma's review against another edition
1.0
RANT REVIEW
"If I make you mine, you stay mine until death comes for us. You're mine in the night and the shadows where I'm fucking king. You're mine in the light with your family and friends, standing beside Death as his queen. If I'm a killer, you're a killer. Where I end, you fucking begin."
This guy gives himself way too much credit.
Let me set the scene.
Bea Lafayette is the most god awful, useless, final boss pick me I've ever encountered.
"I took a moment to look at Amelia [...] We were both petite and pretty, favouring feminine clothes and female companionship. But that was where the similarities ended."
"Beneath the pink and silk, I had a spine of steel that had been forged in the fires of my neglected youth, the horrific betrayal of my father, and the illness that plauged my beloved sister. I was not so easily torn, so easily defeated as Amelia [...]"
She's a sweet, god-fearing woman, who has a dark side. Except her dark side is never shown, like, ever. You'd think with the amount of times we have to read about her darkness she would be just as crazy as Priest, killing people, hunting people down, being unafraid. But no. She does not have a spine of steel, at all. She runs at the first sign of trouble, she cries, she's afraid, she worries, she cares for others. She's n o r m a l. Yet the entire book our girlie wants us to believe she's not.
"Priest didn't put me down to address the man. Instead he tucked me slightly to one side of his body so I could face the man too."
He carries her like you'd carry a toddler. Not very "queen of death" behaviour. Also just super fucking weird.
Now onto Priest. This man is a maniac but he's not a psycopath like our girl has so unprofessionally diagnosed him as. This guy is written like a caricature of Irish people with absolutetly zero personality, he's a murderous pedo with anger issues- now I'm not insulting him, I'm decsribing him. He has liked Bea since she ate a peach when she was sixteen...Yep.
He broke her guy friend's nose because the guy was worried about her a bit too much for his liking. Perfectly normal behaviour.
Also is this guy a snapping turtle? The amount of times he snapped his teeth was laughable. But he also drank her blood on multiple occasions, so I guess he's a vampire. But he also growled like a dog everytime someone looked at Bea, including her own sister (-_-), and he also snarled like an "alpha", I didn't say that, the book did, so all in all he's more animal than man.
Onto the writing!
Giana darling what was that...
"My cock wept salty tears in my jeans"
"[...] nipples sliced off and fallen to the ground like rounds of discarded pepperoni[...]"
"The moment I took a deep breath of the toxic stick, I exhaled like a monk at prayer[...]"
Riveting.
Or my personal favorite.
"Silence descended, the faintly buzzing static of a television with a lost signal."
Now you might be thinking, what's wrong with that? It's a perfectly adequate way of describing a quiet living room...oh, it's not a living room? Oh, they're not even inside? There is not television there? It's just a regular degular silence outside in a field?
You see where I'm going with this? The flowery language, the excessive use of imagery (I swear to you, every sentence was like that), it didn't work, it felt forced and unnatural and pretentious. On the next page we get another beautiful one.
"It was if the cancer of missing him I'd never realized had infected me was purging itself from my body." It doesn't make the writing better, frankly, it makes it unbearable. Not everything needs a flourished description!
There is zero reason for this book to be over 500 pages, this should have been 300 pages MAX.
And the use of threes... Did this book even have an editior?
This, this, this should have been cut from the book, if I have to read anything like it one more time I will die, die, die. But, but, but, you say, it's used to emphasize, to make you really feel what is happening. Okay? Well it didn't work, work, work.
Now for the finale.
"Can't wait to see your blood on my cock."
And we'll draw veil there.
(they also fuck in a cemetary...so)
"If I make you mine, you stay mine until death comes for us. You're mine in the night and the shadows where I'm fucking king. You're mine in the light with your family and friends, standing beside Death as his queen. If I'm a killer, you're a killer. Where I end, you fucking begin."
This guy gives himself way too much credit.
Let me set the scene.
Bea Lafayette is the most god awful, useless, final boss pick me I've ever encountered.
"I took a moment to look at Amelia [...] We were both petite and pretty, favouring feminine clothes and female companionship. But that was where the similarities ended."
"Beneath the pink and silk, I had a spine of steel that had been forged in the fires of my neglected youth, the horrific betrayal of my father, and the illness that plauged my beloved sister. I was not so easily torn, so easily defeated as Amelia [...]"
She's a sweet, god-fearing woman, who has a dark side. Except her dark side is never shown, like, ever. You'd think with the amount of times we have to read about her darkness she would be just as crazy as Priest, killing people, hunting people down, being unafraid. But no. She does not have a spine of steel, at all. She runs at the first sign of trouble, she cries, she's afraid, she worries, she cares for others. She's n o r m a l. Yet the entire book our girlie wants us to believe she's not.
"Priest didn't put me down to address the man. Instead he tucked me slightly to one side of his body so I could face the man too."
He carries her like you'd carry a toddler. Not very "queen of death" behaviour. Also just super fucking weird.
Now onto Priest. This man is a maniac but he's not a psycopath like our girl has so unprofessionally diagnosed him as. This guy is written like a caricature of Irish people with absolutetly zero personality, he's a murderous pedo with anger issues- now I'm not insulting him, I'm decsribing him. He has liked Bea since she ate a peach when she was sixteen...Yep.
He broke her guy friend's nose because the guy was worried about her a bit too much for his liking. Perfectly normal behaviour.
Also is this guy a snapping turtle? The amount of times he snapped his teeth was laughable. But he also drank her blood on multiple occasions, so I guess he's a vampire. But he also growled like a dog everytime someone looked at Bea, including her own sister (-_-), and he also snarled like an "alpha", I didn't say that, the book did, so all in all he's more animal than man.
Onto the writing!
Giana darling what was that...
"My cock wept salty tears in my jeans"
"[...] nipples sliced off and fallen to the ground like rounds of discarded pepperoni[...]"
"The moment I took a deep breath of the toxic stick, I exhaled like a monk at prayer[...]"
Riveting.
Or my personal favorite.
"Silence descended, the faintly buzzing static of a television with a lost signal."
Now you might be thinking, what's wrong with that? It's a perfectly adequate way of describing a quiet living room...oh, it's not a living room? Oh, they're not even inside? There is not television there? It's just a regular degular silence outside in a field?
You see where I'm going with this? The flowery language, the excessive use of imagery (I swear to you, every sentence was like that), it didn't work, it felt forced and unnatural and pretentious. On the next page we get another beautiful one.
"It was if the cancer of missing him I'd never realized had infected me was purging itself from my body." It doesn't make the writing better, frankly, it makes it unbearable. Not everything needs a flourished description!
There is zero reason for this book to be over 500 pages, this should have been 300 pages MAX.
And the use of threes... Did this book even have an editior?
This, this, this should have been cut from the book, if I have to read anything like it one more time I will die, die, die. But, but, but, you say, it's used to emphasize, to make you really feel what is happening. Okay? Well it didn't work, work, work.
Now for the finale.
"Can't wait to see your blood on my cock."
And we'll draw veil there.
(they also fuck in a cemetary...so)
julesmarrie's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
Bea is a mood. She’s girly and is a church girl but has a dark side (crime podcast). That pretty much sums up me. Bea and Priest, chiefs kiss.
Bea is a mood. She’s girly and is a church girl but has a dark side (crime podcast). That pretty much sums up me. Bea and Priest, chiefs kiss.
kfriend's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my soul- what an epic story! Bea and Priests story is hauntingly original, beautiful, and explosively intense! Dead Man Walking is Giana’s darkest entry yet- and perhaps the most novel of the series. Dark. Delicious. Gritty. Psychologically intense. I was consumed from the very first word! The drama, the violence, and the mystery surrounding the romance are compelling enough on their own, but where this book really distinguishes itself amidst the already magnificent other books in the series is the tenor of the love story between Bea and Priest. Because Giana doesn’t just play with darkness- she embraces it entirely, embraces its fractured beauty, finds its tenderness and soul. Unlike the couples before, this isn’t a story about bringing light to the dark, the healing touch of a romance’s shine. Oh no, this is about bringing the dark to the light, about characters who find solace, are at home in the shadows. This is a story about embracing and relishing our own depravity, and the fine line between what aspects of our darkness make us human and what make us deranged. This is a story you feel in your bones as much as it stimulates the mind. Completely intoxicating, utterly beguiling, and unforgettable.
Giana has created her darkest characters to date- yet somehow, their love story is the sweetest, the most hauntingly beautiful, the least angsty but no less intense. This is about a love that is only realized when our lovers are willing to embrace their dark. Priest is every bit as magnetic and ensnaring as you’d imagine. He’s the ultimate dark anti-hero- unapologetically menacing, admittedly heartless, a man who loves dealing in death. Giana doesn’t shy away from him- she doesn’t soften him to make him palpable- she lets him be Priest. But she also gives him substance, complexity, a past that will haunt me- and she helps us find tenderness and beauty in his darkness. Giana gives humanity to his darkness.
But Bea- Bea is the true revelation of this story, and now my favorite leading lady. She’s got the doe-eyed wonder and innocence I loved about Lou- the light, the joyfulness, the exuberance that draws you in. A bubbly blonde adorned in bubblegum pink, she’s the sweet, animal rescuing, church-going good girl. But even a good girl has darkness- and Bea comes to terms that she can still be light, she can still be good, when she embraces not just Priest’s dark but her own. The contrasts of not just her and Priest but between the different parts of Bea make her one of the most interesting heroines of all time.
And the CHEMISTRY! LAWD. The intensity between these two is undeniable, kinetic, turbulent but somehow so simple and pure. Oh, they bring the dirty, but there is a sweetness to their connection, a tenderness that emerges- to Priest’s reluctant possessiveness and obsession and Bea’s hopeful devotion and longing.
The prose, as always, is astoundingly beautiful and brilliantly architected- symbolism, parallelisms, imagery galore. Giana is truly an artist with words- and the juxtaposition of our lyrical style to the disturbing aspects of this story create an even richer experience. This plot is truly jaw dropping- and even though I pieced together the puzzle before the big reveal, I still was reeling. Total page turner- a beautiful balance of MC action and romance, and some twisted themes that Giana has not explored before but that I found so philosophically intense and intriguing. I could not stop thinking about this plot line- or these bad guys- the most scary and menacing yet.
There is no MC writer like Giana Darling- an author whose romances’ emotional range is as captivating as the poetry of her prose. An author who writes stories about flawed, rough, and grizzly men who create their own moral code, but men who also are driven by loyalty and love to their chosen family, men whose tender hearts match their edge. An author who writes about nuanced women- women who find power and freedom in their capacity to love, women who find beauty in the gray. Giana already has established herself as a powerful storyteller unique in this genre- but Dead Man Walking is one of her finest. This love story carries the epic emotional intensity that has set this series apart in the MC world, but like Bea and Priest themselves, this story is also decidedly unique, carving its own path in the Fallen universe. Their story is dark, depraved, twisted, but like all Giana stories, at its core, it is tender, emotional, and profound. The Fallen MC has always been about the family and love you choose- how connections so deep and powerful can heal you, give you purpose, be your home. Bea and Priest have a love that defies explanation, a connection inexplicable- but their love is about finding acceptance with the people who choose, the people who love you no matter who you are and what you’ve done, and it’s about finding love with the person who gets you.
Sometimes we only find ourselves, find our humanity, when we dig into our own depravity, swim in our own darkness, embrace the pain that comes with living and loving. Being broken is part of living, a part of healing. Bea and Priest show us how love full of those contrasts- beauty and pain, light and dark, but how they not mutually exclusive ones. Love is not one size, one shape, one dimension- Bea and Priest have a love that is unusual, but a love that is blindingly beautiful.
Giana has created her darkest characters to date- yet somehow, their love story is the sweetest, the most hauntingly beautiful, the least angsty but no less intense. This is about a love that is only realized when our lovers are willing to embrace their dark. Priest is every bit as magnetic and ensnaring as you’d imagine. He’s the ultimate dark anti-hero- unapologetically menacing, admittedly heartless, a man who loves dealing in death. Giana doesn’t shy away from him- she doesn’t soften him to make him palpable- she lets him be Priest. But she also gives him substance, complexity, a past that will haunt me- and she helps us find tenderness and beauty in his darkness. Giana gives humanity to his darkness.
But Bea- Bea is the true revelation of this story, and now my favorite leading lady. She’s got the doe-eyed wonder and innocence I loved about Lou- the light, the joyfulness, the exuberance that draws you in. A bubbly blonde adorned in bubblegum pink, she’s the sweet, animal rescuing, church-going good girl. But even a good girl has darkness- and Bea comes to terms that she can still be light, she can still be good, when she embraces not just Priest’s dark but her own. The contrasts of not just her and Priest but between the different parts of Bea make her one of the most interesting heroines of all time.
And the CHEMISTRY! LAWD. The intensity between these two is undeniable, kinetic, turbulent but somehow so simple and pure. Oh, they bring the dirty, but there is a sweetness to their connection, a tenderness that emerges- to Priest’s reluctant possessiveness and obsession and Bea’s hopeful devotion and longing.
The prose, as always, is astoundingly beautiful and brilliantly architected- symbolism, parallelisms, imagery galore. Giana is truly an artist with words- and the juxtaposition of our lyrical style to the disturbing aspects of this story create an even richer experience. This plot is truly jaw dropping- and even though I pieced together the puzzle before the big reveal, I still was reeling. Total page turner- a beautiful balance of MC action and romance, and some twisted themes that Giana has not explored before but that I found so philosophically intense and intriguing. I could not stop thinking about this plot line- or these bad guys- the most scary and menacing yet.
There is no MC writer like Giana Darling- an author whose romances’ emotional range is as captivating as the poetry of her prose. An author who writes stories about flawed, rough, and grizzly men who create their own moral code, but men who also are driven by loyalty and love to their chosen family, men whose tender hearts match their edge. An author who writes about nuanced women- women who find power and freedom in their capacity to love, women who find beauty in the gray. Giana already has established herself as a powerful storyteller unique in this genre- but Dead Man Walking is one of her finest. This love story carries the epic emotional intensity that has set this series apart in the MC world, but like Bea and Priest themselves, this story is also decidedly unique, carving its own path in the Fallen universe. Their story is dark, depraved, twisted, but like all Giana stories, at its core, it is tender, emotional, and profound. The Fallen MC has always been about the family and love you choose- how connections so deep and powerful can heal you, give you purpose, be your home. Bea and Priest have a love that defies explanation, a connection inexplicable- but their love is about finding acceptance with the people who choose, the people who love you no matter who you are and what you’ve done, and it’s about finding love with the person who gets you.
Sometimes we only find ourselves, find our humanity, when we dig into our own depravity, swim in our own darkness, embrace the pain that comes with living and loving. Being broken is part of living, a part of healing. Bea and Priest show us how love full of those contrasts- beauty and pain, light and dark, but how they not mutually exclusive ones. Love is not one size, one shape, one dimension- Bea and Priest have a love that is unusual, but a love that is blindingly beautiful.
faith99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Religious bigotry