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Dead is a Killer Tune (Dead Is #7)

by Marlene Perez (Goodreads Author)

4.31 of 5 stars 4.31 · rating details · 383 ratings · 37 reviews

High school freshman Jessica Walsh is a Virago—a woman warrior who must protect her hometown from danger. And in Nightshade, California, trouble is always lurking. At the town’s Battle of the Bands, Jess’s boyfriend, Dominic, and his band, Side Effects May Vary, are up against Hamlin, a band so popular,their fans follow them everywhere. Soon,the competingmusicians are doin...more

Paperback, 204 pages

Published September 4th 2012 by Graphia

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May 09, 2013 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summary:
I was a little late getting into the Dead Is series, but Perez generally gives the audience exactly what is expected. The entire series are light, fluffy mysteries with all our favorite fantastical creatures mixed in. In the latest, Dead is a Killer Tune, Jessica (high school sophmore virago) is thrust into another mystery to save her town of Nightshade. Our lovable sidekicks, Raven, Eva, Andy, Serena, and more are all involved. A battle of the bands has been slated in Nightshade with th...more Summary:
I was a little late getting into the Dead Is series, but Perez generally gives the audience exactly what is expected. The entire series are light, fluffy mysteries with all our favorite fantastical creatures mixed in. In the latest, Dead is a Killer Tune, Jessica (high school sophmore virago) is thrust into another mystery to save her town of Nightshade. Our lovable sidekicks, Raven, Eva, Andy, Serena, and more are all involved. A battle of the bands has been slated in Nightshade with the promise of prize money and a recording contract on the line. This brings several bands, their followers, a recording label, song writer, and music agent to town. Of course, things start to happen that just aren't right. Band members are hurt or disappear and people are worried. Which of these new strangers may be doing something they shouldn't be? On a side note, Dominic and Jessica's relationship seems to be a bit rocky. Will they be the cute couple we hoped for in Dead is a Battlefield, or is this the end and both will have to find someone new (or old) to cuddle up to? That, of course, is the drama of high school we all love to read and not participate in.
My thoughts:
As mentioned above, I have really enjoyed this series. They are quick reads. I finished this in about two hours and it is never something that I feel like I *have* to pick up to finish. The mystery keeps me flipping the pages, but the cute dramatic aspects are what makes the characters likeable. They all have their little quirks and I am generally able to connect them with people I have met in the past. I'm usually able to figure out the mystery several pages before the characters, but the reveal is not lacking in enjoyment. It's fun to see the missteps and assumptions made by the virago's and their friends. Dominic has a prophetic streak, and I would have liked to see a little more investigation into those songs when they popped up, but other than that it is a great little read. As a teacher, I would highly recommend this to a reluctant reader. They are written easily enough to read if you are struggling and the stories move fast enough to keep interest. (less)

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Feb 13, 2013 Sherri rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: washyarg-finished

This is the 7th book in the Dead Is series, but only the second one narrated by high school freshman Jessica Walsh who found out a few months ago that she is a virago—a woman warrior who must protect her unusual hometown of Nightshade, CA from danger. All viragos start out with a whirlwind tattoo that becomes animated when it senses any threats. Nightshade is full of vampires, witches, werewolves and shape-shifters.

Everyone is excited for the month-long Battle of the Bands competition, especial...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs, my-library, mystery-suspense-read, mythology, paranormal-read, romance, series, young-adult-read

Rating Clarification: 3.5 out of 5 stars

My Summary: Jessica Walsh is a virago - a female warrior responsible for keeping paranormal critters in check to keep the residents of her hometown safe from things that go bump in the night. Life as a virago isn't exactly ideal for Jess - a high school freshman - but she's managing as best as she can.

Until strange - er, stranger - things start happening to her boyfriend's band and their rivals. The boys behaviour seems to escalate daily, pitting them agai...more

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Oct 11, 2012 Allyson Rida rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bought

Review also on: http://chillinwithbooks.blogspot.hk/

Plot:

I think the Dead is series is one of the most under-appreciated series in YA. The books in this series are so great, they are short yet packed with mysteries, there are so many sub-plots that I must applaud Perez for stuffing them all in then resolving them in about 200 pages. Well done! Perez! *insert enthusiastic clapping here* As you can see, this is the 7th book of the series, but don't worry, Perez doesn't drag her plots, each instal...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-mt-bookpile

It's always unclear to me why a late series book would be ARCd in large quantities, and in this care I've never heard of the series (not sure what the series is called, except all the books start "Dead is..."). Anyway, I'm glad I got this because It Is Cute.

The premise apparently is that there's a town in California, Nightshade, and Jessica is a virago (a woman warrior) who protects the inhabitants from [vampires/zombies/werewolves/paranormal thingy]. Kind of like Buffy, but not quite as secret...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Vivian Xia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-rated-and-reviewed

OMG I love love love this book!!! I thought it was reallly cool that the author could include one of the Brother's Grimm stories in the plot of this book. I think that there were some similarities between the Pied Piper story and this plot. First, the flute was to lure the main singers of the band not all the boys in the town. Secondly, I liked how the band was named Hamlin, though I found it a little ironic that the Pied Piper was helping Hamlin, instead of using the flute to play against them....more

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Sep 13, 2012 Kale rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jessica Walsh is trying to juggle her busy life as a high school freshman, responsible big sister, and the newest member of warrior women known as Virago. So Nightshade's first annual Battle of the Bands should be a welcome distraction, as the competition heats up, band members are going down. Jessica and her friends are going to have figure out what's going on before the threat consumes the city.

Marlene Perez has written another fun read. While I was disappointed at first when Daisy's leading l...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Avery rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like I stated in my review of the previous book in this series "Dead Is A Battlefield" this book didn't really do it for me (I found the characters and situations to be a bit too juvenile for my tastes, the sheer number of characters overwhelming, etc.). That being said, since I reviewed "Dead Is A Battlefield" I have learned that these books are ALA (American Library Association) Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Therefore, while as a reader they may not be entirely to my liking, a...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, mystery, psc-reviews, young-adult

Book 7 of the “Dead Is” series finds Jessica embroiled in a Battle of the Bands. Many of the musicians in the competition begin disappearing, acting strangely, getting hurt, and even dying. Jessica and the other viragos in Nightshade need to find out who the deadly pied piper is before anything else happens. Fans of the series will enjoy this musical mystery, but it also stands alone for new readers. The mystery itself is well plotted, and while the clues given do lead to the perpetrator, not en...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Gwen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I read Dead is a Battlefield, I was really disappointed because Daisy was not the main character of the book and I wasn't getting more of her story. However, I got over my sadness and was able to enjoy this new book in the Dead is...series. These books are not great literary works, but they are enjoyable, quick reads that are super for reluctant readers. The town of Nightshade has every supernatural creature - werewolves, vampires, skeletons, the invisible man, ghost and more. The only thin...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Chrystal added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 50-book-challenge-2012

Yet again, Marlene Perez' latest installment in the Dead Is Series was a quick and fun read. I still need to go back and read the original Dead Is Series, but from what I have read in this spin off series, I am loving it. I plan to share this series with my pre-teen niece - I know she is just going to love it.

Jessica is still out there fighting paranormal baddies in this next installment and also pining away for the ever elusive and mysterious Dominic. She has a sixth sense about things and can...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Yu Ting Zhu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 10th-grade-books-review

Dead Is a Killer Tune is another fun book that written by Marlene Perez. Nightshade's first annual Battle of the Bands is coming up, but too many strange things happen. A magic dollhouse found in the Mason house, the death of Scotty in the cave, and the abnormal behavior of Connor. Jessica Walsh who is a virago will find out what happen and protect her town from danger.
This book is very unique because it need to deal with another story about the Pied Piper. The piper is a rat-catcher hired by th...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Mary (BookHounds) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, amazon-vine, young-adult

MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT
So Daisy has graduated and the series shifts to her boyfriend Ryan's sister, Jessica Walsh. Jessica finally has her life on track as a new Virago, protecting Nightshade from the paranormal threats that create havoc for the population. Her new boyfriend, Dominic, the singer from Side Effects May Vary (SEMV) is acting a bit strange, so when a Battle of the Bands comes to town and SEMV shows up to compete, things go haywire. Something peculiar is happening to the most popular ban...more MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT
So Daisy has graduated and the series shifts to her boyfriend Ryan's sister, Jessica Walsh. Jessica finally has her life on track as a new Virago, protecting Nightshade from the paranormal threats that create havoc for the population. Her new boyfriend, Dominic, the singer from Side Effects May Vary (SEMV) is acting a bit strange, so when a Battle of the Bands comes to town and SEMV shows up to compete, things go haywire. Something peculiar is happening to the most popular bands and they each lose a member to bizarre accidents. The most popular bands all have lost members, including SEMV, whose guitarist breaks his arm skateboarding, which he has never done before. Jessica, a skilled but shy player is talked into the role. Hamlin, has followers much like the Pied Piper, who devotedly follow them around the country and they haven't had any bad luck like other bands.

Jessica starts to put these coincidences of misfortunes together and notices things are quite what they should be and it all revolves around Hamlin. There are the usual evil characters and unwitting accomplices that at times seem cartoon like but that is what makes this series so much fun! As Jessica puts things together to unravel the mystery surrounding the popularity of Hamlin and the disasters they have unleashed on the local musicians, she grows into her role of a self reliant and confident Virago. I loved this series and the change to featuring Jessica has taken it a new and wonderful direction. All of the characters have their good and bad points but Perez does a wonderful job of keeping them all interesting. This is my favorite series to recommend to kids who hate to read since it has something for everyone. Most of the adults I have forced this book on have enjoyed them as well. Parents don't need to worry about anything in this series since there is only a bit of cartoon violence, a few kisses here and there and they always end with an important, positive message.(less)

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Sep 05, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, owned, vampires, disappointment, werewolves, swapped, 2-stars

The Good

The pace. This is a quick, cutesy read. This whole series is a great introductory for those who are interested in trying out paranormal fiction, but don't want anything too heavy. That being said, ever since the narrator changed in the last book, the series has fallen a little flat.

The Bad

The characters. The first five books in this series were wonderful. I loved Daisy. I loved Ryan. I loved Slim and Flo. But even the wonderful characters I fell in love with in the earlier books ar...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Jetches (My Not So Vacant Shelf) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It took me a month to get through this book. Normally it would take me a day or two. I’m not 100% sure if this is because since I started this series back in 2008 my taste and expectations have changed (It tends to happen when you read over 100 books a year), or because this one was much slower than the others. Either way I didn’t like this book as much as the others. I found that the characters were focused more on being polite and up standing citizens compared to the actual on goings. Although...more It took me a month to get through this book. Normally it would take me a day or two. I’m not 100% sure if this is because since I started this series back in 2008 my taste and expectations have changed (It tends to happen when you read over 100 books a year), or because this one was much slower than the others. Either way I didn’t like this book as much as the others. I found that the characters were focused more on being polite and up standing citizens compared to the actual on goings. Although this is a nice idea its not very realistic and takes away from the story. At the same time there were a lot of little side thoughts (I was going to ask them, but thought better of it, or hmm…that sounded familiar but I didn’t have enough time to think about) I don’t know if you get what I mean from that but I hope so. There were also moments when some things just didn’t make sense. A character in the novel states that the last thing she remembered was an estate sale, yet the next sentence she says she can’t perform because she doesn’t sound good anymore. My observation is that she became a good singer after the estate sale not to mention she joined a band after the estate sale and join the competition after the estate sale…so how did she remember all this is she didn’t remember anything after the estate sale and there were no mentions of someone explaining things to her. A lot of little things like that that perhaps only an observant reader would noticed really got to me and took away from the story line. Then I have to say that the story line was…busy. There seemed to be a lot happening and I sort of got the feeling of the book being a mystery. I know that sounds dumb because it is right…but there is a difference between a supernatural book that has a mystery like Storm by Brigid Kemmerer when you are trying to figure out who the person they sent to observe and potentially destroy them is, than compared to a Sherlock Holmes character. They directly referred to looking for clues when I felt it would have been a better storyline if we were allowed to pick up on whether or not it was a clue and sort of build the mystery ourselves. There were also a lot of coincidences, such as in a cave filled with garbage and random things she feels something plastic and has the need to put it in her pocket and later on realizes it’s a clue.
I ‘m not trying to bash the book or the author or anything because I really liked all the other novels in the series and there were some aspects that I liked about this books as well. Not to mention this is a fantastic series for teens. I wasn’t a big fan of Dominic in the beginning of the book but near the end I did. I guess I’m a sucker for romance. Jessica seems like a nice kid. Perhaps I would like her to be a little more bold and self confident but she is still a good character. And I love that Daisy (the main character from books 1-5) was in this novel as well. And of course the music and band stuff is very cool. And I love that Dominic is a Oracle that sings songs that provide warnings to what is happening. Although they seem to neglect the songs because I figured out who it was in half way through the novel where they never figured it out until they stumbled upon the bad guy in action.
Good:
Jessica—Kicks butt and a nice girl
Dominic—finally got his act together.
Bad:
I guess this series is directed towards a younger audience than myself and I’ve started to see where it lacks to make a novel into a great novel.
Overall (Writing style, story line, and general):
Overall the story line was decent and had potential however the writing should have been revised to remove unimportant sentences and maybe add in more detail so that the reader can get a better picture of the world of Nightshade. Overall I may no longer be continuing with this series and if I do it’s for a light read when I have nothing else available.

View more of my review and others at my blog: www.mynotsovacantshelf.blogspot.com (less)

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Sep 24, 2012 Susana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Dead is a killer tune" was somewhat predictable but Marlene Perez still managed to somehow squeeze in two suprises that I didn't see coming. I don't really like the summary in the back of the book implying that Jessica is the girlfriend of Dominic when nothing truly happens until the end of the book...a total disappointment because after everything in "Dead is a battlefield" i was expecting to already see a developed relationship between Jessica and Dominic. Having said that, "Dead is a killer...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Angela Park rated it 4 of 5 stars

I LOVEE this series, but of course, I miss the old characters Sam and daisy SO much more. But this book is AMAZING, and I love the fact that there is the supernatural element inside (:
I would recommend this to teens and a growing audience!
It is very suspenseful. Not scary, but thrilling.!

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Nov 21, 2012 Erin O'Riordan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-vine-picks, young-adults-books

This seventh book in Marlene Perez's Dead Is series was a quick read; I finished it in three short sittings. It's shorter than its previous six sisters. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but I thought this plot was less interesting than the plots of previous Dead Is novels. The clues are obvious, the twist is a short leap, and the stakes for Jessica aren't nearly as high as they were in the first Jessica-centered novel, Dead is a Battlefield. If there's a next book in this series, t...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Sweetzaidie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Im Like Soo Excitied For This Book I Havent Gotten A Chance To GetIt Or Even See A Preview Ut I Cant Wait Im A Marlene Fan All The Way I CANT WAIT!!!

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Oct 05, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book didn't seem as well-written as Marlene's other books in the DEAD IS... series, but it didn't stop me from reading it. Hoperfully it will be better next time around.

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Sep 19, 2012 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, young-adult, supernatural

I would give this 3.5 stars if I could. I liked it better than the first book about Jessica, I guess she's growing on me.

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Feb 14, 2013 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Again, was entertaining but didn't live up to the original series. I'm not one for spin offs :P

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Jan 14, 2013 Tiffany Newman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i love this book. love between singers of rock bands and lots of zombies is my type of book

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Jan 06, 2013 Hayley Black added it · review of another edition

loved the book!!! its an addictive series... i read it in one day!! perfect detective book

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Feb 23, 2013 ☞Proud☜ ☺✌Bookworm☮♪ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazing-series, good-read, great-characters, liked, moderate-romance, strong-main-character-s, ya-writers-challenge

Awesome new installment to the Dead Is series! Can't wait for Dead is Just a Dream! =D

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Sep 08, 2012 Hanna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was really good...but the structure of her writing didn't do it for me. Perez's writing style seemed like the book was written for a 6th grader. Overall though, the book was warm and kept me interested.

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Dec 21, 2012 Tori rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was a quick read, but I felt like many things weren't really developed.

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Sep 24, 2012 Carmen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As usual I really enjoyed Perez's series.

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Feb 05, 2013 Danielle Long rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: youth-fantasy-horror-and-thriller

I love these fun, quick and supernatural books.

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Jan 15, 2013 Kuala rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Best boook EVEr...... <3 <3

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About Marlene Perez

Author of the paranormal teen mystery Dead Is series and the adult urban fantasy Nyx Fortuna series.

Nyx Fortuna series
Strange Fates
Dark Descent
Fortune's Favor

DEAD IS series is as follows:

DEAD IS THE NEW BLACK
DEAD IS A STATE OF MIND
DEAD IS SO LAST YEAR
DEAD IS JUST A RUMOR (AUG, 2010)
DEAD IS NOT AN OPTION (Spring, 2011)

Look for the DEAD IS spin-off
Dead Is a Battlefield, Dead Is a Killer Tune, and D...more

More about Marlene Perez...

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13316226-dead-is-a-killer-tune?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332427947l/13316226.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13316226-dead-is-a-killer-tune?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Dead is a Killer Tune by Marlene Perez[/url]

Dead is a Killer Tune (Dead Is #7)

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