Broken Promise

Broken Promise

• Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Written by: Linwood Barclay

Narrated by: Quincy Dunn Baker, Brian O'Neill

Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date:07-28-15

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group

Audible.com

3 Star Review

Publishers Summary

The morning it all started, newspaper reporter David Harwood had plenty to worry about. A single parent with no job, forced to return with his young son to the small town of Promise Falls to live with his parents, the future wasn't looking too rosy.

So when his mother asked him to look in on his cousin Marla, who was still not quite right after losing her baby, it was almost a relief to put the disaster his own life had become to one side. The relief wouldn't last long.

When he gets to Marla's house he's disturbed to find a smear of blood on the front door. He's even more disturbed to find Marla nursing a baby, a baby she claims was delivered to her 'by an angel.' And when, soon after, a woman's body is discovered across town, stabbed to death, with her own baby missing, it looks as if Marla has done something truly terrible.

But while the evidence seems overwhelming, David just can't believe that his cousin is a murderer. In which case, who did kill Rosemary Gaynor? And why did they then take her baby and give it to Marla?

With the police convinced they have an open and shut case, it's up to David to find out what really happened, but he soon discovers that the truth could be even more disturbing....

©2015 Linwood Barclay (P)2015 Recorded Books LLC

My Review

This is the first in a series, apparently however there is a previous book "Never Look Back" which though not part of this series, did provide some back story on the town of Promise Falls and its inhabitants.

David, having lost his wife some 5 years ago, found the life of a single parent too hard, he had little time to spend with his son Ethan. This was the reason for his return to his home town, he and Ethan moved in with David's parents as a temporary arrangement. Unfortunately on the day he started his new job at the local newspaper, it closed down. Now, with time on his hands, he became involved with attempting to prove his cousin Marla innocent of the terrible crime described in the publishers summary.

Marlas story, albeit the main one, was just one of so many, poor Detective Duckworth couldn't as much as eat another doughnut before some other crime came to his attention. Too many crimes for me, I often lost my way when yet something else took away from the main story line. These side stories did eventually link to the whole, much seemed extraneous and I kept losing track of just where all these characters meshed.

However, it is, as mentioned, the first in a series, so I suppose much of the content is setting the back stories for future books. The ending is a cliffhanger, so for those many, many readers who loved this book, the next in series is a certain purchase.

Narrators

Narrated by Quincy Dunn-Baker (David) and Brian O'Neill, two narrators that I've not previously had the pleasure of listening to prior to this book. Quincy Dunn-Baker has the smoother more polished voice, he read David just perfectly. The role of David called for many emotions, but no overacting here, just great story telling. Brian O'Neill has a slightly rougher voice, which I enjoyed, he lacks none of the talents of a good narrator, and again, no over dramatising, simply good story telling.

I did find the narration slow and had to listen at 1.25 to obtain normal speed. This, I believe is a production issue and is not related to the narration itself.

This audiobook is my own copy