Police

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Torch Ginger

Friday, 4 March 2016

Written by: Toby Neil

Narrated: by Sara Malia Hatfield

Length: 9 hours 6 minutes

Series: Lei Crime Book 2

Unabridged Audiobook

Published by Audible Studios

Release date: 11/11/14

Available from Audible

5 STAR REVIEW

Publishers Summary

If J.D. Robb's In Death series went on location with Kaui Hart Hemmings's The Descendants, you'd have Toby Neal's Torch Ginger.

The island of Kaua'i is remote jungle, golden beaches, and ancient culture - but transients are disappearing in paradise, and only Detective Lei Texeira notices. Lei transfers to the island of Kaua'i, where she uncovers a pattern of disappearances that may be related to a bizarre cult - or is it just one madman at work? In Lei's world, everyone is guilty until proven innocent. In the midst of the biggest case sleepy Kaua'i has ever seen, Lei must also untangle the mysteries of her heart and discover who she loves.

My Review

I didn't read the first in the series, "Blood Orchids" but there is enough back story in "Torch Ginger" to ensure the reader doesn't feel bewildered by how and why Lei finds herself now working on Kaua'i.

Lei is the new girl, low in the pecking order and as such, gets all the boring jobs. She is working hard to fit in but after only two months on an island described as "a jungle paradise of secretive people and strange spiritual forces" Lei is finding life to be "slow and boring".

It's while plodding her way through one of her dull cases that Lei is asked to talk to Kelly Waterson, Kelly reports her boyfriend Jay as missing. It has only been 24 hours since she last spoke to him by 'phone, but the circumstances catch Leis attention. When a worried Kelly flew in and visited Pine Trees, the unofficial camp site, she discovered Jays belongings dumped in the rubbish bin. His wallet still held his credit cards and also some strange origami shapes, three stones were left on his shoe.

Now the story really begins! During the course of her investigation she meets many strange and intriguing characters and she becomes convinced that the disappearances aren't merely people who have simply taken themselves off the grid. Getting others to take her convictions seriously is a hard task.

There are so many threads to this story, yet they are woven skilfully to produce a story that is difficult to put down. The characters are all so well described that they seem totally believable, even the more way out types.

Mystery and intrigue abound, there is, in some characters, a sense of other worldliness which is at odds with Leis own world view.

I thought the reunion of Lei and her father beautifully written, his gentleness and his love for his daughter so sensitively described.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves a mystery set in a lush and exotic location and with many intriguing extras. I for one shall be reading more of Toby Neil's work.

Narrator

This is the first book I have listened to narrated by Sara Malia Hatfield, and what a wonderful voice she has. Sara has all the attributes of a good narrator, but, for this book, it took a special person to pull it off. Born and raised in Hawaii, she was the perfect choice to perform those subtle differences in accents. The more I listened the more fascinated I became by both her voice and the pidgin speak, just wonderful! I look forward to more.

Just a word about the Audible sample, should you listen to it, it in no way does justice to the audiobook, for some reason, the sample seems of lesser quality.

This audiobook was provided, without condition, by the representative of the author.

Cached Out: A Cliff Knowles Mystery

Monday, 4 January 2016

Written by: Russell Atkinson

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date:11-09-15

Publisher: Russell Atkinson

Available from Audible

Publishers Summary

Newly retired from the FBI and alone after the tragic death of his wife, Cliff Knowles takes up geocaching. While looking for a cache in the mountains, he comes across a human skeleton and reports it to the sheriff's office. Then a second body is found - a fresh corpse this time - right after Cliff found another geocache nearby. When it turns out the first remains are those of a fugitive he was supposed to arrest years earlier, he becomes a suspect in a multiple homicide investigation. He has no choice but to use his sleuthing skills to identify the mysterious cache owner, known only as Enigmal, and free himself from suspicion.

Cached Out is the second book in the popular Cliff Knowles Mysteries series. The author is a retired FBI agent. Many of his books are inspired by actual FBI cases.

My Review

You haven't heard of geocaching? No, nor had I, but this is how it goes: it's a bit like a treasure hunt for smart people, the clues to the cache are in the form of GPRS co-ordinates. If you read this book you will find out more, much more, so very much more about this, well, how do I describe it, hobby? Pursuit? Obsession? I think you get my drift, the author is an obvious enthusiast, actually, probably an expert, and he likes to let you know, everything, far too much for me, I just lost interest.

I broke my rule for this book by reading a few reviews prior to posting my own, seems all these (to me) endless details go down a treat with some of the readers.

So there! Audiothing, what do I know? The author also happens to be an ex Federal Special Agent, so yes, he knows what he's talking about when it comes to crime and criminals. Now I do love a procedural, I really do, but again I felt overwhelmed by details, just too many details. When I come across these lengthy explanations in a work of fiction, it makes me feel that the author underestimates the readers' ability to understand anything, unless given a lengthy and detailed lesson.

However, apart from these criticisms, the book does contain a cracking good story full of interesting characters, exciting moments, cliffhangers and lots of good old mystery. Now here's the rub! Review sites expect a star rating and I can only go with 3 for the story. A smart editor could knock 4 hours of the length of this listen simply by weeding out extraneous material, then it would be a 5 star for sure, but that's just my opinion.

Narrator

Narrated by Joe Hempel who has been blessed with a pleasant and easy to listen to voice. Character definition is good, I had no trouble in identifying the male characters of the story. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the female characters, it takes a bit more than simply raising the pitch of the voice. I reckon if he worked on that a bit, then he'd be a top notch narrator.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com

The Final Silence

Sunday, 5 July 2015

Written by: Stuart Neville
Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:10-28-14
Publisher: Audible Studios
Jack Lennon Series
Available from Audible.com
4 STAR REVIEW
Summary
Belfast, Northern Ireland: Rea Carlisle has inherited a house from an uncle she never knew. It doesn't take her long to clear out the dead man's remaining possessions, but one room remains stubbornly locked. When Rea finally forces it open, she discovers inside a chair, a table - and a leather-bound book, its pages filled with locks of hair, fingernails: a catalogue of victims. Horrified, Rea wants to go straight to the police but her family intervenes, fearing that scandal will mar her politician father's public image. Rea turns to the only person she can think of: disgraced police inspector Jack Lennon. He is facing suspension from the force and his new supervisor, DCI Serena Flanagan, is the toughest cop he's ever met. But a gruesome murder brings the dead man's terrifying journal to the top of the Belfast police's priority list.
My Review
Unsually for me, prior to reading this I never checked if it were part of a series, it is, but it's a pretty good stand alone read. The story is a dark compelling mystery that begins with the death of Rea's Uncle Raymond, and this first chapter influenced my mindset for the rest of the story.

Ida is Raymond's sister and his only surviving relative, Ida, her husband Graham and their daughter Rea inherit his house, the house with the locked room! If you've read the blurb then you will know of the book and it's horrific content, despite her parents decision to tell no one less it interferes with Graham's political ambition, Rea contacts old boyfriend police officer Jack Lennon.

Jack is one of the most miserable of beings, he has his own troubles in spades, in both his work and his personal life, he's also suffering from post traumatic stress for which he refuses to seek help, yet he agrees to take an off the record look at the book. Terrible things happen and Jack is caught up in a living nightmare, the police become officially involved and in charge of the case is Serena Flanagan. Serena is tough but well respected, and she gets on with the job sometimes at the expense of her family life, and yes Serena has her share of personal problems too!

There's nothing in the least cheerful about this story, it's full of volatile and troubled characters, had I known more about them before listening I probably would never have started this book, yet I found it compelling. It's so full of twists and turns that it's hard for the reader to predict quite which way the story will go, and it is this aspect aspect that kept me listening. Also it's told from different points of view which I found added to the interest. There are some touching moments when two of the characters form a surprising bond with each other and this did lighten the dark story a little. In summary, I thought it to be a well written, well planned mystery with wonderfully described characters, but it's just a tad dark and twisted at times for my taste.

This story does contain scenes of domestic violence.

Narrator
Excellent narration by Gerard Doyle who, to my ears, captures the sometimes dolorous Belfast accent perfectly. It must be quite a narrating challenge when a story has several male characters with the same strong accent, but I thought Gerard Doyle differentiated them well as I never felt confused between them. In my opinion his voice, pacing and timing matched the story perfectly, I'll listen to him anytime.

This audiobook was provided at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

Switch. The Janek Series

Saturday, 2 May 2015

Switch: The Janek Series

Written by: William Bayer
Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Series: Janek Book 1
Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date:10-17-11

Publisher: Crossroad Press

Available from Audible.com

4 STAR REVIEW

Publishers Summary

At first the two killings seem unrelated. The lonely call girl murdered on New York City's West Side had never met the prim schoolteacher slain across town in the far safer preserve of the city's Upper East Side. But someone has decapitated them both and switched their heads: a deed that is apparently its own motive, a crime as pointless as it was perfectly executed.
Detective Frank Janek immediately knows that he has entered the realm of a lethal madness. Middle-aged, divorced, a man centered solely on his work, Janek is practiced in piercing the minds of the criminals he pursues. In the absence of clues from the killer, he has only the awful symmetry of the crime to work with, only his own finely honed intuition. "This was a crime conceived in the shadows," he thinks, "There was precision in it, and passion. Concentrated rage and a love of order. A need to beautify. Even some strange, unfathomable, as yet uncatalogued species of love."
The challenge-to become as precise, as creative, as cold as his prey-begins to take its toll. The tenuous psychological thread leads Janek back into the unsettled past-- not only the killer's but his own. His own passion and rage and unresolved love. The love he bore for the man who trained him-a retired cop whose apparent suicide he has shied from investigating too closely, the passion for justice that has made him a marked man within the police fraternity. The rage he feels at ancient crimes that have finally burst into full and terrifying flower. And most of all, the new love he feels for the mysterious woman in whom all these strands of the past seem to converge. It is Janek's love for Caroline that leads him at last to a blinding vision of the purpose behind the grisly double homicide.
Too late, he realizes that the case of "Switched Heads" may only be the bait....
©1985 William Bayer (P)2011 David N. Wilson
My Review
Well, the publishers summary is long enough to give every reader a pretty good idea of what this book is about, but it's a bit darker than I expected it to be.
The work worn, hard boiled middle aged detective, Janek, takes on a strange case, very strange indeed, it all begins at the funeral of retired detective Al DiMona. Al was Janeks' rabbi - cop slang for mentor - Al had committed suicide by "eating his gun". His death hit Janek hard, he had this feeling that he should look deeper into what drove his friend to do such a thing, especially as Lou, Als wife, had insisted to Janek that he had been working on something secretive prior to his death. At the funeral he sees a woman, she looks out of place, so he decides to introduce himself to Caroline. She tells him she was just a friend of Al, just came to say goodbye.
Before he leaves, he's told that Chief of Detectives Hart wants him to ride back with him, it's during this trip that Janek is given the "switched heads" case of the two murdered women. Seems two detectives were called out, one to each case, they got into a fight about who should investigate, so Chief Hart settled it by giving it to Janek.
This is where his head scratching begins, it's all so bizarre, everything about it just plain weird, how's a man to start? The first few chapters are compelling reading, then it gets a little dull, there's a lot of conversation, conjecture, what ifs. In truth, all probably quite realistic but it doesn't hold the attention quite so well as the first part of the story.
Then there's the mystery of Al, and this is where Caroline has the leading part, having fallen in love with her ( and pretty darned quick if you ask me) Janek discovers she has not been entirely truthful. By this time, it's all become very complicated!
Despite being a little dull in parts, the author does have a wonderful way with words, he describes a room and you are there, seeing it. There's a very poignant passage about Lou, describing her reaction when, whilst cleaning the bathroom she hears the shot, she knows, she just knows she is going to walk down the stairs and find the dead body of her husband Al.
Narrator
Wonderful performance by Jeffrey Kafer, he has the perfect voice for Janek, he switches faultlessly from character to character, gender to gender and it's seamless. Easy to listen to with a good pace, there's a lot of emotion in this book, from overwrought Lou to angry, frustrated detectives. Then, of course, there's the cold, cold murderer! Jeffrey Kafer nails it.
This audiobook was gifted via Audioblast in return for this, my honest review.

A Song from Dead Lips

Friday, 27 March 2015

Written by: William Shaw
Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
Length: 13 hrs
Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date:01/08/2013

Publisher: Audible Studios

Available from Audible.com.au

American edition: She's Leaving Home

Publishers Summary

London, October 1968. As Beatles fans encamp outside Abbey Road Studios up the road, the Marylebone CID is as much an old boys' club as it ever was: comfortably sexist, racially prejudiced and crawling with corruption.
Detective Sergeant Cathal Breen is the pariah of the office, having just run out on a fellow officer held at knifepoint, when it's shaken up by the arrival of WPC Helen Tozer: awkward chatterbox, farmgirl, and the first woman to enter the murder unit - apart from the secretary.
When a young woman is found naked and strangled in well-to-do St John's Wood, her identity is a mystery. The neighbours offer nothing but xenophobic suspicions, witnesses are staying silent; only Tozer's savvy gives Breen a lead.
Following it, resourceless, deep into the rural backwaters, Breen sees one dead body lead to another - a trail of bloodshed taking them dangerously close to a killer with everything to lose...
2013 William Shaw (P)2014 Audible, Inc

My Review

Rarely does a book strike such a chord with me as this one, set in 1968 it took me right back to my teenaged years. A time when we girls strove to look like Twiggy, the skinny little model, or Cathy McGowan with her long straight hair from TVs "Ready, Steady Go". We spent our money on Rimmel cosmetics and practiced the complicated eye make up of the time. Our musical loyalties were divided, most adored the Beatles, others of us loved The Rolling Stones, Canned Heat or Yardbirds, but we all had to endure listening to our parents' favourite pop song, Mary Hopkin warbling "Those were the days, my friend". Actually, I quite like that song now.

Known to most as Paddy, Breem was born and raised in London, as his mother had died at an early age, the job of raising him fell to his father, an Irish builder. When his father became frail and sick, Breem moved him in to his own flat where he cared for him until his death.

DS Cathal (Paddy) Breem is, as befits the hero of any story, a little different to his colleagues of the squad room, he's not one of the boys, that fact alone makes him less than popular. Adding to his unpopularity, an uncharacteristic act by him during the course of duty was viewed as cowardice by his colleagues and earned him the reputation of being "windy". Everything he does seems to add to his unpopularity, inherently a good man, he condemns the brutish tactics accepted by most as a normal response to provocation. He never takes the easy way out in an investigation, he doesn't give up. Nor do his fellow officers understand Breems way of organising information so they ridicule his methods, Breem, of course, doesn't allow any of this to sway him from his course. When W.P.C Helen Tozer, the first female officer allocated to the C.I.D. rolls up, she's faced with the male prejudices of the time. Those were the days when female officers were deemed suitable only for dealing with children, women, bereaved families and, of course, making the tea for her male counterparts. Breem tries to treat her with respect, but, being a product of his time, doesn't understand quite how to treat a modern woman, he has little idea of what is offensive to females or even why!

Helen Tozer is a country girl who could talk the hind leg off a donkey, but she knows what's what in the world, to the men, she gives as good as she gets and stands up for herself, shocking behaviour for a woman! Gradually, despite putting his foot in it several times, Helen and Breem develop a successful working relationship. Intriguingly, over time Breem realises that Helen has a family secret, and she is unwilling to share.

There we have them, the two main characters whose job it is to discover who murdered the girl, a young girl callously murdered and discarded behind some bushes, like trash. The investigation commences in the usual way with door to door inquiries revealing seemingly little of any use. Later, the investigation leads to the famous Abbey Road recording studios and from there to some Beatles fans. The girls live in a world that is alien to Breem, and it is here that Helen Tozer shows her worth, she is familiar with their world and is able to communicate with them. She also proves her investigative skills, Breem is impressed, and during the course of the investigation Helen teaches him the ways of this world so unfamiliar to him. He even thinks about buying a Beatles record.

As Helen and Breem gradually unravel the threads, they are met with yet more twists and turns, just when you think you know whodunnit along comes another little piece of the puzzle, and there you are scratching your head again. I loved the story, it's an intriguing mystery populated with wonderful characters, an exciting mix of fact and fiction. I liked the way Helens' character is slowly built until her personality and intelligence shine through, she is my hero of the story. I can understand the barriers she had to push aside and, in truth, it would have taken a strong and brave woman to enter that all male domain back in 1968.

William Shaw has crafted a remarkable work, the well researched facts are blended beautifully with fiction to create a memorable story. I have part 2 of the trilogy (or hopefully, series) ready and waiting.

Narrator

Cameron Stewart tells the story well, he has a pleasant voice and is easy to listen to, he speaks clearly and with just the right pace. The character of Breem was born in London and raised by his Irish father so it could not have been an easy task, creating an anglicised Irish accent. He had a few regional accents to deal with and did so well enough, though his Welsh did let him down just a tad, however, had I not lived in Wales for a few years I probably wouldn't have noticed. I'm happy to see he has also narrated the second book in the Breem and Tozer trilogy.

This audiobook is my personal copy, I have recieved no renumeration for writing this, my honest review.