3.75/5 Stars Ties that Bind by Anne Patrick

October 13, 2021October 3, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, mystery Anne Patrick, Christian Mystery, Leonor A Woodworth

Narrated by Leonor A Woodworth

Run Time: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Genre: Christian romantic suspense

Summary:

Jo McDaniels has a psychic gift to see and hear and experience what the victims do if she visits the crime scenes. She’ works with Sheriff Austin Garrett to catch a killer dropping bodies all over the sheriff’s county.

Additional Comments:

This was 75% romance with about 25% crime solving and about 95% of the page time got dedicated to dinners, swooning, or stating the MC’s a strong, independent woman.
Austin’s the typical knight in shiny badge armor.
Jo’s the typical stellar FBI agent who happens to have a cool psychic gift. That angle surprised me because it’s not usual for this brand of story.
The book is about 3 hours too long for the story here. The fluff just rehashed stuff.
The conclusion and bad guy could be seen from about 9 miles away, but some serious effort went into the red herring suspect too.
The Christian aspects were reasonably well integrated.
Jo’s brother didn’t ring true. His anger at her didn’t seem to have any substance.
Why do all Anne Patrick’s characters have mommy issues?

Conclusion:

Overall, a solidly okay story.

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Many of my 57 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Review copies for many titles are available from StoryOrigin.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy (Amazon) (free codes)
River’s Edge Ransom – Prequel to Redeemer Chronicles (Amazon) (email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)

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Devya’s Children Series Links:

Books 1-4 were re-released in audiobook form in 2021.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (Request a Review Copy)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (Request a Review Copy)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (Request a Review Code)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (Request a Review Code)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (click for sample)
If you’re all in and want to review the entire trilogy (~35 hrs!) go here.

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

Guardian Angel Files:

Spirit’s Bane – Allister and Mina are training to be Guardians. Satan’s out to get them. (Amazon) (free codes)
Kindred Spirits – Mina’s exiled to Earth. Allister’s stuck in the Heavens. (Amazon) (free codes)

I have Author Direct codes from Findaway Voices for the combo book that has Spirit’s Bane and Kindred Spirits. (Click here for a review copy.)

4/5 Stars Jasmine by Blair Howard

October 4, 2021October 3, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, mystery Angel Clark, Blair Howard

Series: A Lt. Kate Gazzara Book 1

Narrated by Angel Clark

Run Time: 4 hrs and 24 mins

Genre: Mystery

Summary:

Kate Gazzara’s a character in the Harry Starke books. I’ve only listened to the omnibus for 10-12 of those. This story takes place long before the one I experienced thus far. I like it better than the original series.

This covers Kate taking on her first official case as the lead detective.

Additional Comments:

I find it amusing that it’s the Lt. Kate Gazzara series, but she’s a sergeant in this book.
There’s a dead kid in a pipe. The murder mystery isn’t all that complicated, but I think that’s pretty realistic. Sadly, the people most likely to murder somebody are relatives and family friends. It’s a very rare breed of killer who offs a complete stranger.
A dead kid in a pipe is a public relations disaster waiting to happen.
5 days is a heck of a turnaround time for a murder case. You probably wouldn’t get the results for some tests back in that timeframe.
A few voices sounded like angry rodents, but the voice for the main character fit well.
Content warning: some cursing, though not as much as in the Harry Starke series. Some talk of sex. Like the other series, nothing is described just comes up fairly regularly.
Kate was kind of lead around, which might not be too crazy if she were indeed new to this, but at this point, she’s supposedly been on the job like 7 years.
Her move to put her dumb partner in line would probably get her in a heck of a lot of trouble.
Tracy’s kind of a lump but her reaction to him helping/not helping is way over the top.

Conclusion:

Better than the Harry Starke books. Still crude, but has potential.

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Review copies for many titles are available from StoryOrigin.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Aeris Legends Books 1-3 ~17 hrs of epic fantasy. (Request a Review Copy)

Guardian Angel Files:

I have Author Direct codes from Findaway Voices for the combo book that has Spirit’s Bane and Kindred Spirits. (Click here for a review copy.)

3.17/5 Stars Harry Starke Books 10, 11, 12 by Blair Howard

September 30, 2021August 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, mystery, suspense Blair Howard, Harry Starke, Tom Lennon

Narrated by Tom Lennon

Individual Ratings:

3/5 stars 10 Caloway Jones

3.5/5 stars 11 Emoji

3/5 stars 12 Hoodwinked

*possible spoilers in discussion

Summary:

Caloway Jones: Somebody’s out to kill Harry and his friends.

Emoji: A killer haunts a college campus and plays games with the police.

Hoodwinked: Harry’s on a mission to prove his best friend isn’t a killer

Additional Comments:

Content Warning: I generally listen to clean stuff, so I’ll include a content warning up front. If you removed the curse words, the book would be missing about 3 hours. If you removed the sex references as well, you’d be missing about 8 hours. Somewhere in there, you have a mystery. I think. If you took out alcohol references as well, heck, we’d be down to 3 hours.
This is my first exposure to this author and the character. They’re okay. I’d probably give another set a go if the chance arose, but I could also do without and be fine.
The son of a crazy rich dude thing is okay.
Side characters: Kate’s cool. The rest are just furniture, or horny furniture in the case of Amanda.
They’re very different mysteries. Harry Starke leads a charmed life. The stories have a bit of a hardboiled detective shading. Harry’s the best of the best PI’s.
The mystery conclusions are somewhat frustrating, even though Harry always gets his man, so to speak.
- Caloway: Really. The person used to throwdowns goes toe to toe with the bad guy and loses, then the person who never handled a gun ever saves the day?
- Emoji: So, bad guy wins then decides to play a game with Harry to give him a sporting chance … and thus, loses.
- Hoodwinked: I kind of like this twisted ending. That’s a redeeming quality. But I’m sensing a theme here. Yet again, the bad guy wins, hands down… then shoots him mouth off and Harry wins.
Overall, they’re not bad stories, but what keeps them from being good or even great is that the conclusions rely very heavily on the bad guys being incredibly dumb. I get it, criminals can be stupid, but these particular ones spend the whole book running circles around the cops … then, when they’re home free, blather about it and lose.
The Caloway Jones conclusion was highly unsatisfying because the author spend 5+ hours building up this woman to be the best of the best, and she flubs it by playing silly games. Yeah, yeah, contract and so forth. If she’d really wanted him to suffer, she would have planted a bullet in his wife’s skull then gone after the friends one by one.
The narration was fine until the man tried to tackle a Jamaican accent and ended up sounding vaguely Irish. I do play stuff fast, but I honestly thought Kate’s last name began with K something. Lost that “g” somewhere.
Kate’s an interesting character. I liked the interaction b/t her and Harry in the second story. I see that she has her own series. That could be interesting. I’ll give those a go if the chance arises.
The first-person narration style was okay, but it got annoying because Harry’s not a very reliable narrator. He says a lot of things like “but you don’t need to know that” and “where was I.”

Conclusion:

I’m kind of torn. There’s a lot of potential, and the author is decent at describing things. The mysteries themselves are fairly formulaic. The characters keep things interesting. If you don’t mind excessive cursing and rampant references to sex, check it out.

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Many of my 50 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian. (Amazon) (free codes)
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live. (Amazon) (Please email devyaschildren @ gmail.com for free codes)
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift. (Amazon) (free codes)
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma. (Amazon) (free codes)
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother. (Amazon) (free codes)
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble. (Amazon) (free codes)
More Scifi:
Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there. (Amazon) (free codes)

Guardian Angel Files:

3.5 Stars Gertrude Gumshoe: Slam is Murder by Robin Merrill

September 20, 2021September 16, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, cozyish, mystery Darlene Allen, Gertrude Gumshoe, Robin Merrill

Narrated by Darlene Allen

Run Time: 4 hrs and 29 min

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Summary:

Since people aren’t dropping dead in her hometown, Gertrude convinces Calvin to take her to Portland to a Poetry Slam that has had 2 mysterious deaths.

Additional Comments:

Calvin has the patience of a saint.
I liked the little side mystery about the food stamp card.
I enjoyed that Gertrude got to know Andrea a little better.
The side things were more interesting than the main mystery this round. Gertrude’s driving test was nerve-wracking.
Darlene Allen doesn’t have a huge range of voices but she’s perfect for Gertrude and has very nice reading instincts. You can tell if a male or female character is speaking.
Clean read.
The conclusion didn’t seem like Gertrude did anything.
Her poetry was amusing.

Conclusion:

These are mindless cozy, fluff pieces. Light-hearted and good to stick between more intense, crazy murder mysteries and thrillers. The whole series is fun.

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Audiobook Promotions …

Many of my 55 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Free codes are probably on audiobooks unleashed.
Normal links go to audible. *The Amazon labeled links are affiliate links. That means I get a very small payment from Amazon if you go through with a purchase.*
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest
There are plenty of UK codes, but not many US ones left.

Redeemer Chronicles (Fantasy)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Guardian Angel Files:

4.45/5 stars Gertrude, Gumshoe and the Clearwater Curse by Robin Merrill

September 15, 2021August 11, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, cozyish, mystery Darlene Allen, Gertrude Gumshoe, Robin Merrill

Narrated by Darlene Allen

Summary:

Gertrude is essentially a nosy old cat lady who finds trouble wherever she goes. This time, her adventures carry her from Maine to Florida and back again.

Additional Comments:

These aren’t serious stories. They’re quintessential cozy mysteries.
The side characters are kind of forgettable, but one would be hard-pressed to forget the leading lady. She’s spry for someone who uses a walker. Odds are good that someone who needs a walker isn’t going to be using it to clobber anybody, but it’s still amusing.
The performance is fitting.
I think my favorite side character is Dave, which may or may not be his real name.
It’s not exactly a high adrenaline thriller, but it’s a whole lot of tongue-in-cheek fun.

Conclusion:

If you’re in the mood for a light-hearted clean mystery, look no further than this series.

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4.5/5 Stars Louise’s Crossing by Sarah R. Shaber

September 12, 2021August 11, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, mystery Jenny Hoops, Louise Pearlie, Sarah R. Shaber

Narrated by Jenny Hoops

Run Time: 6 hrs and 48 mins

Summary:

This is a good but skippable adventure in the life of Louise Pearlie. The lady attracts trouble wherever she goes as all respectable semi-spies do.

Additional Comments:

I highly recommend the series as a whole.
Jenny Hoop’s voice was made for this book, series, and character. I’ve listened to other books she’s narrated, and while good, they’re not quite as perfect a fit as she is to Louise Pearlie.
So, basically, Louise gets a job transfer to London. The entire book, save maybe 40 minutes, takes place on the ship while she goes to that job. She runs smack into a whodunnit on the Atlantic crossing.
It covers most of the same ground as previous books as far as Louise’s personal beliefs, which are in the progressive camp for the time. But not every character is as enlightened as she is, so expect some attitudes about race relations to be typical of the WWII era. If that’s gonna bother you, go find something else. Your loss though because this series is a lot of fun.

Conclusion:

We don’t learn much new about our government girl, but it’s still a decent caper story.

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4/5 Stars Trespasses by Anne Patrick

September 6, 2021August 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, mystery Anne Patrick, Leonor A Woodworth, wounded heroes

Wounded Heroes 2

Narrated by Leonor A Woodworth

Run Time: 5 hrs and 55 mins

Summary:

When the bodies of 3 women show up in a US senator’s back yard, FBI Special Agent Gabe Sullivan crosses paths with Mackayla Kensington, a freelance forensic sketch artist.

Additional Comments:

Of course, Gabe and Mackayla are attracted to each other. And of course, there’s a killer out there trying to kill the lady. The book fits the formula perfectly and still works.
Seems everybody in the book has a tragic past, except the bad guy.
It’s not quite money and power = evil, but it’s pretty darn close.
The PI side was a bit of a stretch in that it relied upon a few convenient things, but that’s fine.
Characters are likable. They’re not super memorable, but they’re likeable.
Performance fell in the decent realm.
Clean book. Christian themes were reasonably well handled. There’s one questionable use of God’s name, but I don’t think the character meant it that way.
There’s not much suspense. Things happen, but one never really gets the feeling Mackayla could be in real danger.
It’s a fine story. I would read more by the author.
The title doesn’t make much sense to the story. It fits the genre okay though.

Conclusion:

If you enjoy Christian romantic suspense and have a free afternoon, this is a light one. Go for it.

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3.5/5 Stars Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery by Larry Millet

September 2, 2021August 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, classic, mystery Larry Millett, Sherlock Holmes, Steve Hendrickson

Narrated by Steve Hendrickson

Series: Minnesota Mysteries 3

Run Time: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Genre: Mystery

Summary:

Sherlock Holmes and Watson travel to Minnesota to check out a small-town mystery. A strange rune stone shows up on a farm. It could be the archaeological find of the century or an elaborate hoax.

Additional Comments:

It’s a typical mystery that wanders all over this small town.
Almost seems beneath Holmes to investigate.
The inclusion of the evil chick from previous volumes was quite the stretch. The author seems bent on making her out to be the next Moriarity, but she just doesn’t live up to the reputation. Oh, she’s clever, but not quite truly heartless, cunning, and conniving.
The drinking contest was amusing.
As with most mysteries of this sort, there’s a long-winded infodumping session, but for some reason, it comes off charming when Holmes does the infodumping.
The kid’s obsession with taking pictures was cute. Rafferty’s interactions with Moonie turned out to be excellent. They almost stole the show.

Conclusion:

This wasn’t the best of the series, but it’s a decent series overall. These tales are always good for a clean read.

*Found on Audible plus.

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4/5 Stars Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon: A Minnesota Mystery by Larry Millett

August 31, 2021August 11, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, mystery Larry Millett, mystery, Sherlock Holmes

Series: Sherlock Holmes & Shadwell, Book 1

Narrated by Steve Hendrickson

Run Time 9 hrs and 35 mins

Summary:

Sherlock Holmes and Watson get called in to investigate a series of threats made to a railroad mogul.

Additional Comments:

The case kind of meanders all over the place. I almost stopped in the first 25 minutes when it was nothing but babbling about the authenticity of the case.
The beloved characters are true to form.
Although the book dragged in many places, I would read more by this author.
The narration works. This isn’t the best or worst narrator I’ve ever heard, and I would certainly listen to more of him as well.
The conclusion is predictable yet satisfying. That sort of pattern is typical of mysteries. I’ve been watching a lot of Criminal Minds lately and many episodes have that sort of pattern where the tragedy leads to more tragedies.

Conclusion:

If you’re a Sherlock Holmes fan, yet have exhausted all of the official tales, this may satisfy your need for more of the famous detective.

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3.45/5 stars Murder at Black Lake by Anne Patrick

August 29, 2021August 23, 2021 Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Christian, mystery Anne Patrick, Christian romance, Leonor A Woodworth

Narrated by Leonor A. Woodworth

Run Time 6 hrs and 45 mins

Summary:

A Hollywood actress returns to her roots to solve a mystery and face some past trauma. Jamie Riedel witnessed her father’s murder. Years later, she returns to figure out what really happened and close out her mother’s estate.

Additional Comments:

The danger never seemed real.
The bad guy had about a zillion chances to off the leading lady, but it’s not that kind of book.
Gage played the perfect hero well enough.
Jamie’s somebody you can root for. Her mommy issues were an interesting twist, but the conclusion to that thread was ho-hum.
The entire mystery builds and builds at molasses in January speeds and then concludes in about 4 seconds.
It’s a fine Christian mystery.
This is my second experience with Anne Patrick’s writing. It’s par for Christian romantic suspense. I liked the other story I heard better, but I’d definitely give her stuff another go. Everybody misses sometimes. This one’s a near miss to me.
Some of the side plots were interesting to watch unfold. I think several threads were laid just in case the author wanted to write a second in the series with Gage’s sister and the other cop.
As a mystery, it’s all right. The conclusion’s satisfying even if it’s predictable. Jamie’s life choices are also predictable. She basically has everything at the beginning and has everything at the end, plus the handsome hero.
There’s no real substance to the romance. They kiss a few times but everything seems to hinge on what they had in the past.
I do like that not every character was a saint. That lends credence to the credibility angles.

Conclusion:

You know essentially what you’re going to get with these stories. Handsome hero. Damsel in distress who can handle herself and everybody else but still likes a hero.

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