Audiobook Blog Your: Deadly Enterprise by Kevin G. Chapman

Genre: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural.

Chapters: 53
Runtime: 10:23:28
Abridgement: Unabridged
Release Date: 02/06/2020
Publisher: First Legacy Productions

https://m.soundcloud.com/user-256907084/deadly-enterprise-the-scotch-scene

Overview: “Championing the forgotten turns deadly in this pulse-pounding edge-of-your-seat crime thriller.” Bruce Perrin, author of Killer in the Retroscape.

“Unique and twisted. Another home run by Kevin Chapman!” -- Michelle files, author of The Many Lives of Ivy Wells.

THE DEAD GIRL THEY FISHED OUT OF THE EAST RIVER WAS A DRUG ADDICTED HOOKER, SO NOBODY CARES. Except that M.E. Michelle McNeill thinks it’s a murder. When NYPD Homicide detectives Mike Stoneman and Jason Dickson start investigating, they encounter unexpected obstacles that point in a disturbing direction.

Every death is a tragedy, and every murderer should be exposed, even when nobody wants to hear about it. In order to uncover the truth, Mike and Jason have to go outside the lines, and risk their own reputations, jobs – and lives. This case is one that Mike can’t walk away from, no matter how much he wants to.

Harry Bosch fans will love this fast-paced police thriller, from award-winning author Kevin G. Chapman. Book #1 in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series, Righteous Assassin, was named one of the top 20 Mystery/Thrillers of 2019 by the Kindle Book Review. The series continues here.

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Excellent story that draws you in from the first page. You can get a good feel of being enveloped in a policeman’s life. Usually authors who narrate their own work aren’t very good, but I thought Chapman did a good job. Good enough to keep me turning the pages and be drawn into the story. Solid police procedural.

About the Author/Narrator: Chapman Kevin G. Kevin G. Chapman is, by profession, an attorney specializing in labor and employment law. He is the most recent past Chair of the Labor & Employment Law Network of the Association of Corporate Counsel, leading a group of 6800 in-house employment lawyers. Kevin is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars and enjoys teaching management training courses. Kevin’s passion (aside from playing tournament poker) is writing fiction. Kevin’s first Novel: "Identity Crisis: A Rick LaBlonde, P.I. Mystery," was self-published through Xlibris in 2003, and is now available via Amazon.com as a Kindle e-book. His second novel, A Legacy of One, published in 2016 and was a finalist (short list) for the Chanticleer Book Reviews' Somerset Award for Literary Fiction. A Legacy of One is a serious book, filled with political and social commentary and a plot involving personal identity, self-determination, and the struggle to make the right life decisions. Kevin’s next novel, Righteous Assassin (A Mike Stoneman Thriller), was a much more "fun" read -- it's a page-turner. It has some serious sub-themes, but it's a serial killer chase and it's intended to be enjoyable and easy to read. It was named one of the top 20 Mystery/Thrillers of 2019 by the Kindle Book Review! Kevin has just recently finished book #2 in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series, Deadly Enterprise, which was published on December 2, 2019.

April 27, 2020 1

Audiobook Review: Close to the Bone by Kendra Elliot

Widow’s Island Novella Series, Book 1

By: Kendra Elliot
Narrated by: Christine Williams
Series: Widow’s Island Novella, Book 1
Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 10-23-18
Language: English
Publisher: Brilliance Audio

FBI Special Agent Cate Wilde is back home on a remote Pacific Northwest island when she gets the call: a teenager’s skeletal remains have been found on a nearby island.

Together with Tessa Black, a childhood friend turned local deputy, Cate confronts dreary weather and bleak leads to make sense of the death. The complications pile up as Cate is distracted by the coroner on the case—and by nagging memories that draw her twenty years into the past. The remains suggest eerie similarities between this victim, and Cate and Tessa’s friend Samantha, who disappeared when she was fourteen.

Cate finds herself up against closemouthed locals, buried town secrets, and even her own heart. As the case unravels, will she be able to cut through the fog and find justice for the missing and the dead.

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Bestselling author Kendra Elliot kicks off a great beginning to the Widow’s Island series! This was so well written it didn’t really seem like a novella. It had all the necessary elements of a full novel complete with mystery, suspense, crime, character, and a touch of romance. I thought the idea for the Widow’s Island setting was genius; the culture, secrets, history of families, it made the story very appealing.

NARRATOR PERFORMANCE:

Narrated by: Christine Williams

Narrator-Story Connection: 8/10

Narrator Christine Williams fully embodies the story in her performance. I could tell

she was absorbed by it and displayed good skill.

Voice Creation/Switch Over: 7/10

There wasn’t much variation as far as voice creation goes for different characters. Didn’t know if if was deliberate or not because it’s a novella. However, the narrative voice was so compelling it was hardly noticed. If the book was longer then there’d be room for improvement here.

Pacing 8/10

Pacing throughout the book was good, consistent, matching they mysterious nature of the book. Very smooth performance.

Emphasis 7/10

There could’ve been more emphasis on character traits, or subtle things that help the listener distinguish who’s speaking, but still effective enough for the story.

Reader-Story Connection 8/10

When it’s all said and done, I was drawn into the story and finished quickly, which is always a good sign.

Emotional Intensity 6/10

This is a new category I’ve been wanting to add for some time now. The numbering doesn’t mean either good or bad. It reflects on the narrators style of displaying emotion overall. For instance, a 1 or 2 would be monotone seriously lacking in variation. And on the opposite side of the spectrum 9, 10 would be too much emotion. 5-6 is moderate and 7-8 would be ideal in my opinion. This only applies to emotional intensity and not to the other aspects of the performance.

Sound Quality: 10/10

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Great sound quality and production.

Overall Performance: 7/10

Overall I really enjoyed the book and narrator performance by Christine Williams. She has a very effective, smooth style of narrating that helps bring out the story.

November 1, 2018 0

Audiobook Review: Borderline by Joseph Badal

About the Audiobook

Author: Joseph Badal

Narrator: Pamela Almand

Length: 8 hours 40 minutes

Publisher: Suspense Publishing⎮2016

Genre: Police Procedural; Mystery

Series: Lassiter/Martinez Case Files # 1

Release date: May 17, 2016

Synopsis: Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez, two New Mexico homicide detectives, are assigned to investigate the murder of a wealthy Albuquerque socialite. They soon discover that the victim, a narcissistic borderline personality, played a lifetime game of destroying people’s lives. As a result, the list of suspects in her murder is extensive.

The detectives find themselves enmeshed in a helix of possible perpetrators with opportunity, means, and motive – and soon question giving their best efforts to solve the case the more they learn about the victim’s hideous past.

Their job gets tougher when the victim’s psychiatrist is murdered and DVDs turn up that show the doctor had serial sexual relationships with a large number of his female patients, including the murder victim.

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It’s been a while since I’ve heard a police procedural and I absolutely loved this one. Having two well written female lead detectives was a breath of fresh air. Creative, fascinating characters you like to get know better if they were real. The story itself was a powerful one given the subject material; and the way that Joseph Badal tells it only leaves you wanting to more.

NARRATOR PERFORMANCE:

Narrated by: Pamela Almand

Narrator-Story Connection:

The way that Pamela Almand narrates makes it easy to enter right into the story. I think those who narrate books have an extremely difficulty task. They not only have to read and portray a cast of characters with distinct voices, accents, but also learn how to tell the story in the process. Pamela Almand has done just that. When she narrates you have the sense she’s completely enveloped in the story.

Voice Creation/Switch Over:

The list of accents was superb. The voices of Barbara and Susan were quite entertaining!

Pacing

Almand is a pleasure to listen to. The pacing is spot on.

Emphasis

Exceptional. It was almost like watching a hit TV series from the 90’s. I’m still not sure how all the good narrators do it.

Reader-Story Connection

I was completely sucked into this book. Hook, line, and sinker.

Sound Quality:

Publisher: Suspense Publishing

The recording volume was great as opposed to some other audiobooks. Almands voice fills up the sound booth very well.

Overall Performance:

I’ve never heard of Pamela Almand before this—but now I’m a fan. She has a great voice worthy listening to and her skill is clearly evident.

About the Author: Joseph Badal

Joseph Badal is the author of 13 suspense novels: Borderline & Dark Angel (Lassiter/Martinez Case Files series); Evil Deeds, Terror Cell, The Nostradamus Secret, The Lone Wolf Agenda, Death Ship, & Sins of the Fathers (The Danforth Saga); The Motive & Obsessed (The Curtis Chronicles); and stand-alones The Pythagorean Solution, Shell Game, & Ultimate Betrayal.

All of his books draw on personal experiences and historical events. Joe has been judged “One of the 50 Authors You Should Be Reading” and has received 3 Gold Medals and 2 Silver Medals from the Military Writers Society of America, and The Tony Hillerman Award for Best Fiction Book of the Year in 2014 and 2016. He also writes a blog titled Everyday Heroes. See past postings at www.josephbadalbooks.com

You can read more about Joe at www.josephbadalbooks.com and email him at josephbadalbooks@aol.com

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About the Narrator: Pamela Almand

The daughter of a cattle rancher, Pam Almand grew up in the tiny town of Brush, Colorado. Her dad, a former Air Force fighter pilot, sparked her interest in flying, and after graduating Colorado State University in 2 1/2 years with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Pam took a flying lesson “just for fun.”

That first lesson turned into a lifelong passion, and one month later she had her Private Pilot’s License. Though there were no female pilots in the airline industry at that time, she set that as her career goal. In 1976, Pam started a small aircraft ferry service to build flight time and in that capacity, delivered new and used aircraft all over the world, including two-seat Cessna 150s she flew solo across the Atlantic!

Pam was the first woman flight test pilot for Cessna Aircraft Company’s multi-engine turbo-prop and jet division and eventually became the company’s national spokeswoman for their Learn To Fly programs.

Her dream was finally realized when she was hired by Northwest Airlines and began a career which spanned the globe, on aircraft from the Convair 580 all the way to captain of the Boeing 747 flying Asia and Europe routes. Pam had over 25,000 hours of flight time at retirement two years ago.

She is a past director of the International Society of Women Airline Pilots and organized conferences for that group in Bangkok and Fort Worth. She is a member of the Ninety-Nines, Experimental Aircraft Association, and the Air Line Pilots Association.

When arthritis and multiple joint replacements curtailed her flying, she started a company as a professional voice actor. Appearing in a national Tylenol commercial in 1995 sparked her interest and The Captain’s Voice was the result. She is now an award-winning SAG/AFTRA narrator and voiceover talent and has done commercials, videogames, e-learning, audiobooks, and phone messaging for clients including Microsoft, Brilliance Audio, Johnson & Johnson, Audible, La Costa Resort, Jet Blue, Delta Airlines, Dell, Blackstone Publishing, the American Red Cross, Canadian Realtors…all the way to being the English voice for The Hotels and Casinos of Monte Carlo!

She was nominated for an Audie Award for her 5th audiobook narration (Come To Me Alive, by Leah Atwood) and went on to also earn a Voice Arts Award for non-fiction for In Movement There Is Peace, by Elaine and Joseph Foster; another Voice Arts nomination for Cyber Crisis: It’s Personal Now, by William Kieper; and recently was awarded an Earphones Award by AudioFile Magazine for Husbands and Other Sharp Objects, by Marilyn Simon Rothstein for Brilliance Audio.

She has served on the board of several charities, including Patrons of the HeArts and local Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministries (BEAM) and lives with her husband Amos in Atlantic Beach. Pam plays piano for her local church, still returns to Telluride, Colorado every summer, loves biking, golf, hiking, and-though she’s been all over the globe!- she still counts world travel among her most-loved hobbies.

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September 19, 2018 0

Audiobook Review: Rituals of the Dead by Jennifer S. Alderson

About Audiobook #2

Rituals of the Dead: An Artifact Mystery

Author: Jennifer S. Alderson

Narrator: Chelsea Stephens

Length: 8 hours 23 minutes

Publisher: Jennifer S. Alderson⎮2018

Genre: Mystery

Series: The Adventures of Zelda Richardson, Book 3

Release date: Jun. 25, 2018

Synopsis: Stolen artifacts, a missing anthropologist, and a pesky amateur sleuth.

Art-history student Zelda Richardson is working at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam on an exhibition of bis poles from the Asmat region of Papua – the same area where a famous American anthropologist disappeared in 1962. When his journal is found inside one of the bis poles, Zelda is tasked with finding out more about the man’s last days and his connection to these ritual objects.

Zelda is pulled into a world of shady anthropologists, headhunters, missionaries, art collectors, and smugglers – where the only certainty is that sins of the past are never fully erased.

Join Zelda as she grapples with the anthropologist’s mysterious disappearance 50 years earlier and a present-day murderer who will do anything to prevent her from discovering the truth.

All four mysteries in the Adventures of Zelda Richardson series are stand-alone novels, and they can be listened to in any order.

Buy Links for Audiobook #2

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Another great adventure with art student Zelda Richardson, an inquisitive young sleuth who won’t stop until she finds the truth. Rituals of the Dead is a very fascinating mystery full of suspense, history, intrigue dealing with stolen artifacts, homicides and a missing anthropologist. Everything from the setting, the characters and circumstances make this a compelling mystery. If you like amateur sleuths don’t miss this series. Join up with Zelda Richardson!

About the Author: Jennifer S. Alderson

Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, raised in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam. Her love of travel, art, and culture inspires her ongoing mystery series, the Adventures of Zelda Richardson. Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels. When not writing, Jennifer can be found in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip.

There are currently four books in the stand-alone series following the adventures of traveler and culture lover Zelda Richardson. In Down and Out in Kathmandu, Zelda gets entangled with a gang of smugglers whose Thai leader believes she’s stolen his diamonds. The Lover’s Portrait is a suspenseful “whodunit?” about Nazi-looted artwork that transports readers to wartime and present-day Amsterdam. Art, religion, and anthropology collide in Rituals of the Dead, a thrilling artifact mystery set in Dutch New Guinea (Papua) and the Netherlands. Her short story set in Panama and Costa Rica, Holiday Gone Wrong, will help fans better understand this unintentional amateur sleuth’s decision to study art history and give new readers a taste of her tantalizing misadventures.
The Lover’s Portrait was Chill With A Book’s January 2018 Book of the Month and won the Silver Cup in Rosie’s Book Review Team 2017 Awards, Mystery category. TripFiction recently named it one of their 10 Favorite Books set in Amsterdam. It also won a Chill With A Book Readers’ Award, Readers’ Favorite 5 star medal, was one of The Displaced Nation magazine’s Top 36 Expat Fiction Picks of 2016, and came in at 14 in BookLife’s 2016 Prize for Fiction in the Mystery category. The Lover’s Portrait was also one of Women Writers, Women’s Books magazine’s Recommended Reads for April 2017.

Her travelogue, Notes of a Naive Traveler, is a must read for those interested in learning more about—or wishing to—travel to Nepal and Thailand. It was also awarded a Readers’ Favorite 5 star medal.

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About the Narrator: Chelsea Stephens

Chelsea Stephens has a long time love and appreciation for the performing arts, with experience in on-stage acting, signing and voice over. Her love for consuming books and the pursuit of the story led her to narration. She loves unfolding characters and bringing listeners into new worlds. She is an experienced voice actor with a talent and love for mystery, fantasy and YA novels.
She’s a mom to a gaggle of young ones living in the Midwest with her lumbersexual husband.