The Memory Keeper's Daughter ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Audio Clip & Spotlight!

 

THE MEMORY KEEPER

BY JENNY HALE

Narrated by Melie Williams

Length: 8 hour 13 minutes

Publisher: Harpeth Road Press

Released: February 18, 2021

Category: Romance

The Ninth Session ~ Audio Book Blog Tour & Review!

THE NINTH SESSION

Written and Narrated

by Deborah Serani

Length: 6 hours and 52 minutes

Publisher: TouchPoint Press

Released: April 16, 2021 

Sub-Genre: Suspense

An edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller that brings a unique mix of psychotherapy and sign language and Coda culture. Just when you think you have it figured out, think again! Dr. Alicia Reese takes on a new patient. Lucas Ferro suffers with crippling anxiety, and as sessions progress, he begins to share the reasons why he's struggling. As Ferro's narrative becomes more menacing, Reese finds herself wedged between the cold hard frame of professional ethics and the integrity of personal truth. And, finally, when Ferro reveals his secrets, Reese learns how far she's willing to go, and how much she's willing to risk and willing to lose to do the right thing.

HALL WAYS REVIEW: Audio book review: Because I always go there, I’m going to start by saying I love the cover of The Ninth Session because it pairs so nicely with a psychological-themed story, and both the cover and premise are attention-grabbing. Also, because time for even reading with my ears is so hard to come by these days, I love that this audio book has a running time of under seven hours (less than 200 pages in print). Before I even read a word, I already loved three things about the book.

Happily, the book lovin’ continued as I listened to The Ninth Session unfold. Reading/listening is akin to unpeeling an onion, layer by layer, but finding out that the core could be rotten. Main character Alicia is a psychologist, and author Deborah Serani uses the vehicle of Alicia’s therapy notes for readers to not only get a great summary of events with patient Lucas Ferro, but we get real insight and connection to Alicia. We are hearing her thoughts, reflections, and feelings fresh off the sessions with Luke, but Alicia integrates her patient observations and ones of herself. It’s clinical, but it’s fascinating.

Readers may be impatient with the humdrum details, but these are important because they underscore Alicia’s humdrum life. I kept looking at how much time was left in the story because I knew something was coming and then BAM! It does. The pace and plot escalate quickly from humdrum to HOLY COW level.

As much as the novella-length book is perfect for my reading needs right now, I would have liked more fleshed-out characters, some fine-tuning on plot, and a bit more out of the ending. But don’t get me wrong: The Ninth Session is a really satisfying story as it is. I just want more!

If you’re paying attention to loose threads, you might figure out a major component of the big reveal – but there’s no way you’ll predict the details of it. WOW! The Ninth Session has some unexpected and delicious twists. I absolutely recommend it and look forward to this author’s next book.

ABOUT THE NARRATION: The author narrates her book, and she does it admirably. While there aren’t truly distinct voices (she uses different pitches to voice the characters, though), there is never any confusion between characters due to the writing in the dialogue scenes. I really enjoyed the sound effects added in the scratching of pen on paper as Alicia is taking notes in her office. I did bump up the listening speed to 1.5x, but Serano’s pacing is steady, her diction clear. And the quality of the recording was excellent. Without hesitation, I would listen to her narrate another book.

Thank you to the author and Audiobookworm Promotions for providing me an audio code in exchange for my honest review – the only kind I give.

    I received this audio book as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Deborah Serani. The gifting of this audio book did not affect my opinion of it. 

Deborah Serani is an award-winning author, writing about psychological topics in many genres. She is a psychologist in practice over 30 years and a senior professor at Adelphi University. Dr. Serani has worked as a technical advisor for the NBC television show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - where a recurring character, Judge D. Serani, was named for her.

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Good Girls Curtsy ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Review!

 

GOOD GIRLS CURTSY

BY DENA NICOTRA

Narrated by Kendra Murray

Length: 5 hours 26 minutes

Publisher: Dena M. Nicotra

Released: December 31, 2020

Category: Women's Fiction

A Bend in the River ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Audio Review

Audiobookworm Promotions Tour

A BEND IN THE RIVER

BY LIBBY FISCHER HELLMAN

Narrated by Robin Rowan 

Length: 11 hours 19 minutes 

Publisher: The Red Herrings Press 

Released: Oct. 13, 2020 

Genre: Historical Fiction

The Adventures of Tom Finch, Gentleman ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Audio Excerpt!

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM FINCH, GENTLEMAN

BY LUCY MAY LENNOX

Narrated by Duke DeFoix, Duchess DeFoix, Olivia Featherton, Earl Tyrone 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Length: 14 hours 56 minutes 

Publisher: Lucy May Lennox 

Released: Oct. 10, 2020 

 

The Girl in Cabin 13 ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Review

THE GIRL IN CABIN 13

BY A.J. RIVERS

Narrated by Claire Duncan

Length: 7 hours and 32 minutes 

Series: Emma Griffin FBI, Book 1 

Publisher: Altered Path 

Released: Aug. 15, 2020 

 

 

Category: Thriller 

 

Knock...knock... When Emma finds a dead body on her porch with her name written on the dead man's hand, she uncovers a sinister clue to the mystery that has haunted her since childhood. 

FBI Agent Emma Griffin is sent undercover to the small sleepy town of Feathered Nest to uncover the truth behind the strings of disappearances that has left the town terrified. 

To Emma, there is nothing that can lay buried forever. Even though her own childhood has been plagued by deaths and disappearances. Her mother’s death, her father’s disappearance, and her boyfriend’s disappearance. The only cases that she hasn’t solved. Her obsession with finding out the truth behind her past was what led her to join the FBI.

Now, she must face what may be her biggest case. In cabin 13, there lies an uneasy feeling. The feeling of her movements being watched. When a knock on her door revealed a body on her porch and her name written on a piece of paper in the dead man’s hand. Suddenly, her worlds collide. 

With the past still haunting her, Emma must fight past her own demons to stop the body count from rising. 

The woods have secrets. And this idyllic town has dark and murderous ones. Either, she reveals them or risk them claiming her, too. 

In Feathered Nest, nothing is what it seems. 

The girl in cabin 13 is about to find out that the dead may have secrets of their own.

   

HALL WAYS REVIEW: AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:  When I first heard about The Girl in Cabin 13, I was captivated by the title and then really drawn to the book’s cover and the synopsis. The book starts off with a bang and puts us right into chaos and danger, introducing our main character, who’s clearly pushing the limits and who seems on the edge of being emotionally unhinged. As an FBI agent, there are harsh consequences for her actions, and the real story of The Girl in Cabin 13 picks up there. But the reader remembers…

The story is told through main character Emma’s point-of-view, and it alternates between the present and flashbacks of her difficult past. She’s had a rough life and bad luck, and she hasn’t reconciled much of it. Add to that the lack of closure to some horrifying life events, and readers understand the basis for some of her motivations and behaviors. (It feels like these flashbacks will be important to know down the road, in future books.) Author A.J. Rivers is to be commended for writing that effectively manipulates readers’ feelings; for example, in Emma, we feel sympathetic, maybe even empathetic, while also finding her immensely irritating in her immaturity and lack of professionalism.

Emma doesn’t fit the profile for an FBI agent, acting impulsively, being careless, withholding evidence, showing her cards instead of staying low-key, and forgetting that everyone is a suspect, whether they seem nice or not. This is problematic for me because I expect an FBI agent to be sharper and cleverer than Emma is shown to be. If the FBI agent moniker were removed, and Emma was a journalist or amateur sleuth – or even a former FBI agent (which is realistically what she should be), the story would have worked better. There are other issues I have with character responses not being realistic for the situations, and there’s an awkward info-dump from the killer to explain to readers why this person has done these horrible things.

While there’s not a lot of mystery around the identity of the killer, author A.J. Rivers adds some unexpected twists and the big reveal is truly startling.  Seriously: it’s unique, nose-wriggling, and macabre, and Rivers gives just the right description to it. Plus, the action really ramps up in the last quarter of the story, so readers will be on the edge of their seat, right up to the finish.

It is important for the reader to remember that The Girl in Cabin 13 is a series starter and as such, there are numerous questions that go unanswered, scenes and characters that seem important but aren’t shown to be, and loose ends that aren’t neatly tied up.  So while there is a good stand-alone case that’s resolved within this first book, it doesn’t have the satisfaction of a stand-alone book. My recommendation is that if you decide to read it, either be willing to commit to the series or be willing to let go of the niggling things that don’t add up.

ABOUT THE NARRATION:  I have nothing but love for narrator Claire Duncan. Her pacing is perfect and allowed me to listen at regular speed, and her performances of the various characters keeps their voices all unique. She lends the right amount of emotion to the characters to perfectly complement Rivers’ writing. The recording has no glitches and is professionally done. I would definitely

Thank you to the author and Audiobookworm Promotions for providing an audio code in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.

I received this audio book as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by A.J. Rivers. The gifting of this audio book did not affect my opinion of it.

A.J. Rivers loves all things mystery and thriller. Growing up in a sleepy small town, A.J. spent her days enthralled in crime solving novels and movies. She started creating stories at a young age to escape and create adventures for herself. As a child she dreamed of solving crimes and becoming a crime fighter. She dreamed of being as great as her favorite crime solving character Sherlock Holmes. While in college she realized that leading a crime fighting life might be more gruesome than she could stomach. She decided that the best course of action would be to fuse her love of writing with her love of thrilling mysteries together. She finds inspiration from researching true crimes and is passionate about writing suspenseful novels with crazy twists. Twists that you'll never see coming. The inspiration for her first novel came when she read a news article about a missing young woman in a small town that was never found. Her question on who, what, and why brought her to her journal to discovering the dark twisted story behind the disappearance and to seek justice for the victim through her writing. Her thriller novels have elements of mystery, suspense, and romance. When she's not absorbed in a novel or working on her next thriller mystery, her favorite past time is spent with her husky. She finds great inspiration while going on hikes with her dog.

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Claire Duncan is a multi-award winning actress living in NYC. She has performed Off-Broadway, regionally, and in national tours, and appeared in the Drama Desk nominated revival of The Threepenny Opera. She has played the lead in a dozen films, and received a Best Actress Award for her work as Rosetta in the dark comedy Rosetta's Blues, which debuted at Cannes. As a singer, she had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and toured the country as a travel host with Visit The USA. Claire's broad career has shaped her into an exceptional and flexible voice artist. You can hear her on Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, in hundreds of national commercials, and in over thirty audiobooks. "Claire Duncan was a dynamo" - New York Stage Review "Simply side-splitting... a terrific comedic actress" - Show Business Weekly Proud member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA.

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The Feast: And Other Horrifying Tales ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Review

BY DAVID VORHEES

Narrated by Victor Warren

Length: 4 hours 18 minutes

Publisher: David C Vorhees

Released: Jun. 30, 2020

Sub-Genre: Horror

The Feast is a collection of short stories that take place on different holidays over the course of the year. The collection opens with "A New Year, a New Day, a New Life." Grant Curtis is arrested on New Year’s Day and charged with the murder of his wife Carla.

In "Easter: The Resurrection," a resurrected Kyle Gardner seeks vengeance on Pastor Brian.

"The Vengeance of Cassidy Clay" is a narrative poem that takes place on Halloween. The poem tells the story of a slave-hunter who haunts the woods long after his death. Plus many more spine-chilling tales.

HALL WAYS REVIEW. AUDIO BOOK REVIEW. In The Feast: And Other Horrifying Tales, author David Vorhees takes readers through seven short stories themed around the year’s major holidays, telling stories of the most macabre nature.  The word “horrifying” in the title is apropos; these stories go for the shock factor with some prompting an “oh-no-he-didn’t-go-there” response from this reader.

Most of the tales are deeply disturbing and be warned: you won’t be able to unsee them. This is a nod to the effectiveness of the author’s storytelling ability and gift for description. Mercifully, Vorhees chose to tell, not show readers what was happening, and I thank him for that. My imagination fleshed-out (pun intended) the rest. Narrator Victor Warren’s performance perfectly complements each story, making them more memorable – even when you want to forget.

Going through the calendar year of stories loosely centered around major holidays gives structure to the collection, the stories varying in length from as short as eight minutes to as long as nearly an hour and a half.  The variety in story lengths is a plus because it keeps the listening from being monotonous. And since the whole book comes in at just under four and half hours, I listened straight through and was never close to being bored.

Three of the stories are top notch. “A New Year, A New Day, A New Life” (about 20 minutes) brings to mind Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. The main character’s transition from control to madness is palpable. Halloween’s “The Vengeance of Cassidy Clay,” the shortest story at only 8 minutes, is told in verse, and is probably my favorite (and least graphic). It’s reminiscent of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and it would lend itself nicely to being told around a campfire. “Thanksgiving” (around an hour long) could have come straight out of a Tales from the Crypt episode, with the dread and tension masterfully building to the big, horrifying reveal. Yeah, we know what’s coming, but we can’t stop it. A fourth story, “Easter: The Resurrection,” the longest story in the collection, also deserves mention for the intricacies of the plot and how the need for revenge can motivate and twist the brain.

Two of the stories crossed the line for me, and several of the stories included sickening details that felt gratuitous.  Overall, the stories in the collection seem frighteningly realistic in this often-perverse world we live in. Readers who enjoy horror and have strong stomachs for gore and violence will find lots to like in The Feast: And Other Horrifying Tales. For those who are nitpicky (like me) about cleanly edited books, I recommend this one for reading with your ears instead of your eyes as the print version needs a heavy proofreading.

ABOUT THE NARRATOR & AUDIO PRODUCTION:  As mentioned, narrator Victor Warren’s performances of the many characters in The Feast are well-done and the perfect complement to Vorhees’s writing. He tackled a wide range of emotions and accents and convincingly voiced the females. His pace was a bit slow for me, so about an hour in, I bumped the speed to 1.25x, and that was perfect. I would absolutely seek out other titles he narrates. Production wise, the audio book is mostly clean and professionally recorded, though there was a big glitch in “Fourth of July” where an entire chapter was repeated.

Thank you to the author and to Audiobookworm Productions for providing me an audio download in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give. 

I received this audio book as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by David Vorhees. The gifting of this audio book did not affect my opinion of it.

David Vorhees joined the U.S. Navy after graduating Lima Central Catholic. He is a veteran of the United States Navy. Following his military service, he attended the University of Northwestern Ohio for automotive business and worked various factory jobs and attended the University of Phoenix online for a degree in arts with a focus in journalism. He recently worked for the Wapakoneta Daily News as a reporter/photographer/paginator. He is the father of five and grandfather of five. He has always been interested in the occult and the scarier side of life. He loves history and the supernatural and truly believes there is nothing better than a good story.

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A native Californian, Victor Warren has been acting since the age of ten. He is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University where he majored in acting and directing. After graduation, Victor worked in California for over fifteen years for Universal Studios as a director, camera operator, technical director, announcer, and stunt show performer. Victor then moved to the east coast where he works successfully as a director, actor, writer and producer. He is currently living on Cape Cod and is bi-coastal flying in where the work leads him. He is an award-winning director/writer and with the creation of his production company Glydascope, he plans to continue to expand his creative properties. Recently The Feast is his very first audio book, which he narrated and produced through Glydascope. He recently (2018) can be seen as the irritated police Sergeant O'Connor in My Daddy's in Heaven and as Stephen Smith in Chappaquiddick. He is currently working on his fourth book for Audible, and working on a short film that he is producing and acting in called Another Life.

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Some Can See ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Review

SOME CAN SEE

Northern Michigan Asylum Series, Book 1

BY J.R. ERICKSON

Narrated by Allyson Voller

Length: 7 hours and 26 minutes

Publisher: J.R. Erickson

Released: May 20, 2020

Sub-Genre: Paranormal

The dead have stories to tell. Are you listening?

On a sunny August morning, in 1935, 13-year-old Sophia Gray finds her friend Rosemary wandering in the woods. Rosemary’s yellow dress is tattered and stained, she walks with a strange lurch, and her eyes are vacant and glassy. She beckons to Sophia, desperate to show her something, and Sophia follows.

In an abandoned cabin, beneath a tattered blanket, Sophia discovers Rosemary’s body. It was not Rosemary who led her there, but Rosemary’s ghost.

Step into the Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane

Twenty years after Sophia discovers Rosemary’s body, she finds herself trapped in the sprawling, and eerily beautiful, Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane, in the hands of a malevolent doctor who preys on patients who exhibit paranormal abilities.

Sometimes the dead don’t rest

In 1965, Hattie, much like her mother, 30 years before, is led by a ghost. A newspaper hidden in an attic reveals a secret that has shaped the lives of Hattie and her siblings. Hattie with her sister, Jude, embark on a crusade to remedy the wrongs of the past and discover the tale of deception that stole their mother a decade before.

Hattie and Jude are in a race against time to discover a murderer and save their mother from a horrific fate.

Get lost in a uniquely chilling story that spans the life of a family and the ghosts who haunt them.

HALL WAYS REVIEW: Audio Book Review. Some Can See by J.R. Erickson, narrated by Allyson Voller, is the first of a series of books in the Northern Michigan Asylum novels. While that premise alone promises high interest reading, Erickson adds in a paranormal element and a wide cast of peculiar characters that will keep the audience engaged.

Interestingly, there is an Author’s Note at the beginning of the book that explains that there was a real asylum that existed and that its existence was the inspiration for the stories. Though author J.R. Erickson makes it clear that the stories and characters are 100% fiction, there's still something delicious about the "what ifs" of that setting given what history tells us was common practice within institutions like that.

The author’s strength is in her ability to vividly describe scenes and people so that they pop to life. Additionally, she comes up with imaginative situations and complications that were reminiscent of VC Andrews books. Unfortunately, the plot holes, unnecessary characters and scenes, and unexplained actions detracted from my enjoyment. There are eight books in this series so far, and they are each stand-alone books with fabulously enticing covers that may just tempt me to read one of the later iterations to see if the writing has gotten tighter. Nonetheless, if you just want to be entertained, Some Can See delivers that in aces.

While Allyson Voller’s narration was fine, I would recommend having a print copy handy for reference. There are multiple timelines in Some Can See, and the pattern did not quickly emerge. Add to that the multiple points-of-view, multiple characters, and multiple settings, it is somewhat confusing. However, there is enough meat and mystery to the story that readers will want to stick with it because eventually, those timelines and storylines converge, and a wickedly good story reveals itself.

A word of caution: this book has a bit of profanity, including a lot of F-Bomb drops. I don’t like reading it but deal with it, but I really don’t like hearing it or worse -- for anyone else to have to hear it when I’m listening to a book. You’ve been warned (wish I had been).

ABOUT THE NARRATION: Voller’s pacing was perfect for me so that I was able to listen at regular speed and not feel compelled to get her talking faster. She clearly enunciates and gives even delivery. Given the bouncing timeline and changing POVs, it would have helped if she had paused more in the transitions and/or changed her voice to signal the switches. Some characters are uniquely voiced and really stand out, but others are less distinct from one another. I would have liked more of the former to add another layer to the story, but overall, the narration complemented the story instead of overtaking it, and that’s a win-win.

Thank you to Audiobookworm Productions and the author for providing me an audio download code in exchange for my honest review – the only kind I give.   

I received this audio book as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by J.R. Erickson. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

J.R. Erickson (aka Jacki) is an indie author who writes murder mysteries woven with elements of the paranormal. Since childhood, J.R. has been fascinated by otherworldly things. She started penning creepy stories in her adolescence, but didn’t pursue a career in writing until her mid-twenties. Like most paths, J.R.’s has been winding and filled with detours.

Today, she lives in the forests of northern Michigan with her excavator husband and her critter-loving son. In addition to writing, J.R. teaches yoga, hosts the true crime podcast Bitter Endings, and spends every spare minute hanging with her family and her kitties.
Her latest series, the Northern Michigan Asylum Series, is inspired by a real former asylum in Traverse City. J.R. regularly visits the former asylum that has been partially renovated into shops, restaurants and condominiums.

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Allyson is an accomplished actor with a fun, versatile style. She’s been working professionally for more than two decades in Chicago’s theatre and improv community. Her body of work appears in hundreds of projects in all mediums: film, television and commercials, both in front of the camera and behind the microphone. Allyson’s love of performing led her into narrating audio books and she has never looked back. She has a degree in theatre, as well as having studied improvisation at both The Second City Conservatory and iO Chicago. In addition to narrating audio books she lends her multifaceted voice to the country’s oldest running radio drama as a company member.

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