Audible Book Review: Q & A by Ben Winters

I liked the legal aspects and irony of this quick mystery suspense.

Q&A
By: Ben H. Winters
Narrated by: John Zdrojeski, Robert Creighton, Jay Snyder, Nicole Lewis, Kathryn Kates, Michael Braun, Elizabeth Evans, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Justis Bolding

Length: 2hrs and 8 mins
Release date: 01-14-21
Publisher: Audible Originals
Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Thriller & Suspense
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Content 4.25; Narration 4.25.

About This Audible Original
An interview recorded on an iPhone.
A police interrogation tape.
An FBI wire.
At the center of them all is a writer researching a legal thriller... or is he? And somewhere within those recordings is the truth about a murder trial and a web of lies stretching back three decades.
Written by Ben H. Winters, the best-selling author of Underground Airlines, The Last Policeman, and the Audible Original Inside Jobs, Q&A is a tantalizing puzzle and a gripping tale of obsession and revenge.
Because you can never really know the truth of a conversation—even when it's all on tape.
The full-cast production of Q&A stars:
John Zdrojeski as The Young Man
Robert Creighton as Lou Douglas
Jay Snyder as Detective Murphy
Nicole Lewis as Detective Garcia
Kathryn Kates as Judge Goldman
Michael Braun as Fannon
Elizabeth Evans as Mary-Ellen
©2021 Ben H. Winters, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC

Review:
The primary character is a writer interviewing a defense attorney supposedly in a preparation of writing a legal thriller. But as the interview proceeds, there appears to be a different motive. The first interview leads to a confrontation with the police and then another interview with a Judge. The facts are building and shifting to a new perspective. Then a final interview culminates in a plot twist that isn’t totally a surprise at that point.

This is a quick listen and quite enjoyable. I was drawn by the legal thriller and writing aspects and stayed for the twists. Highly recommended to mystery/suspense fans.

Audio Notes: This is a full cast production that makes for good listening. I’m glad this was included in the Audible Plus Catalog.

Source: January 2021 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2021Audiobook goal (and third round on Alphabet).

Audible Book Review: Hold Your Breath: A Novella by Wendy Walker

This is an engaging little suspense.
Hold Your Breath: A Novella
By: Wendy Walker
Narrated by: Dylan Baker

Series: Audible Original Stories
Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins
Release date: 10-01-20
Publisher: Audible Originals
Categories: Mystery, Psychological, Thriller & Suspense
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.

About This Audible Original
From the best-selling author of All Is Not Forgotten and Don’t Look for Me comes a sharp, compulsive thriller about a young woman who narrowly escapes a violent crime and the psychiatrist helping to recover her memory of the suspect.
Gabby Ashford has just survived an attempt on her life. Detectives have connected her story to two other cases in the area: Professional women drugged at a bar, brought to their homes, and drowned in their bathtubs. Gabby, who miraculously woke up in her own bathtub unharmed, could be the key to finding a serial killer on the loose—but she has no memory of the attack.
Gabby admits herself to a high-end rehabilitation center to recover and to seek the help of a psychiatrist renowned for his work with memory recovery. As Dr. Forrester works with Gabby—interviewing not only her but her overbearing fiancée, her emotionally fragile brother, and the local detective working the case—questions about Gabby’s story, her past, and the ethics of memory recovery emerge.
Dr. Forrester, the central voice of Walker’s breakout debut All Is Not Forgotten, is a fascinating and deeply complicated character, barreling toward the truth of the case at hand while wrestling with the demons of his own past. Shocking and succinct, Hold Your Breath will have you on the edge of your seat from the first minute to the last.
©2020 Wendy Walker (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Review:
Gabby has reported that she has survived an encounter with a serial killer. She checks herself into a rehabilitation center where she hopes to be safe and where she can seek the skills of Dr. Forrester, a renowned psychiatrist. Dr. Forrester experienced a traumatic event after gaining fame a few years before while helping to solve a mystery with his work in memory recovery. He doesn’t see patients anymore, but Gabby has specifically sought him out. Forrester interviews Gabby, her fiancé and her strange, damaged brother. He obtains file notes and information from the local detective on the case.

Dr. Forrester is also spending time with a young patient, Billie, who diligently observes the other patients, sets up projection models and eagerly shares them with the Doctor. Billie has questions about Gabby, but the Doctor explains that he can’t share any information with her.

While Dr. Forrester is ruminating on the facts and evidence surrounding Gabby’s event, he also shares rambling memories from his own past. Slowly the reader gets a better understanding of Gabby and Dr. Forrester that results in a twisted climax.

I liked the intrigue and psychological twists in this mystery. There were several suspects to work through and good details and clues to piece together. This was a quick read/listen and I will be interested to read more by Ms. Walker. I recommend this to fans of psychological mystery. I think you’ll get a kick out of the ending.

Audio Notes: Dylan Baker does an excellent job as narrator. He carries the mysterious tone while providing clear and perfectly fitting cadence and emphasis. The narration added to the twisting story.

Source: October 24, 2020 free with Audible Plus Catalogue. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021Audiobook and 2021Alphabet goals.

Audible Book Review: Snowflakes by Ruth Ware

I snagged this as I thought this was a good way to try Ware as a new-to-me author. It is a quick, engaging story.
Snowflakes
Hush Collection
By: Ruth Ware
Narrated by: Jess Nahikian

Series: Hush Collection
Length: 57 mins
Release date: 07-30-20
Genre: Collection, Mystery, Short Story, Thriller & Suspense
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.

Publisher's Summary
When a barrier between truth and illusion grows stronger, a family’s trust crumbles in this arresting short story by the number one New York Times 

bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10.
Leah has spent her formative years isolated on a remote island with her family. But their quiet existence, far from the devastated mainland, is cracking. Father, sensing a coming threat, demands that a wall be built. As the stone blockade rises, Father’s paranoia escalates. So does Leah’s dread that the violence the family left behind has found its way to their sanctuary.
Ruth Ware’s Snowflakes is part of Hush, a collection of six stories, ranging from political mysteries to psychological thrillers, in which deception can be a matter of life and death. Each piece can be read or listened to in one truly chilling sitting.
©2020 Ruth Ware. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Review:
Leah has lived on a remote island with her father and siblings. Her father has insisted that they have to remain away from the war ridden mainland where their mother was shot and killed. Now Father is obsessed with building a stone blockade around their small cottage. He drives Leah and another brother to get up early and go gather the rocks needed for the wall. When they resist or don’t work hard enough he punishes them. Leah puzzles at his actions but she really becomes concerned when her father pulls their eldest brother away from work in the food gardens which is necessary for their survival.

The children are becoming more and more fearful of what is coming. When confrontation arrives they are shocked.

I picked this story up because I had not yet read anything by Ms. Ware (and the Audible was free). Ms. Ware creates a very real scene with believable, real to life characters. The development of the story and mystery is very well done, and I didn’t catch on to the truth of the situation until just before it is revealed. Although this was short, I felt the situation and characters were well developed.

Audio Notes: Jess Nahikian does a good job with the narration. She provides distinct voices and her inflection enhanced the mystery of the Story. I am glad that I had the chance to listen to this.

Source: August 2020 Free Audible Plus. This qualifies for 2020TBR goal.