If you have every considered using an online dating service, author Wendy Corsi Staub’s latest novel may have you reconsidering that option.
Staub’s release, THE BLACK WIDOW, is the third installment in her Social Media series, but is a standalone book.
Narrator Allyson Ryan does a superb job giving distinct voices to all the characters. Her inflections and varied pace enhances the tension and emotions of the characters as the story is told.
Gaby Duran is trying to come to terms with the loss of her child and the divorce from her husband Ben that followed. At the urging of her cousin, Gaby decides to try an online dating service. At the same time, Ben has also decided to try the same service.
The couple, who still has feelings for one another, cross paths through the service. Meanwhile, Alex is on the same site and has a definite agenda when it comes to meeting someone new.
As the story unfolds, a number of men who have used the service simply disappear. It seems the disappearances occur every three months on a Friday. Mix in a pregnant woman, a couple of dedicated cops investigating the disappearances, and several unique dating service clients and you have a story filled with suspense, twists and turns, and intrigue.
When Ben is seen with a woman under suspicious circumstances and later can’t be reached, Gaby is determined to find answers and put her life back on track.
Staub blends suspense, modern culture and technology, romance, and heartbreak into an electrifying thriller you can’t put down or turn off. The story will keep you guessing as it holds you spellbound.
The characters are well developed and realistic. They embody people you may know and have traits you can relate to.
THE BLACK WIDOW will have you looking at things differently as you wonder ‘what if?’ The story flows smoothly and quickly with heart-stopping results.
The Black Widow by Wendy Corsi Staub, Social Media Series Book #3, Narrated by Allyson Ryan, Harper Audio, @2015, ISBN: 978-1481533355, Unabridged, Run Time: 11 Hours and 5 Minutes
FTC Full Disclosure – A copy of this audio book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. The thoughts are completely my own and given honestly and freely.
Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday. Have you ever used an online dating service or known someone who did? If so, were the results good or a bad experience?
*This post contains affiliate links.
I’ve been listening to a lot of audio books lately…in the car, while cooking and cleaning, doing yard work, just relaxing. I still enjoy the feel of a print copy of a book in my hands, but sometimes I need to be doing other things and an audio is the perfect way to ‘read’ and do what I have to do.
The two books I have to share with you today are both suspenseful and by authors I had not read before. One is a new release and the other is new on audio but a re-release of an older book. See audios also help you find books you missed that are ‘old but new again’ by being re-released.
When it comes to psychological thrills and suspense, author Nicci French knows how to draw readers in with TUESDAY’S GONE.
Narrator Beth Chalmers does an excellent job giving voice to the numerous characters and bringing them to life. Her English accent adds to the feel of the story, as her cadence pulls listeners into the fascinating plot of twists and turns.
Making a routine home visit a London social worker finds her psychotic client, Michelle Doyce, serving tea to a naked, decomposing corpse. With no way to identify the man, Chief Inspector Karlsson asks psychotherapist Frieda Klein to see what she can make of Michelle’s confused ramblings.
In time Frieda learns that the man is Robert Poole, an extraordinary con man who has touched many lives. As she discovers more, Frieda begins to wonder if Poole’s death was an attempt by someone from her past to pull her into the investigation. She tries to put the pieces together to determine if she will be the next victim.
TUESDAY’S GONE is told from a number of viewpoints and time frames. With the switching back and forth from the heroine to an unknown person, place and time; I wasn’t sure it would be easy to follow. It was, however, and the more I listened the further I was drawn in wanting to know how the psychological puzzle fit together.
The characters are well-developed and the story moves at a steady pace. Filled with suspense, just when you think you have something figures out the author adds a new twist will lead you in a different direction.
TUESDAY’S GONE is the second book in the Frieda Klein psychological thriller series by the internationally bestselling husband and wife writing team of Nicci Gerard and Sean French writing as Nicci French. While there are references to events in the first installment, BLUE MONDAY, readers/listeners will not be lost reading TUESDAY’S GONE as a stand alone.
This psychological thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat and then eagerly WAITING FOR WEDNESAY.
Author Nicci French’s website is http://www.niccifrench.co.uk/
Tuesday’s Gone by Nicci French, A Frieda Klein Novel, Performed by Beth Chalmers, Penguin Audio, @2013, ISBN: 978-1101605134, Unabridged, Digital Download, Listening Time: 12 Hours, 46 Minutes
FTC Full Disclosure - A digital download of this audio book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
Author Wendy Corsi Staub created a protagonist in Elizabeth Baxter that I both hated and loved. I hated her because she was continuously going over the same circumstances again and again in her head. I loved the character because those same flaws made her more realistic. Her fears were plausible and her actions what most of us would do in the same situation.
Narrator Allyson Ryan brings the characters to life with her delightful interruption. Her vocalization of Elizabeth’s fear and concern places the listener along side the protagonist as she agonizes with her worries.
Elizabeth Baxter is paranoid. She doesn’t have friends, she doesn’t socialize, she doesn’t go outside her home unless she absolutely has to and then she wears dark sunglasses and constantly looks over her shoulder. In the sleepy little village of Windmere Cove, RI, Elizabeth is living in fear. If her past catches up to her, she’s a dead woman.
As she considers five years has been long enough and she can finally make a friend or two, it happens. A card with no return address, just the message that sends Elizabeth’s world into a nosedive - ‘I know who you are.’
In the past Elizabeth had been Hollywood’s hottest young actress Mallory Eden. At the height of her career, a mysterious stalker had entered her life making it a living nightmare. Feeling she had no choice, Mallory had faked her own death and began a new life as Elizabeth.
It appears the stalker has found her. Frightened, Elizabeth isn’t sure what to do. Should she trust the locksmith she recently befriended after her house was broken into or her neighbor the cop? The more she learns about each, the less she knows what to do.
FADE TO BLACK will hold you spellbound as you come to feel Elizabeth’s paranoia. The twists and turns will make your breathless as you try to figure out who the real stalker is and why.
Staub has gone into great detail with her characters giving them both good and bad traits to keep you guessing. The story moves at a steady pace and is filled with an endless array of possible stalkers. This is a thriller that will have you second-guessing yourself.
Author Wendy Corsi Staub’s website is http://wendycorsistaub.com/
Fade To Black by Wendy Corsi Staub, Performed by Allyson Ryan, Harper Audio, @2013, ISBN: 978-0062285133, Unabridged, Digital Download, Listening Time: 10 Hours, 32 Minutes
FTC Full Disclosure - A digital download of this audio book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope your week is going okay so far. Have you given audio books a try yet? If so, what do you think? If not, why not?
