How To Download Audiobooks in Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective Top Rated

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Title: Hard Candy

Subtitle: A Burke Novel #4

Author: Andrew Vachss

Narrator: Phil Gigante

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-15-10

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 54 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

In this mercilessly compelling thriller, Burke - the private eye, sting artist, and occasional hit man who metes out a cruelly ingenious vengeance on those who victimize children - is up against a soft-spoken messiah who may be rescuing runaways or recruiting them for his own hideous purposes. But in doing so, Burke becomes a target for an entire Mafia family, a whore with a heart of cyanide, and a contract killer as implacable as a heart-seeking missile. Written with Vachss' signature narrative overdrive - and with his unnerving familiarity with the sub-basement of American crime - Hard Candy is vintage Burke.

Critic Reviews:

"Theres no way to put a [Vachss book] down once youve begun.... The plot hooks are engaging and the one-liners pierce like bullets. (Detroit Free Press)

"Burke fills a void.... With his soiled white hat, this Lone Ranger...asks difficult questions while shining light into the darkest recesses. (Chicago Tribune)

Members Reviews:

Still great to listen to again...

I received this book back in 1991 in a care package while deployed in the military. Vachss writing style hooked me from the first few paragraphs, and I reread the book a second time immediately when finished.

Fast forward to now, and listening brought old memories and new feelings for Hard Candy. Phil Gigante does a superb job reading. He is right on voice acting wise, in my opinion with each character. Amazing work on a great book.

As a side note, not for the squeamish at heart.

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Title: Caught

Author: Harlan Coben

Narrator: Carrington MacDuffie

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-23-10

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 42 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

From the number-one New York Times best-selling master of suspense comes a fast-paced, emotion-packed novel about guilt, grief, and our capacity to forgive.

Seventeen-year-old Haley McWaid is a good girl, the pride of her suburban New Jersey family, captain of the lacrosse team, headed off to college next year with all the hopes and dreams her doting parents can pin on her. Which is why, when her mother wakes one morning to find that Haley never came home the night before, and three months quickly pass without word from the girl, the community assumes the worst.

Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission, to identify and bring down sexual predators via elaborate and nationally televised sting operations. Working with local police on her news program Caught in the Act, Wendy and her team have publicly shamed dozens of men by the time she encounters her latest target. Dan Mercer is a social worker known as a friend to troubled teens, but his story soon becomes more complicated than Wendy could have imagined.

In a novel that challenges as much as it thrills, filled with the astonishing tension and unseen suburban machinations that have become Coben's trademark, Caught tells the story of a missing girl, the community stunned by her loss, the predator who may have taken her, and the reporter who suddenly realizes she can't trust her own instincts about this story - or the motives of the people around her.

Members Reviews:

Caught me

I truly hated/loved this book. It was the first mystery I can remember where I just had to skip to the end to find out who did what, when and how. I loved everyone even the so called pedophile which I KNEW was innocent--right? I rooted for the broken hearted father who killed the bad guy because the guy was a pedophile and we all hate pedophiles, but then I thought what if the guy was set up and was not a pedophile, so maybe the vigilante didn't really kill him--huh? I was on the side of the cheesy tabloid "reporter" whose "caught ya" journalism I hate in real life.

By the fifth chapter, I HAD to stop and check out the end to confirm that my values had not changed--and the bad guys really was good and how and why they pulled it off.

Doing so ruined the book for me because I just couldn't go back and subject myself to more disorientating emotions toward people that if they knew what I knew wouldn't act the way they do...even though I knew that they were acting perfectly normal for the information they had at the section of the book.

Confusing, yeah, now you know how I felt.

One of the truly best mysteries for someone who ALWAYS knows who done it.

Wow!!

I loved this book and the narrator! I was hooked from the beginning and I love books like that. This is Harlen at his best!!!

Good "read"

I liked the storyline. I didn't like the back and forth dual narrators. I have been listening to Scott Brick narrate so long that I got mad when I heard Hester and Flair done by someone else. They didn't sound "right". Go back to Scott Brick please.

Very enjoyable!

I really can't pinpoint any one thing that I loved about this book. But when I finished, I thought back and said... "that was a great book". Loved the ending also!

Pretty good

Keep me listening to see how the story ended. Enjoyed the storyline and the ending.

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Title: 9th Judgement

Subtitle: The Women's Murder Club, Book 9

Author: James Patterson

Narrator: Carolyn McCormick

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-23-10

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

A psychopathic killer targets San Franciscos most innocent and vulnerable

A young mother and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down while returning to their car in the garage of a shopping mall. There are no witnesses, and Detective Lindsay Boxer is left with only one shred of evidence: a cryptic message scrawled across the windshield in blood-red lipstick.

The same night, the wife of A-list actor Marcus Dowling walks in on a cat burglar who is about to steal millions of dollars worth of precious jewels. In just seconds there is an empty safe, a lifeless body, and another mystery that throws San Francisco into hysteria.

Before Lindsay and her friends can piece together either case, one of the killers forces Lindsay to put her own life on the line but is it enough to save the city?

Members Reviews:

Big disappointment

Perhaps my mistake was to listen to Stieg Larsson's excellent Millennium trilogy immediately before Patterson's/Paetro's jointly-written 9th Judgement, but while the former is a gripping experience from first page to last (all 64 hours of it) superbly read by Saul Reichlin, the latter unfortunately is a huge disappointment. I would never argue that Larsson's heroine is remotely believable, but the characters in his three books are very well-drawn, the storylines are complex and engaging, and everything comes together to a satisfying conclusion. The 9th Judgement however is full of unbelievable and ill-defined characters with whom it is almost impossible to empathise, and it has a storyline that one of your other reviewers described accurately as "repulsive". There is a lack of cohesion about the whole piece, and the finale is weak. There is also a complete section after the main denouement that seems as though it's just been bolted on for no apparent reason. The use of music at many stages in the reading is distracting and inappropriate, and is quite unlike the effective use of music in Audible's unabridged version of Frank Herbert's "Dune" (another great audiobook). I'll try another Patterson book from Audible in due course since he is clearly a much better writer than is evidenced here, but it won't be from this Women's Murder Club series. I really wanted to like this book when I downloaded it, but I'm afraid it just didn't work for me.

Is this a joke?

Utter rubbish. The plot is absurd, the characters absurd also. I gave up half way - I just couldn't take it any more.

9th Judgement (Unabridged)

I was very disappointed with this audio book for a number of reasons. First, the narration was over dramatic and slightly wooden. Second, the story is poor and finally the sound effects are very distracting and out of place. Not a book to be recommended.

Just get a divorce, people!

I was seriously disappointed by this audiobook.

First of all, if your husband beats and rapes you and you'd rather be with your lesbian g/f anyway, JUST GET A DIVORCE! No need to become a cat burglar first.

Second, if you're tired of your wife or husband and would rather be with somebody else's wife or husband, BOTH JUST GET A DIVORCE! No need to shoot the wife.

As for the main serial killer plot, it's quite horrid and shocking, but that's about it.

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Title: Murder in the Palais Royal

Author: Cara Black

Narrator: Carine Montbertrand

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-17-10

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Cara Black has won fans around the globe for her Paris-based mysteries starring Aimée Leduc. When suspicion falls on Aimée after her partner is shot, the beleaguered sleuth must race to prevent more violence.

Critic Reviews:

"The buzz is partly about her heroines hip, next generation, cutting-edge investigations and partly about Paris, a setting of unrivaled charm. (Houston Chronicle)

Members Reviews:

Good Book, Lousy Narration

This is the first Aimee Leduc novel I've had in audio, and its a good story. The narration, however, is not! It took me about 2 chapters to get used to the style and delivery (or rather to be able to ignore it!)

Some of the pronunciation of French words is very good, but then at other times it is just Americanised with an accent. This is a pity because the 'good accent' would have worked very well if it had been used for the whole book.

As it is, I find myself cringing in places, which rather detracts from the story.

I will be looking up other books by this narrator (Carine Montbertrand) so that I avoid them!

Given the narrator's name, I would have thought she had a french (possibly Canadian?) background... perhaps this is another case of us in the UK getting an audio book primarily produced for the US market.... ? (There are 4 Aimee Leduc books on Audible.com (US) and she seems to be the 'series narrator'... so to answer my own question: YES!)

***** for the story

** for the narration

Overall *** (3 stars) Pity!

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Title: Mallets Aforethought

Author: Sarah Graves

Narrator: Lindsay Ellison

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-04-10

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 55 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

When DIY enthusiast Jacobia Jake Tiptree and her friend, Ellie White, agree to refurbish Eastport's most disreputable old dwelling, Harlequin House, pulling up the floorboards reveals something far more sinister than dry rot. A hidden trapdoor unearths the skeleton of a notorious 1920s flapper with a fresh corpse sitting neatly beside her. With a good old-fashioned Maine murder on their hands, Jake and Ellie are hot on the trail of the murderer - but this time more than their reputations may be on the line.

Members Reviews:

Good

What did you love best about Mallets Aforethought?

I was slightly let down but I think it's because I prefer it when the main characters aren't in the hot seat, so to speak. A good book but not her best in my opinion.

EXCELLENT STORY, WELL WRITTEN BOOK. READ IT!

What did you love best about Mallets Aforethought?

THIS STORY IS AN EXCELLENT MYSTERY, BUT IN SUCH A COZY, FUNNY FASHION. JAKE IS FULL OF QUIPS WHICH ARE KEEPERS TO USE ON YOUR HUSBAND AND FRIENDS WHEN THEY LEAST EXPECT IT. AN EXCITING STORY LINE, ALL OF SARAH GRAVES BOOKS, I RE-LISTEN TOO, AND I JUST NEVER DO THAT WITH ANY OTHER AUTHOR. I SEEM TO SHOCK AUDIBLE WHEN I NEED THERE HELP WITH WHERE TO PUT ALL THESE BOOKS, THEY CAN SEE I AM A READER. CHASING VILLAINS IN EVERY BOOK IN THE MOST JOYOUS PART OF MY DAY OR NIGHT. DO CHECK THIS ONE OUT FOR FUN, IS SO WORTH THE CREDIT OR MONEY ON SALE.

Who was your favorite character and why?

JACOBA TRIPTREE, SAM, AND WAYNE. ELLY, I WOULD LOVE TO MEET OR HAVE SARAH GRAVES HAVE A STORY LINE WITH HER AS THE LEAD CHARACTER AND JAKE TAKING UP "THE WATSON" CHARACTER. WE COULD HAVE STORIES TILL SARAH GRAVES IS A VERY OLD LADY, LIVING LARGE IN HER BEAUTIFUL HOUSE.

Which character as performed by Lindsay Ellison was your favorite?

ELLY

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

OH MY, YES!

Any additional comments?

DO NOT HESITATE TO GET THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT A GREAT READ, AND BE HAPPY THAT YOU BOUGHT IT.

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Title: The Abominable Man

Subtitle: A Martin Beck Police Mystery

Author: Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö

Narrator: Tom Weiner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-16-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 74 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

As the tension builds and a feeling of impending danger grips Beck, his investigation unearths evidence of police corruption. That's when an even stronger sense of responsibility and something like shame urge him into taking a series of drastic steps, which lead to a shocking disaster.

Critic Reviews:

"A taut, gripping narrative....A book you won't easily put down." (Chicago Tribune)

"The Martin Beck books are exemplary police procedurals....The Abominable Man is worthy of its predecessors in this much admired series." (Washington Post)

Members Reviews:

Hmmmm

I know this is part of what many see as transformational writing in police/crime fiction. And I enjoyed it - but in the end I found it pretty blah.

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Title: Judas Child

Author: Carol O'Connell

Narrator: Erika Leigh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-24-09

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 205 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Rouge doesn't want to hear this. He's spent the last 15 years trying to avoid the memories. A little girl has haunted his dreams all these years - and he has three days to finally put her to rest.

Filled with rich prose, resonant characters, and knife-edged suspense that have won so many fans, Judas Child is Carol O'Connell's most powerful novel yet.

Members Reviews:

Good book, bad narrator..

I had a hard time getting through this book only because of the narrator, Erika Leigh. She should read children's books. She doesn't have the voice for this kind of book.

I really like Carol O'Connell's books and have listened to many of them and alway gave a four star rating. Not this time. The narrator was terrible in my opinion

WOW

My 40 year old daughter and I both enjoyed this book very much. It keeps you on the edge of your seat from the very begiinning. I loved the two young girl characters - espectially the one with the "actress" personality. What a slam bang ending. I don't think you will see it coming.

Horrible narrator

I would really like to have heard this book, but I just had to stop. The narrator sounds like she is reading headlines for the six o'clock news. I kept checking my iPod to see if perhaps I had set it to the fast speed. Nope. So, I tried to correct by putting it on slow speed. That didn't work either. I finally had to give up. The sing-song staccato with no sense of pacing is just too maddening. Too bad. Sounded like a good story.

WOW!

I know this book deals with a dark topic but that said all I can say is wow! I really liked this book. There were more than a few idintifiable characters. I especially like how much time was spent developing the character of the two girls. I especially liked Sadie as the protagonist. This book is a page turner and will not dissapoint.

just okay

Spoilers. be warned. the book left me feeling dissatisfied. to many unanswered questions. the ending fell flat because she didn't do a good job of accounting for what happened in half the book. the book felt unfinished to me. why did the priest and fbi agent have same eyes? was sadie's body in that grave the entire time? the priest was the only priest the doctor could confess too? didn't like the character development. needed more to understand why the main characters acted add they did.

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Title: Murder at the Savoy

Subtitle: A Martin Beck Police Mystery

Author: Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö

Narrator: Tom Weiner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-04-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 83 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

When Viktor Palmgren, a powerful Swedish industrialist, is shot during his after-dinner speech in the luxurious Hotel Savoy, it sends a shiver down the spine of the international money markets and puts the tiny town of Malmö on edge. No one can identify the gunman when Martin Beck takes over the scene and finds a web so despicable that it's hard to imagine who wouldn't want Palmgren dead.

©1971 Random House, Inc.; (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews:

"Lively, stylistically taut...Sjöwall and Wahlöö have changed the genre." (Henning Mankell)

Members Reviews:

Martin Beck finds himself assisting in an investigation at a foreign hotel.

This is one of the series of Swedish police detective novels featuring lead investigator Martin Beck and his colleagues in the

Stockhom--later the National-- Homicide Squad. They begin in the mid-1960's and go to about 1975. These

fictional detectives not only deal with the grit and miasma of urban police work, they also see the massive social

changes in what the two authors themselves describe as "the welfare state" of Sweden in that era. Some of these novels

mirror incidents which happened in the USA or Britain during this time, but there is also a definite Swedish feel and background

to these stories, and a nostalgic longing for the unique architecture of old Stockholm, much of which was torn down in the '60's to

faciltate modern urban growth.

It's the writing, stupid.

This novel, the sixth in the series, seems to have more red herrings than the previous 5 put together. The suspect isn't found until the last ten pages or so and then practically by accident. So you have to ask yourself - why am I still turning the pages only to discover that each detective winds up in a blind alley? And the answer is - it's the writing, stupid. It is so engaging, it flows so effortlessly, spilling over interesting characters and situations that the reader has to go on even if he's no closer to the murderer on page 100 than he was on page 1. This may be the only series of detective novels in which the reader doesn't care whodunit. You want the book to continue even as Martin Beck is traveling back to his lonely apartment, which means you'll have to read the next one in the series - and the one after that.

Read for Both Entertainment and Historical Interest

Maj Sjowall is an important writer for any mystery addict. It's my understanding that his police procedurals helped to set the stage for the popularity of that form. Historically, the novels are set in Sweden in the 60s at a time when that country was beginning to undergo dramatic socioeconomic changes. As a reader whose grandparents came from that area of the world (Norway, actually) I found the historical references fascinating, particularly the socioeconomic impact of refugees moving into the country and the changes taking place as the country was slowly becoming what the author frequently refers to as a "welfare state." The author's reflections on change, particularly from the viewpoint of a cop with a jaded but still compassionate view of the problems of poverty, industrialization and capitalism tells us much about the global problems we face today.

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Title: A Guilty Thing Surprised

Subtitle: A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 5

Author: Ruth Rendell

Narrator: Christopher Ravenscroft

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-04-09

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 16 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Elizabeth Nightingale found peace and tranquility on her nightly walks through the rich, dense forests surrounding Myfleet Manor. But the peace she treasured was shattered one night when she found death waiting in the woods.

Chief Inspector Wexford and his colleague, Inspector Burden, find a most unsavory case on their hands - and must use all their wit and wisdom to solve it.

Members Reviews:

Long Read

Well written but way to long. I found myself feeling like a kid who has to finish the book for homework a d really you just want to go out to play

Kudos Inspector Wexler

A clever, enjoyable mystery, as is usual for Ms Rendell.

Another compelling mystery

I've always enjoyed Ruth Rendell's novels. She has a vivid imagination and intrigue with a high intelligence for the reader.

Very very good.

Ruth Rendell is one of the best ever. I love her.

Good, well written but felt a bit ârushedâ at ...

Good, well written but felt a bit ârushedâ at the end. As if the book was due and she had to hurry to finish. Big buildup with a somewhat disappointing end.

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Title: The Zebra-Striped Hearse

Subtitle: A Lew Archer Novel

Author: Ross Macdonald

Narrator: Tom Parker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-18-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 66 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Modern Detective

Publisher's Summary:

Strictly speaking, Lew Archer is only supposed to dig up the dirt on a rich man's suspicious soon-to-be son-in-law. But in no time at all, Ross Macdonald's private eye is following a trail of corpses from the citrus belt to Mazatlan. And then there is the zebra-striped hearse and its crew of beautiful, sunburned surfers, whose path seems to keep crossing the son-in-law's - and Archer's - in this powerful, fast-paced novel of murder on the California coast.

©1990 Margaret Millar Survior's Trust Fund; (P)2001 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews:

"Macdonald is one of the elite in hard-boiled mystery fiction....Parker's rendition is a first-class reading." - (AudioFile)

"A model of [Macdonald's] excellence...has character, statement, and style." (New Yorker)

"This is hard-boiled detective writing at the top of its form." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

A Great Series & an Addition with Plenty of Twists

This story provides all that you would hope for in its genre and adds some great twists. By the time it wraps up you're not left in confusion, the pieces all fit.

Enjoyed it

Good story, excellent narrator. I had a little trouble following it, especially with all the different characters, so by the end I had almost completely given up on trying to guess the culprit and was just along for the ride! It was still enjoyable. My first Lew Archer novel, and the first detective story I've listened to. The story is captivating, and it picks up and slows down pretty well, keeping you interested throughout.

Tom Parker was excellent. Perfect for this kind of book. If I had tried to imagine the voice of a tough, private detective, I would have thought of exactly his voice in this narration. I really liked this book and will look for more by Ross Macdonald and/or Tom Parker.

Lew Archer at his best

For my money The Zebra-Striped Hearse shows Ross Macdonald at the top of his writing. The story is less violent and more psychologically-nuanced than earlier books on the series. The plot is brilliantly developed with the twists and turns needed to maintain suspense and element of surprise. The writing is both graceful and spare, perfectly capturing the essentials of the detective noir genre. My only complaint is the title which turns out to be something of a red herring -- or maybe that's entirely intentional. I won't say anything further lest I give away a spoiler alert.