?Have You Heard??Audiobooks For Your Listening Pleasure?Working Fire by Emily Bleeker?Narrated by Kate Rudd?

Working Fire by Emily Bleeker
Published by Brilliance Audio, Lake Union Publishing on August 29, 2017
Genres: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Pages: 313
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 154204572X
ASIN: B0748RT4HF
Goodreads

From the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When I’m Gone comes a compelling novel of a bond between sisters, tested by tragedy…

Ellie Brown thought she’d finally escaped her stifling hometown of Broadlands, Illinois; med school was supposed to be her ticket out. But when her father has a stroke, she must return home to share his care with her older sister, Amelia, who’s busy with her own family. Working as a paramedic, Ellie’s days are monotonous, driving an ambulance through streets she’d hoped never to see again.

Until a 911 dispatch changes everything. The address: her sister’s house. Rushing to the scene, Ellie discovers that Amelia and her husband, Steve, have been shot in a home invasion. After Amelia is rushed to the hospital, Ellie tries to make sense of the tragedy. But what really happened inside her sister’s house becomes less and less clear. As Amelia hangs on in critical condition, Ellie uncovers dark revelations about her family’s past that challenge her beliefs about those closest to her…and force her to question where her devotions truly lie.

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#Sisters #Paramedics #Firefighters #FamilyDrama @Emily_Bleeker @katerudd

There are times when I don’t know where to begin writing a review. Working Fire is my first book by Emily Bleeker and there isn’t any question she is an author who knows how to develop a detailed storyline. There is so much going on in this book, and that may explain why I don’t know where to begin. First, there is the family dynamic. Ellie and Amelia are sisters who are very close to each other and to their father, a retired fire chief in the small town of Broadlands. Because of the premature death of their mother, the older sister Amelia becomes almost a mother figure for Ellie. When their father has a stroke, there isn’t any question in their minds that the two of them will take over his care even though Ellie must drop out of medical school. The author does an excellent job of showing us their strong family bond but there is one fly in the family ointment . . . Amelia’s husband, Steve, a man Ellie has looked up to most of her life and whom I mostly despised throughout the entire book, wants Daddy to be institutionalized. Second, there are some pretty shady goings-on in Broadlands featuring the despicable Steve, a shifty stranger from out of town, and possibly Steve’s brother Caleb who was Amelia’s high school boyfriend before he had a complete personality change. Third, Ellie has a fiancé, another character I mostly despised, but she also has a cop friend who likes her quite a bit so her relationships are in a state of flux. Will she get ever get to follow her dream and who will she take with her if she goes? The intricate plot unfolds as listeners get glimpses of the recent past through Amelia’s eyes while the present events are seen from Ellie’s perspective.

There is a lot of drama in Working Fire and narrator Kate Rudd is up to the task of performing the many characters that present themselves. I haven’t listened to any of her other work but she makes a story that is almost too detailed very easy to stick with.

Working Fire begins with a bang and, while the ending doesn’t fizzle, I think a lot of people are shaking their heads over how the author chose to resolve all the complexities she introduced. I’ve said it before — an author can write whatever he or she chooses. The reader or listener can accept or reject the work and, in a world where people disappoint other people every day, who am I to express disappointment in fictional characters? I do recommend Working Fire. I also recommend you turn off your plausibility alarm and get ready to say “hmmm.” As you listen, you will get my meaning.