🎧Have You Heard?🎧Audiobooks For Your Listening Pleasure🎧The Best of September🎧

#thegodofendings #jacquelineholland #saskiamaarleveld #thoseemptyeyes #charliedonlea #vivienneleheny #paybackindeath #jdrobb #susanericksen #hellostranger #katherinecenter #pattimurin 

For your listening pleasure this month, I’m offering up some books that have nothing in common except that I thoroughly enjoyed each one. In no particular order, we have a debut novel that borders on creepy as it delves into an age old question for which there is no good answer. Book two is a mystery that will have you shaking your head at the end as to why you couldn’t figure out the ending. Book three is the latest installment in one of my favorite series. My final selection is the monthly palette cleanser or beach read or whatever you want to entitle those books that take the psychos from other books right out of your head.

The God of Endings

By Jacqueline Holland

Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Have you ever wanted to live forever? I think The God of Endings may change your mind! I’m not sure what I expected when I downloaded this book; whatever it was, I was surprised and delighted by what I got! Collette LaSange is centuries old, thanks to her grandfather’s dubious gift of immortality. You will experience life with her across the years as she feels the love and sorrow and fear that all of us have in our comparatively brief existences except she experiences these emotions over and over and over. You may find it hard to believe Jacqueline Holland’s masterful prose is her debut novel. This is a story that is long and complex and yet, it flows so well that you will never find yourself wishing it would be over. The ending is one of those that won’t be perfect in everyone’s world, but it is perfect for Collette. Saskia Maarleveld gives a 5 star performance of characters that run the gamut from children to adults with all sorts of accents and historical perspectives.

Those Empty Eyes

By Charlie Donlea

Narrated by Vivienne Leheny 

I’ve read at least one other book in my life that I immediately wanted to start rereading as soon as I finished it. I’m going to add Those Empty Eyes to that short list. You may be wondering why I would want to reread or re-listen to a book immediately and I’m just going to say that the ending was so startling that I didn’t believe I’d actually heard it and wondered how I missed the clues that might have pointed me to this outcome. Alex Armstrong is the tragic heroine of the story. A teenaged girl whose family has been brutally murdered in her presence and who was wrongly tried for that murder is now an adult who has been exonerated and moved forward with her life. Understandably she is still haunted by her past and when she begins to uncover clues that might give her some answers and that tired word “closure”, readers and listeners might as well just jump on the roller coaster and hang on for the ride. If you figure out who the killer is before author Charlie Donlea and narrator Vivienne Leheny give you the answer, you’re a better sleuth than I am!

Payback in Death

By JD Robb

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

The month of September is always special because it means it’s time for our semi-annual visit with our favorite cop – Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYPSD. Payback in Death is a particularly interesting case because Darlin’ Eve is determined to prove that her first impression as to the culprit is the correct one and that those cop eyes of hers are her best weapon against those she has sworn to stand for – the dead whose lives have been unjustly taken. In this particular storyline, the dead she is standing for means even more because it involves a fellow cop whose life seems to have been taken as payback for nothing more than doing his job. Eve will engage her whole team as well as her favorite civilian consultant Roark to  find his killer even though none of the obvious suspects fit the motive that she is convinced exists for the crime. This is one of my favorite series because neither  author JD Robb, narrator Susan Ericksen, nor the storylines ever disappoint!

Hello Stranger

By Katherine Center

Narrated by Patti Murin

Hello Stranger qualifies as a beach read … definitely. There is nothing here that will spoil your relaxing vacation vibe. On the other hand, you may, as I did, become so engaged with the story and the characters that you will tell your family to go to lunch, and maybe even dinner, without you while you obsess over Joe and Sadie and a dog named Peanut. There is no question Katherine Center is at the top of her game and this book has it all … sweet girls, nice guys, tempered with sadness and there are a few mean girls thrown in to level the playing field. I’m just going to put it out there that I loved this story without qualification. Don’t start it unless you’re prepared to be captivated by Patti Murin’s narration of a genuine palate cleanser.

Thank You For Following Us at Literati Literature Lovers and Happy Listening in October!