Acquired Audiobook By: I started to listen to audiobooks in [2016] as a way to offset my readings of print books whilst noting there was a rumour about how audiobooks could help curb chronic migraines as you are switching up how your reading rather than allowing only one format to be your bookish choice. As I found colouring and knitting agreeable companions to listening to audiobooks, I have embarked on a new chapter of my reading life where I spend time outside of print editions of the stories I love reading and exchange them for audio versions. Through hosting for the Audiobookworm I’ve expanded my knowledge of authors who are producing audio versions of their stories whilst finding podcasters who are sharing their bookish lives through pods (ie. AudioShelf and Talking Audiobooks; see my sidebar). Meanwhile, I am also curating my own wanderings in audio via my local library who uses Overdrive for their digital audiobook catalogue whilst making purchase requests for audio CDs. It is a wonderful new journey and one I enjoy sharing – I am hoping to expand the percentage of how many audios I listen to per year starting in 2018.
I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Scared to Death” via Audiobookworm Promotions who is working directly with the author Rachel Amphlett in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
What initially prompted me to listen to Scared to Death & why I loved it:
I became keen on Police Procedurals in my twenties – those were the years where I watched all the Law & Order series on television – where my preference was for the Original series and Criminal Intent. I also watched a heap of NCIS – including getting caught up inside the spin-offs, but it’s the Original series which captured my heart – all because of Mark Harmon, as it was his character of Gibbs who truly anchoured me into the series overall. The ensemble cast was impressively connected – they had a chemistry of connection you love to find in a tight knit series such as this one.
As I was listening to Scared to Death, there were overtures of NCIS within how it was being written whilst the details of what make this a hard-boiled crime drama also echoed those memories of watching NCIS and feeling as if the series was pushing me to the very edge of where I could go with a crime drama. There is a certain layer of intensity I can handle and then, if it goes too far afield from there, I tend to pull back and seek lighter faire. I always knew NCIS was at the height of what I could appreciate whilst Criminal Intent on the opposite end of the spectrum was also winning the top spot for it’s own unique styling of how you shift focus from the crimes to the law and to the police in tandem.
Generally speaking, I do not oft seek out the harder hitting Suspense & Thrillers as I can only take so much visually – generally erring on caution as I am a sensitive hearted reader. Ergo, when I learnt about this series, there was a particular reviewer who was commenting about the aspects of it’s center core – of what is inclusive and what isn’t – of course, this is subjective per each reader, but something made me think perhaps this series was one I not only could handle but perhaps, one I would enjoy listening too.
From the very first moment I started listening to the narrating styling of Ms Campbell, I knew I had made a good choice – even if I knew going in – I was going to re-examine my ‘live on the edge of my seat’ listening experience such as the ones I had during NCIS – I was game for a dramatic crime series such as this one due to series I have been appreciating through Seventh Street Press. (ie. Hiro Hattori, Marjorie Trumaine, Anna Blanc and Samuel Craddock respectively – all of which you’ll happily find on my blog)
Scared to Death
"If you want to see your daughter alive again, listen carefully."
When the body of a snatched schoolgirl is found in an abandoned biosciences building, the case is first treated as a kidnapping gone wrong.
But Detective Kay Hunter isn't convinced, especially when a man is found dead with the ransom money still in his possession.
When a second schoolgirl is taken, Kay's worst fears are realized.
With her career in jeopardy - desperate to conceal a disturbing secret, Kay's hunt for the killer becomes a race against time before he claims another life.
For the killer, the game has only just begun....
Scared to Death is the first book in a new crime thriller series featuring Kay Hunter - a detective with a hidden past and an uncertain future....
If you like the Kim Stone series by Angela Marsons, Peter Robinson's DCI Banks series and the Erika Foster series by Robert Bryndza, discover Rachel Amphlett's new detective novels today.
Places to find the book:
ASIN: B076127JBZ
on 2nd October, 2017
Length: 8 hours, 27 minutes (unabridged)
Published by: Saxon Publishing