Samyann
Written by Matthew Fitzsimmons, narrated by James Patrick Cronin, an unabridged Audiobook twelve hours in length. This version was released by Brilliance Audio in December of 2015 and has many five star ratings and excellent reviews. The audiobook was offered in an Audible Daily Deal, so I jumped.
A United States senator’s fourteen year old daughter runs away. Ten years pass. The senator is now a leading candidate for the presidency and a photograph of his daughter’s Hello Kitty backpack appears in a mysterious email. The ball starts rolling to find out what happened to her, where she is, why she ran away, or who took her. Thus is the thrust of The Short Drop.
Why I liked this story. There are many possible suspects, several potential evil doers to consider. Her on-line boyfriend, parents, her father’s support staff, relatives. The story includes an interesting sub-plot involving the suicide of the father of the main protagonist, a childhood friend determined to uncover the mystery. I enjoy a well written suspense novel, and The Short Drop qualifies as a terrific who-done-it. It’s also fun to become engrossed in a ‘page turner’.
Not so hot. It took quite a while to get into the rhythm of the narrator. Although the pace is good and Cronin has unique voices for some of the characters, there was just something … off. Breathy? Over-emoting? But, over time this seemed to level out, or I just stopped cringing because I became so enthralled with the story. You’ll have no trouble discerning who-says-what-to-who.
At this writing, there is only one Matthew FitzSimmons audiobook available, however it appears this is book one in a series and book two is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. I look forward to the audiobook sequel. An excellent mystery by a new author, well worth your investment.
Enjoy!
