HAVE YOU SEEN MY SON

I liked "Have You Seen My Son" to a certain point. It was a good story told in first person but I felt it was drawn out with too much inconsequential information. Lael's son Ace has been kidnapped by his father and it seems the story was more about Lael and less about Ace. For the length of the story, it would have been much better had there been alternating chapters with Ace and his father as well as Lael and her lawyer, adding more depth to the overall finished book.

Adding another point of view would have made this journey much more intriguing and less monotonous for me. The story started out good and while it's morally wrong, it's sadly not always illegal to snatch your own child when there's no custody order in place. It should be. When a parent has temporary custody, said parent should be protected from this. And sadly, in many cases the victim parent's only recourse is to snatch the child back which in itself is illegal if the parent is caught trying to do so. Family law is tricky in this department and unfortunately it is considered a domestic dispute.

Overall, this was an interesting story but about halfway through it felt flat and one-sided for me. I wanted to hear more suspense and perhaps Mike's point of view as well as Ace. I would still recommend this audiobook. It's definitely not bad. Just a little lengthy with a single point of view.

Becket Royce did a terrific job narrating this book. She kept the story moving forward with great voice inflections. She's the reason I kept listening. I like her style and she's proven to be a very skilled voice actor. I would hope to hear more from both her and Jack Olsen in the future.

AUDIOBOOK RECEIVED IN EXCHANGE FOR AN UNBIASED REVIEW.

4 people found this helpful

A high emotion thriller a Mom looking for her son

* I received a free copy of this audiobook through AudioBookBlast dot com in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

Lael and Mike Pritcher are the parents of a five year old boy named Alex, but they call him Ace. Ace is a product of their eight year marriage.

Unfortunately Lael and Mike have been separated for the past four months. Lael has custody, but she encourages Mike to see Ace as much as possible. Despite their differences, Lael does not want to deprive Ace of the experience of having his father in his life.

Mike has always been self-centered. He never took Lael or her business seriously. Despite her success in owning and operating a flourishing organic herb farm, he has always referred to the farm as “her little hobby.” He belittled Lael constantly and even went as far as to call her “frigid” if she didn’t consent to having sex every night of the week. Mike cared only about himself and his aging mother who lives close-by and who is way too involved in her married son’s life. Mike is what you would call a “Mama’s Boy.”

Divorce between Lael and Mike was inevitable and when creating the Separation Agreement and the upcoming divorce, the two were able to come to amicable terms on every issue except one: the custody of their son.

When Mike realized that Lael would more than likely be awarded full custody of Ace in the divorce, he went crazy.

Lael thwarted an attempt by Mike to spirit Ace away and things between them calmed down for a few weeks. Then came every mother’s nightmare: Ace is kidnapped.

Lael was determined to get him back. She is a mother and she loves her child. Anyone who has ever given birth will understand the fierce feelings of protectiveness that mother’s feel for their children. (Yes, I know, fathers feel protective of their children too.) Mike was able to spirit Ace away and planned to never return.

As days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, Lael starts to wonder if maybe Ace is gone forever. But, she refuses to give up hope. She takes it upon herself to find her son and to bring him home where he belongs.

This audiobook is expertly narrated. Beckett Royce has a terrific voice and her pacing is sheer perfection. She is able to infuse her words with just the right amount of emotion and emphasis. She does not ‘over-act’ which is sometimes an issue with audiobook narration. I rate the narration of this audiobook as 5 out of 5 stars.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As for the content of the audiobook I enjoyed it, but I did find that it felt a bit too drawn out at times. Some of the less dramatic scenes could have been eliminated. However, I believe that the author wrote it that way for a reason. I believe she wanted to convey to the reader that searching for a missing child is not easy and that there are days when the searcher despairs of ever finding her child alive.

This audiobook took multiple twists and turns. Listeners will alternately hope and despair along with Lael as she chases down every lead with relentless determination.

I would have liked to have had an epilogue at the end of the audiobook to neatly wrap up a few of the details, and it might have been interesting to have a few chapters written from Mike’s perspective to allow the listener some insight as to what he was thinking.

Overall I enjoyed this audiobook and I rate it as 4 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

FAVORITE QUOTE:

“Words: the neutron bombs of marriage.”

3 people found this helpful

Excellent Story! Excellent Narrator!

What can I say? I just really REALLY liked this book. I love the story of the desperate mother who will do anything to get her missing son back.

I found myself feeling for her every time she got close to cornering her ex-husband and her kidnapped son wanting it to be the end of her story with her getting her son back and her fugitive ex-husband going to jail. I can only imagine the anguish that a desperate mother must go through in something like this.

I loved the narrator as well. She did a fantastic job of relaying all of the emotions that this woman felt as she chased her son across the country and down into Mexico. There were really only two male voices; the ex-husband and the lawyer who was trying to help her, and Beckett Royce gave each of them a distinct, male sounding voice.

I love this book. I just wish I had listened to it earlier.

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

2 people found this helpful

Have you seen my son?

Any additional comments?

Five year old Alexander,Ace to his mom, leaves with his dad for an overnight stay.The next morning comes and dad and Ace are long gone.This starts the long,drawn out story of one moms search for her missing son.While the story was good,it could have been more enjoyable shortened by an hour or two.
Becket Royce did a wonderful job narrating this book.
"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com."

2 people found this helpful

Fantastic read!

This book is a suspense thriller about a marriage gone dead and a custody battle of a five year old boy. Dad child-snatches his son and takes off for parts unknown. Mom is hell bent on finding her son and getting him back. Over the course of a years time, mom searches the US and Mexico looking for her boy. Read along with the book to see how events unfold and what lengths each parent will go to and how the law reacts.

The author, Jack Olsen did an awesome job writing this book. The plot is excellent. I was on the edge of my seat hoping for a good ending. There is one spot in the book that had me gripping the arms of my chair! that would be on the river, at the falls. The narrator did an excellent job delivering this story to us. With multiple voices and accents, along with raw emotions! What a story!!! Good job to you both! A definite 5 star read!

2 people found this helpful

First Jack Olsen fiction for me didn't satisfy

I'm a fan of quality true crime and Jack Olsen fits that bill. I did not realize that this was fiction when I received it. It's not horrible, the female narrator is competent, but the story felt a bit forced and overly long (or perhaps I should say repetitious). If you're a fan of the true crime style, you might enjoy this. I found it competent, but not compelling.

I received this book from audiobookboom dot com at no charge in exchange for my fair and unbiased review.

1 person found this helpful

Started out good but then went on and........

Would you try another book from Jack Olsen and/or Becket Royce?

Jack Olsen has lately written very good researched informative books that kept my interest even when they were long as they were so informative and had such a good plot.

If you’ve listened to books by Jack Olsen before, how does this one compare?

No comparison with the informative ones.

Did Becket Royce do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

She did okay differentiating but overall did not like her voice from the beginning, a little shrill at times which grated.

Do you think Have You Seen My Son? needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I wouldn't be interested in a follow up. I had enough of this weak lady Lael.

Any additional comments?

Don't mean to repeat but researched subjects, be it animal or whatever, make a great story for me. Thank you

1 person found this helpful

Loved it

This isn't the type of book I usually read so I almost didn't. So glad I did. Very tense and shows the true extent of a mothers love!

1 person found this helpful

Gripping story about tireless' mom search for son

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Have You Seen My Son is a simple story about a woman estranged from her husband, who abducts their 5 year old in a desperate attempt to flee because he knew he wouldn't get custody. The 10 hour story spans Lael's search for father and son through Canada and Mexico. The book singularly focuses on this kidnapping; If I wrote this story, I would have wound another mystery, as is common in most mystery.thriller stories.

I also did not enjoy the character of Lael (the mother. She seemed to sympathize with her husband (!?!) and was hyper vigilante at some times while casually attending to her gardensing business at other points in the book.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting aspect of the book was the imagery and abuse stories in Mexico. The least interesting part of the story was Lael's musings and defense of her jerk estranged husband.

Could you see Have You Seen My Son? being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I would not make this book into a movie as I'm sure it has been a Lifetime movie theme several times over.

1 person found this helpful

The Fight Worth Listening To

This novel takes you through the desperate flight of a mother trying to find her son stolen by her son's father. It keeps you on the edge of your seat at each close encounter and builds on a wonderful character arch that keeps you listening for more.

The narrator. Becket Royce, was wonderful to listen to. Her narration was perfectly spaced and has rich tones that are well suited to the ears. She truly brought each character to life adding in superb character inflection exactly when needed.

This book was given in exchange for an honest review.

1 person found this helpful