Tal Baur is a master storyteller

I was drawn to the two MCs from the first pages, their first meeting in Las Vegas was just, so beautifully written and engaging and I loved John Solo's interpretation of Cole's voice. Admittedly, I did become increasingly annoyed with Noah, though I understood his difficulty and fears in coming to terms with his sexuality, he kept his concerns in his head, rather than talking it out with his daughter and Cole, thankfully he eventually came to his senses.

This was a gripping, roller-coaster of a murder mystery but with an engaging love story.

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Tal Bauer stories and John Solo...

John Solo seems to be narrating all of Tal's stories at the mo [Whisper coming along shortly I understand], but he surely can't let him do The Jock? Not only is he far too old for a late teens story [and yes, that also includes Keira Andrews Amish trilogy], but I dread to think how many breathy comments, intonations AND how much mangling of the French language there would be 😕...anyhoo I digress. As far as this particular story is concerned, I thought he was OK, so I won't change my rating. The MC's are what mid/late 30's? One major criticism I have of him is that he's yet another narrator who doesn't seem to have a huge range of 'voices' in his locker, so one MC nearly always has a deeper voice [Noah and let's not forget Ethan from EotS] and one has a higher tone [I suppose we should be grateful that he's not monotonous as well]. He's much more suited to older characters voices.

***Book Review***

4.25 stars from me. Welcome back Tal, and thank goodness your mojo returned 🎉🎉🎉. Hopefully your annus horribilis has well and truly disappeared with the back of 2020!!

I loved the romance aspect of the story - it was obvious right from the get-go that Noah and Cole were well-suited, with Noah being in the late bloomer 'am I or aren't I' camp as far as being gay was concerned BUT he'd never acted on his feelings and had spent all his time since his 'amicable/acrimonious' divorce, looking after his daughter Katie and working his job for the FBI. Cole on the other hand, was out and proud in his job as an FBI profiler in DC, and when the two met at a conference in Las Vegas, sparks flew [cos of course what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas apparently 😉]. There was just an inevitability about it all, and when Noah had to return urgently to Des Moines the following morning, Cole was more than a little annoyed but took it on the chin...and of course, we all knew which profiler would be flying to Iowa to advise on the new murders that the serial killer they'd hoped had all but disappeared back into the woodwork, had committed.

I have to admit here that I could've cheerfully smacked Noah several times upside the head throughout the story for his careless/thoughtless/selfish attitude towards Cole...it seems that he only thought of himself and his daughter, and not about how his switching hot and cold would affect anyone but him and his little family of 1. However, there were several puddle of goo moments for me, and despite this story predominantly being a murder mystery, it was SO a romance too.

Now, as far as the mystery was concerned, I called it as soon as we were introduced to that person, and when Tal threw in that inescapable curveball towards the very end of the story, colour me gobsmacked 🤯🤯. Ingenious!!

Did I get my HEA?? You betcha, although not without some nail-biting moments towards the end.

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2 people found this helpful

Wonderful

I don't usually read suspense, or murder novels, but boy am I glad I did. This author was recommended because of the excellent writing style, and I now understand why. The book carried me away, the romance completely embraced me, and I even got into the tension around the murder mystery. My heart was broken and mended and swept away. I now want to read everything this author has written.

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Fantastic audio

I've already read this book in print and loved it, but the audio lived up to every expectation and then some. Brilliantly performed, with different characters even from one narrator. Tal Bauer's fantastic story telling with great narration - what's more to like?!

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2 people found this helpful

Romantic

Loved the build to happy ever after ending. Good story. No spoilers as had read book previously so knew the kiler.

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Just wow

I am speechless. I would give this more stars if I could. John solo did not just read this book, he performed it. Made the brilliant work of Tal Bauer come to life. Just wow. I haven’t stopped recommending this book since to moment I got to chapter 10. Just wow

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I can't stand it any longer

So this is about a special agent in charge who has the weird urge to imagine his daughter in place of every victim and go over and over all the gore and pain of every crime scene he knows. Page after page. How this man ever became a successful agent is a mystery.
Next to the constant wool gathering about murder victims, he is obsessively telling himself he can't be gay and what will happen if he is found out. A lot of crying, whining and repeating himself.
The narrator made it worse by sounding like he was on the verge of crying during most of the text.

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2 people found this helpful

Tiresome

Sounded interesting, but after 4 hrs of whinging and whining, twoing and froing, impossibly silly vacillations by supposedly intelligent MCs, I gave up. The narrator sounded more like Michael Pauley, whom I avoid like the plague with over emphasis and breathy sentences giving them an exasperating intensity not befitting them; then when the tension in the story starts, it seems less intense as it was all read in that voice, made even worse by having just one narrator, it was hard to know who was saying what. DISAPPOINTING

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3 people found this helpful

A fairy-tale hidden in a mystery.

A well-written and performed but predictable thriller. The romance is overshadowed by the heavy sex scenes and the saccharine conclusion had me reaching for my Insulin.

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🎭 Mixed Bag.

IMO Tal Bauer is one of the classiest writers of this genre so my heart breaks that TMBU felt very much like a book by the numbers. The narrative had us believe that in Las Vegas, on the one night that Noah comes out, he meets his Prince Charming, who has the astuteness of a psychologist, the manners of an angel and the patience of the gods? I also did not care for Noah being flawed, Cole being flawless and Insta 💚. Finally, the ‘one MC in peril’ was foreshadowed with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

So, why three stars? I loved Cole’s FBI profiling. The serial killer’s motivations are heartbreaking (though not defensible) and the murders are satisfyingly gruesome. The author wrote Noah a ‘big moment’ and I loved it. The supporting characters are written well and touches like the ‘rainbow lanyard’ layer the world building. Finally, though I berate the Las Vegas contrivance, Noah and Cole’s first date was wonderfully written.

🎧 John Solo is an acquired taste. He has a modulation and an OTT trait when reading the descriptive parts of the story. However, when reading the dialogue, his vocal characterisations are on point. When Noah cries while talking, the narrator delivers the cracks in the vocals and you feel it. I had genuine chills when he conveyed a suspect's thoughts because of how the ferocious, feral emotion was performed. My suggestion? Acquire the taste.

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