Narrated by Shannon McManus
Karen Robards does not like for her characters or her readers to be bored. Her suspense stories generally have the hero and heroine scrambling at break-neck speed from one close call to another with barely an in-drawn breath. Shiver doesn’t disappoint on that score. Samantha and Danny meet when she interrupts his torture and murder to repo a car – and from there things start to get hectic.
Danny Panterro is an undercover FBI agent posing as Ramon Marco, a former member of a drug cartel now turned informant. The real Ramon is carefully hidden away giving evidence while Danny tries to divert the cartel’s attention by becoming the target. The problem is, even the U.S. Marshalls that are holding Danny don’t know who he really is. The cartel’s henchmen succeed in capturing Danny, and thinking they have Ramon, they torture him for the whereabouts of a large sum of money. Danny is then stuffed in the trunk of a car when the interrogation gets interrupted. Samantha “Sam” Jones is a young single mother of a 4-year-old son, Tyler. She owns a run-down tow-truck and is barely
making ends meet repossessing cars at night while a neighbor watches Tyler. On this night, she tries to collect the car with Danny in the trunk. Instead she ends up inside with him. Let the adventure begin!
Sam is a heroine I can enjoy. She’s strong without being “spunky,” and although she doesn’t always make the best choices, her reactions seem believable for someone in her situation. Since Danny, who Sam not-so-affectionately calls “Quasimodo,” can’t tell her who he really is, she doesn’t know who to trust. She does her best to break free from him, the bad guys, and the Marshalls in order to get back to her son. When the cartel’s men trace Sam to her house using information printed on the side of her tow truck, Sam finally allows the U.S. Marshalls to protect her and Tyler by keeping her with Danny/Ramon. Danny is a fairly typical romantic suspense hero—tough and definitely not looking to settle down. One of the best things about this book is the snappy dialogue between Danny and Sam.
Shannon McManus has a pleasant reading voice and generally keeps the characters voices distinct. Her men sound like men and even 4-year-old Tyler is well done. McManus has a tendency to pitch her voice down at the end of a phrase or sentence, which makes the narration feel somewhat flat. It would be fair to say the writing also contributes to the uneven narration. At times Robards uses convoluted sentences, making the narrator work hard to get the meaning across. McManus is not entirely successful choosing which words or phrases to emphasize in these overly complex sentences and that can confuse the listener.
As with many suspense books, it is recommended you suspend disbelief when listening to Shiver. The sheer number of close calls the hero and heroine experience stretches credulity. The last calamity they survive is over-the-top, and Sam and Danny fall in love in just a few days even though she thinks he’s a crook. And, yes, the narration could be better. But Shiver is still an enjoyable edge-of-your-seat escape for romantic suspense fans.
Carrie
Narration: C+
Book Content: C+
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Escalated Violence/after -effects of torture described
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
