Deadly Deception by Andrea Johnson Beck

Narrated by Amy McFadden

I adore psychological fiction and if you add a little romance, you have the perfect book. Well, you have the makings of the perfect book. Unfortunately, Deadly Deception didn’t completely live up to my expectations.

Anne Jamison is the youngest neuropsychiatrist in the state of Minnesota. She grew up with a mother plagued by mental illness, and Anne has come to believe that genetics play a huge role in a person’s mental health. She spends her days helping mentally ill children and her nights with her fiancé, attorney Adam Whitney.

Life isn’t perfect for Anne. Sure, she has a great job and she’ll soon be married to a man her friends call perfect, but the disappearance of Carter Leeds, Anne’s first love, continues to haunt her. Carter disappeared three years ago while camping with some friends. Anne has never been able to make peace with his disappearance and probable death. When a package arrives at her office, Anne has even more reason to doubt what little she knows about the man she loved more than life itself.

The plot sounded amazing. I’m a social worker, and anything dealing with mental health intrigues me. However, a heroine who is a psychiatrist who comes off as an airhead doesn’t do much for me. Is she an airhead because of, or in spite of, the narrator? I think Beck wrote her that way, and narrator Amy McFadden just fanned the flames. Anne is supposed to be super intelligent. I mean, if you’re the youngest person in your field, that sends a message of intelligence, but, when you rant and rave and lose time because you find yourself lost in memories of the past, I receive a totally different message.

My other problem with Deadly Deception is the dialogue. People talk like they’re reading from scripts. If someone walked up and spoke to me the way the characters spoke to one another, I wouldn’t be able to take them seriously. I would roll my eyes, or burst out laughing, or both. Unfortunately, these were the reactions I had at times while listening to this book. I wanted so much to be pulled in by the plot, but the strange dialogue was very distracting.

I’ve listened to books narrated by Amy McFadden before, and I usually enjoy her performances. This time, though, I found myself rather annoyed. It was far from terrible, but I can’t, in good conscience, say it was a good narration.

Not only did McFadden’s depiction of Anne drive me crazy, I also had a lot of trouble telling the male characters apart. Some spoke with very distinct accents which was very helpful. Carter and Adam sounded almost exactly alike. Context and dialogue tags were the only things that made it possible to know which one of them was speaking.

There was quite a lot of sex in this book. This is the first time I’ve heard McFadden read something this sexual. Her voice is light and very girlish. However, this didn’t detract from her ability to read sexy words and scenes of intimacy. Some narrators tend to rush through the sexy parts, especially if they’re not used to reading books with a lot of sexual content. I’m pleased to report that McFadden’s pacing was wonderful. She allowed the listener to feel what the characters were feeling.

The mystery was the most solid of the plot elements. I found myself continuing to listen, just because I wanted to know what would happen. Beck is definitely a skilled writer, one capable of keeping her readers guessing. The plot was not at all predictable. Even at the end, I had questions. Apparently those questions will be answered in the sequel and I’m not sure I’ll grab it when and if it comes out in audio format. Sure, I want to know what happens, but I’d also like a dose of realistic dialogue and a heroine who doesn’t cause me to want to pull my hair out by the roots.

Shannon

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Narration:  C+

Book Content:  B-

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence:  Escalated fighting

Genre:  General Fiction

Publisher:  Brilliance Audio

Deadly Deception was provided to AudioGals for review by Brilliance Audio.