Spotless by Camilla Monk

Narrated by Amy McFadden

We all know the saying about not judging a book by its cover. Spotless takes it one step farther. Don’t judge a book by its synopsis – I read the blurb and was instantly intrigued. I started listening and intrigue turned very quickly into confusion.

Island Chaptal is twenty-five and living a pretty decent life in New York City. Sure, she’s still a virgin, but she’s all right with that. Well, maybe she’s just come to terms with it. She gets her sexual thrills vicariously through very ridiculous-sounding romance novels. Luckily, the author does tell us the novels do not really exist, but were created solely for use in this story. Island’s mother has been dead for a decade, and her relationship with her father and stepmother is loving, but a bit distant.

Island and her roommate are anything but clean-freaks. So, she’s more than a little surprised to walk into her apartment one Friday evening to find a strange man inside, and the apartment itself sparkling clean. The stranger is also reading her tax returns, but that’s a minor detail. No, really. Intruders always look at our paperwork, don’t they?

March is a professional hit man with a serious case of OCD. He finds any kind of mess absolutely impossible to deal with, a quirk that has caused him quite a bit of trouble in the past. He works for a secret agency with ties to Island’s mother. March’s superiors are sure the diamonds she stole are now in Island’s possession, a fact she vehemently denies. Then, right in the middle of his interrogation, she has the nerve to get a migraine. Kidnapping, harming, or killing someone with a migraine must violate some kind of rules because March helps her take some medicine and then leaves. Totally convincing, right?

Eventually, their paths cross again. After learning that everything she believed about her mother was cleverly fabricated, she agrees to help March search for a couple billion dollars worth of diamonds. The search takes them to France, and later to Japan. Along the way, they encounter all manner of unsavory people, the kind who won’t hesitate to kill.

Listening to this is the audio equivalent of watching an action movie. Things happen unbelievably fast. Island and March are involved in countless fights, most of which involve guns and explosives. I’m honestly not sure how they managed to survive. They’re incredibly lucky, I guess.

While listening, something very odd happened. I heard the narrator introduce herself as Amy McFadden. This was all well and good, but then, I somehow managed to convince myself that the narrator was Amy Landon. I couldn’t understand why Ms. Landon sounded so unlike herself. Um, probably because it wasn’t Ms. Landon at all. Once I realized my mistake, I was forced to re-evaluate the performance.

Amy McFadden is an accomplished narrator, and this book is one she should be proud of. She deals with text written in French and Japanese, and manages to make it sound authentic. She uses a variety of pitches, accents, and speaking rates to distinguish each character from the rest. For the most part, dialogue tags were not necessary.

Some listeners might be turned off to the slightly nasal sound of Ms. McFadden’s speaking voice. The first time I heard her, it bothered me, but now, I usually don’t notice and it doesn’t hinder my enjoyment of her narration.

Ms. McFadden did a great job communicating the right amount of tension in every scene. As I said before, this is a book filled with action. I think the author wanted me to be on the edge of my seat, and Ms. McFadden definitely made that possible. It would have actually happened if the action didn’t necessitate a huge suspension of disbelief, but this is not the narrator’s fault.

Spotless is categorized as a contemporary romance. I’m not sure how this is possible, since March and Island are too busy fighting and escaping from the bad guys to be very romantic. There’s a kiss, and a date, but that’s as far as it goes. So, don’t look here for that HEA we all love so much.

Spotless was something I really wanted to love but sadly, it did not live up to its synopsis. Not even the skilled performance of Amy McFadden can cause me to recommend it in good conscience.

[section label=’Audiobook Information’ anchor=’Audiobook Information’]

Shannon

AUDIOBOOK INFORMATION

TITLE: Spotless

AUTHOR: Camilla Monk

NARRATED BY: Amy McFadden

GENRE: Romantic Suspense

STEAM FACTOR: You can play it out loud

REVIEWER: Shannon [button type=’link’ link=’http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K88EJCI/?tag=audiogalsnet-20′ size=’btn-lg’ variation=’btn-default’ target=’blank’]Buy Spotless by Camilla Monk on Amazon[/button]