Hunted by Karen Robards

Narrated by MacLeod Andrews and Cassandra Campbell

When snow is falling and the temperature is well below zero, nothing makes the time pass faster than a good book with an enthrallingly suspenseful plot. With this in mind, I eagerly began listening to Hunted, the latest novel by Karen Robards. I was hooked from the very beginning.

It’s the night before Christmas Eve, and Detective Reed Ware is nearly done with his shift. He doesn’t have big plans for the holiday. He lost his ex-wife and young son three years ago. He’ll be on his own, but he’s looking forward to the time off. Things change when Reed gets a call from Holly, a local thug who has a very strange story to tell, and the evidence to back it up.

On Christmas Eve, Caroline Wallace is on a date when she’s called into work. At twenty-seven, Caroline is the youngest, and newest, member of the New Orleans Police Department’s hostage negotiation team. She speeds to the scene, and is horrified to find that her father is one of the hostages. Even more startling to Caroline is the identity of the hostage taker. She first met Reed Ware ten years ago, when he was the officer assigned to guard her family from people who wanted to harm her father. She had a pretty major crush on him back then but Caroline likes to think she’s gotten past that. After all, she grew up. Grown up or not, Caroline finds it difficult to hold back her feelings as she tries to negotiate with the very intense detective, turned criminal.

Inside the sprawling mansion, Reed is just as shaken as Caroline. He realizes he’s just said goodbye to his career but this is the only way he can think of to keep Holly and his younger brother safe. What Holly uncovered is something no one, especially Caroline’s father, who is the superintendent of police, wants unearthed. Now, Reed has to push all his feelings aside, and fight for what he believes in. What if part of that something is Caroline? He doesn’t want to involve her. However, it soon becomes clear that he has no choice.

Honestly, I’m not sure why this book had two narrators. It’s told in third person perspective. Sometimes, we see things from Reed’s point of view, and sometimes from Caroline’s. In my opinion, dual narration works best for books that are told in first person with two people. Both MacLeod Andrews and Cassandra Campbell are skilled narrators. Either of them could have handled Hunted on their own. I found the switching back and forth rather jarring, even though both Campbell and Andrews did a great job.

MacLeod Andrews sounds like he was born and bred in New Orleans. His accent is flawless. I especially enjoyed his depiction of Reed. I could sense his every emotion and could have done so even if Robards’ writing hadn’t clued me in.

Campbell’s depiction of Reed wasn’t quite as compelling. Her accent wavered from time to time when she spoke for him. Also, she gave him a more cynical sound than I think the character really needed.

Both Andrews and Campbell did well with the character of Caroline. She’s someone who is cool under pressure, not easily rattled, and devoted to her job. Andrews used a bit more of a falsetto than I would have liked, but I got used to it quickly. Campbell made her sound like the ice queen her fellow police officers consider her. She softens up once she and Reed are alone together, something both narrators are very good at showing the listener.

Both Andrews and Campbell had no problem differentiating the various characters. None of the voices they used came off as fake or forced. Dialogue tags were helpful, but not necessary.

Overall, I really enjoyed Hunted. However, I was bothered by the way Reed and Caroline are forced to face their attraction to one another. If someone kidnapped me, hand-cuffed me to a bed, and shoved me into the trunk of a car, that person is probably not the one I’m going to give my heart to, no matter how deep my attraction happens to be. This seems to be my problem though. There are quite a few books that involve victims falling for their captors. If people didn’t like it, I’m guessing it wouldn’t be written. So, we’ll chalk that up to my overly analytical mind. There are some things I just can’t understand, and that is definitely one of them. Even so, I found myself engrossed in the story and was completely surprised by the ending, as well as by several of the twists and turns that led me there.

Shannon

Narration:  MacLeod Andrews B+    Cassandra Campbell B+

Book Content:  A-

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence:  Escalated Fighting

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

Publisher:  Brilliance Audio

Hunted was provided to AudioGals for review by Brilliance Audio.