Broken

By: John Rector

Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo

Trust becomes a fatal mistake in this shocking thriller by the bestselling author of The Ridge.

Welcome to Beaumont Cove, a slowly decaying tourist town at the edge of the world, and the place where Maggie James’s worst fears for her estranged twin sister, Lilly, have come true.

Lilly is dead, and Maggie has arrived to identify her body.

Lilly’s husband, Mike, is in custody for her murder. With his long history of abuse, no one in town is surprised at the inevitable end to their stormy marriage, least of all Maggie. All she wants is to clean up her sister’s affairs, see Mike punished, and get out of Beaumont Cove.

With the help of the local sheriff, a retired private investigator, and a strange but friendly carnival psychic, Maggie begins to uncover the truth about what really happened to her sister. But the truth comes at a price, and soon Maggie finds herself walking a dark path toward the same deadly trap that killed Lilly.

The more Maggie discovers about her sister’s final days, the more she realizes that nothing is as it appears in this strange boardwalk town.

©2020 by John Rector. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Wish there was more...

Really enjoyed the story, the setting, and the characters. The ending was understandable and satisfying. The narration was okay, but I was a little put off upon hearing the male characterizations. Although I enjoyed reading the book more, I would have continued to listen if that were the only option because I was already caught up in the story.

packs a punch

This was a short and sweet crime fiction story, but it packed a punch. Identical twin sisters are the main characters of this book, one who was killed and the other who knows the way only a twin can that things aren't quite adding up.

I was drawn in right away with the issues all the characters in this story had. Not just the main characters, but all of them. The sisters being estranged, one sister being in an abusive relationship, the creepy neighbor with some unknown but shady past that has him being checked up on. The psychic in cahoots with the private investigator, what a set-up, right?

The audiobook book was narrated well and really ratcheted up the serious feel of the story.

Great book

I wasn’t sure I would like this book, but I did after a couple of chapters. When this man fixated on the twins, what a nightmare their lives became!
The Narration was great also.

Not like the rest

I truly liked this book, especially that it wasn’t like all the others. The author didn’t lead into who did it, you knew and you had to keep wondering,, is this person going the escape getting caught? “This person is going to get away with this!?” I also liked the narrator. A narrator can really make or break a book for me. I finished this book in one day!

pillow

This book was a good mystery. I really only have one comment or actually 1 word and this is for the author.. Pillow,

Love

Such a great book easy to read love all of his books can’t wait for the next

Brilliant...Simply Brilliant!

If I am not mistaken, this was my first read by John Rector and I can truly say that I was not disappointed. I came across him a year or so ago, and have several of his books on my TBR...even had this one in my Audible Library for quite some time, and decided to give it a shot when I needed a decently shorter story to listen to! My only disappointment is that I held on to this book for so long!

Now...this was not your keep you guessing until the very end type of book. It is all laid out for you pretty well while you're reading, however, you're reading from several different perspectives that go back and forth between each other, which keeps the story interesting and fresh. Even though you are quite certain that you KNOW the WHO, that doesn't matter because lead up is what keeps you wanting to read to get the full story! But that didn't bother me one bit! I rather enjoyed listening to this book and did so relatively quickly! John Rector managed to nail a perfect psychological thriller in less than 300 pages! I must say that I totally didn't see the ending coming which was a pleasant surprise!

There are several characters that enrich this book, however, your main character's (and main POV's) are those of Manolia aka "Maggie", the surviving twin, Lilly, the twin that was murdered, and Thomas, the manager of the apartment building/complex that Lilly and her husband Mike rent.

Broken is narrated by Lauren Ezzo, which is one of my favorite narrators. She seems to have this uncanny ability to bring any book that she's narrating to life! Some people choose books because of the description, some choose it because of the cover, I sometimes choose a book by it's narrator and Lauren Ezzo is one of those at the top of my list!

Overall, you have this brilliant domestic psychological thriller with an amazing narrator that won't disappoint! This may have been my first John Rector read, but I can assure you it won't be my last!

Abuse, delusional creep, and F bombs

It's hard to find author's that don't use the F Bomb..... John Rector isn't one of them. This is my first time listening to one of his books and it will be my last. I'm surprised I even finished it. The narrator isn't my favorite either but once you get used to her slow soft tone the story wasn't too bad if the content of the story doesn't set off any trigger's of abuse.

Predictable

I seem to be hitting a lot of misses lately with my selection of books and this one continued on that trail. The story was so predictable that as soon as one of the antagonists was introduced, I knew immediately what was going to happen and who was going to do it. The narrators' voice did nothing for me as well. I had read the reviews and they seemed favorable but, for myself, those reviews and my interpretation of the book were obviously on two different wavelengths. The only saving grace was that it was a short listen. Actually, that was the ONLY saving grace of this book 🤦🏻‍♀️.