Buried Secrets

A Wrong Turn off the Trail

By: Rob Ward

Narrated by: Sade Green

Life for police officer Jay Sloan has taken a turn for the worse. Chief of Police Mark Hanson tasked him and his partner to figure out whose been manufacturing and distributing massive amounts of illegal drugs into Pearisburg, Virginia. Life in this picturesque town used to be peaceful and serene, but not since drug use skyrocketed. The police department is working overtime trying to eradicate the influx of drugs from local street corners and schools, but they are undermanned and overworked.

The department’s record high arrest rates are causing friction between them and the mayor of Pearisburg, Sharon Lannister. She wants to put an end to the rise in drug use before it derails her political ambitions and ruins her chances for reelection. While she monitors the police departments every move and squeezes Chief Hanson for results, Officer Sloan is out checking up on hot tips and stumbles upon something major. The ramifications are profound enough to cause normal teenagers to go to extreme measures in order to protect their secrets.

Retired USAF officer Rob Stone is out hiking the Appalachian Trail with his trusty canine Terrence, when things go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. He soon learns that his fate, along with Officer Sloan's, are inextricably linked, and they will have to work together in order to survive....

©2020 Rob Ward (P)2020 Rob Ward

Fast paced

Really enjoyed this Audible!! Great narration and loved the story... Great thriller book, can’t wait for the next one

What would you do in a really bad spot?

There are several threads going on at the same time in this book. You've got Cory, a teenager in a household with a difficult father making bad decisions for the right reasons. Cory is a decent kid, but when an officer stumbles on his marijuana-growing operation, he makes one bad decision after another until he's in a nightmarish position and doesn't know what to do. I feel like this is the main thread. It's told from the perspective of Cory and his brother, the officer, his partner, his boss when he goes missing, an unsuspecting hiker and his wife, and even - very briefly - the hiker's dog. Cory is incredibly sympathetic and you just really want him to find a way out of this through the whole story but you don't know how he can. You never stop hoping, even as things get worse and worse.
Another thread that's going on is with Cory's parents, whose marriage is struggling.
There's a side thread with the hiker and the offocers involved as well.
I felt that the hiker was the most important character to the author, but I really wanted Cory to be the hero. I wanted his conscience to win out and for him to do the right thing in the end. (yeah, I'm an idealist)
The story is pretty solid. It kept my interest.
I needed to hear again from Cory at the end, rather than his mom focusing on her own personal problems.
There are quite a few threads and separate stories and at times it's unclear as to who's the focus or if there's a clear story. Yes, I wanted the hero to be Cory. It is a sign of a good author that I was so invested in one of the characters.
The author is new and though you do feel that, he has a ton of promise. This book is worth a read and I will read another of his books.

Narrator: I listen to a lot of audiobooks. The ones I drop right away, it's always because of the narrator. This narrator kept me listening even though I got the impression she's pretty new at this. Just some constructive criticism - it's crucial to read the chapters and digest the emotion involved before narrating a scene. There were times when seemingly flippant words needed to have been read with gravity - not flippancy - because of what was happening.
The writer has promise.
The narrator has promise.
I would choose books by both of them again.
I was provided this book in exchange for an honest review.