Dark Fissures

A Rick Cahill Novel

By: Matt Coyle

Narrated by: Travis Baldree

Private Investigator Rick Cahill fears the next knock on his door will be a cop holding a warrant for his arrest. For murder. La Jolla Chief of Police Tony Moretti is convinced Rick killed a missing person. No body has been found, but the evidence that's piling up says murder and it all points to Rick. With Moretti on his tail and the bank about to foreclose on his house, Rick takes a paying case that will stave off the bank, but pits him against Moretti and the La Jolla Police Department.

Brianne Colton, a beautiful country singer, is convinced her estranged husband's suicide was really murder. Rick is unconvinced, but the mortgage has to be paid. Each new piece of evidence convinces him she's right. He breaks his number one rule and falls for Brianne, even as he begins to question her motives.

As Moretti cinches the vise tighter, with Rick unable to trust the FBI, evil forces emerge from the shadows who will do anything, including torture and murder, to stop Rick from uncovering the truth.

©2016 Matt Coyle (P)2017 Matt Coyle

A decent story and mystery; an easy listen, but...

for some reason this book just did not stimulate me as much as others of this genre tend to do and I am not sure why. The setting, background of the characters, and plot were all of the kind that I typically enjoy so I kept waiting for story to really grab hold of me; it never did. It was not the narrator (Travis Baldtree) as, if nothing else, I think he did a great deal to add to the listen with his different character voices and inflection. I gave him a 4th star as opposed to the 3-starts for the story and overall rating.

The plot takes several twists and turns, with one never knowing until the conclusion of the book as to who the ultimate (among the several minor) villains were. The characters were well developed and we knew enough of their back-stories to appreciate their actions. The author also did a good job of tying off most of the potential loose ends by not just dropping characters from the story-line; they were all accounted for by the ending. Speaking of the ending, I did find it being rather abrupt. It wasn't so much that it was incomplete, but it just concluded without much of winding down period after the fact. In mean the concluding chapter, where everything comes together, takes place in a about 5-minutes of listening time. The epilogue did help in finishing up the story and the after lives of the main characters, so that was good.

I realized, after the fact, that this book is part of a series. However, it was written as a standalone and did work as such. Maybe if I had listened to some of the earlier Rick Cahill novels I may have enjoyed this book all the more. If I have a chance, I will give them a listen and perhaps update this review.

As an aside, I tend to review books in comparison to others I have read or listened to in the same genre. Given that, I rate this book as average, or a bit above. Not bad, but not among the best.

Finally, I was provided a free copy of the audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher in return for my unbiased review of the work. Thanks, and I hope others find this entry helpful.

Great dark character

Any additional comments?

Great old fashioned detective tale in modern times. An antihero with a good heart just trying to get through a blacklisted life. There are many instances where the narrator added to the overall feel of the story. An audiobook well done. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Not Just another "Flawed" Hero

I truly enjoyed the characters in this book. It is pretty common today to have a flawed hero at the center of the story, but Rick Cahill is not just flawed he is seriously damaged, but he has a dry sense of humor, he is trying to do the right thing and you really do end up rooting for him in the end. The book left some unanswered questions, which is ok, since it is a series, I will be looking for more and hopefully I will get those answers.

The narration was spot on. I was hooked from the beginning and the narrators tone matched the action in the book perfectly.

Cahill just gets better

Rick Cahill is a former cop turned PI who seems to just barely eek out a living. In the beginning he takes this case to avoid foreclosure on his house. But he remains true to his own moral compass and skirts the legalities of associating and working with riff-raff, mobsters, and the like. He doesn’t have a great history with women and this case is pretty iffy. But can he stay one step ahead of arrest warrants to fight another day? Cahill is an unlikely hero!

DARK IS THE KEY WORD!

This book is full of murder, mystery and so much action. I enjoyed this book from start to finish. I even like the not so happily ever after ending. I like all the military, FBI and Police references. I love the main character Rick Cahill and the detective work he does.

"I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher."

This is a good book.

If you like P.I.. novels then this is the book for you. It has a good story and the narrator is wonderful. I received this audiobook for free, but voluntarily reviewed.

Great book, with great narration!

This is first book by Matt Coyle book I've listened to and the first narration by Baldree I have experienced as well. The story is very well written. I enjoyed the characters and I was sad when the book came to the end. I can't wait for the next book in the series (this is the 3rd book). Baldree is a wonderful narrator! He has fantastic tone & expression and I practically listened to the book in one day because I was so engaged in the story. Baldree has made it into my top narrators list. He was able to distinguish the voices of characters better than most. Most of his female voices sounded very similar but his male characters were all distinct. I hope the next book will be read by him also. Dark Fissures is well worth a credit! 👍

Terrific Mystery centered around LaJolla

Both Matt Coyle (author) and Travis Baldree (narrator) were new to me, and both are extremely talented. I loved the setting of this book being LaJolla California as I am somewhat familiar with the area. I found this listen to be thrilling and have amazing characters. I loved the unexpected twists and turns. This particular book is a standalone and yet part of a series. I was voluntarily provided with this review copy audiobook at no charge upon my request by the author, narrator, and/or publisher. My review is not a synopsis of the book, but rather my opinion of it. I do not believe in giving away spoilers in reviews.

Dark Fissures

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would...it was good...I just don't think I was in the mood for this type of book at the time of listening. I think this is more a "man's" series. I feel that they would give a much higher rating.

Would you be willing to try another book from Matt Coyle? Why or why not?

Yes, I would...I think I would like to go to book 1 (I didn't realize that this was book 3) I thought the 3rd book was good so I would definitely give books 1 & 2 a chance :)

Was Dark Fissures worth the listening time?

I think I would've rather read the book but the narrator was good...had a nice voice.

Any additional comments?

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

gritty and to the point

Private Investigator Rick Cahill hasn’t quite recovered from his last brush with the law.  He’s confident it’s only a matter of time before the cops arrest him for murder involving a missing body.  In the meantime, he has a hot, beautiful woman seeking his help – her husband committed suicide but she’s not convinced.

Along the way, Rick has made lots of enemies that are hiding around each corner.  His attention is scattered between losing his home, police chief tailing him and other unknown persons stalking him – Cahill doesn’t trust anyone.  It’s only a matter of time before they get him or he gets them!

Well developed, the plot moves quickly with lots of action. There are no loose ends.  Characters are well-developed and easy to follow.  This is a vintage detective thriller – gritty and to the point.  Matt Coyle has captured the vintage detective thriller genre and delivered a solid book.

The narrator, Travis Baldree, does an excellent performance of this dark detective novel.  He kept the characters straight and even added to the vintage quality of the novel - his voice going gravelly for Rick.  He kept the action going with the right inflection of his voice.

A great listen for anyone who loves vintage detective novels with a dark background.  I listened to this as a stand alone, although there are others in this series.

There were no issues with the quality production of this audiobook.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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