Doubleback

The Georgia Davis P.I. Series #2

By: Libby Fischer Hellmann

Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky

Little Molly Messenger is kidnapped on a sunny June morning. Three days later she's returned, apparently unharmed. Molly's mother, Chris, is so grateful to have her daughter back that she's willing to overlook the odd circumstances.

A few days later, the brakes go out on Chris's car.

An accident? Maybe. Except that it turns out that Chris, the IT manager at a large Chicago bank, may have misappropriated three million dollars. Not convinced that his daughter is safe, Molly's father hires Private Investigator Georgia Davis to follow the money and investigate Chris's death.

Doubleback, the sequel to the acclaimed Easy Innocence, reunites PI Georgia Davis with video producer Ellie Foreman. The two women track leads from Northern Wisconsin to an Arizona border town, where illegal immigrants, smuggled drugs, and an independent contractor called Delton Security come into play. Georgia and Ellie go to great lengths to find the truth, and Georgia discovers that you can cross a line, but sometimes you have to double back.

©2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 Libby FIscher Hellmann (P)2016 Libby Fischer Hellmann

BOOK #1 WAS GREAT, BOOK #2 IS EVEN GREATER!

Most times when I read (or listen to) a second book or watch a second move in a series, I feel let down because its just never as good as the first. NOT IN THIS CASE... Libby Fischer Hellmann did it again by writing a book that I couldn't stop listening to. I'm so sad to see it end but wow what another GREAT MYSTERY with characters I just love. I want to be friends with Georgia and Ellie! I want to become a detective, investigate and chase after those bad guys. I feel like an inspired child that wants to be a super hero. I have recommended this series to family and friends! I'm so excited that book #3 is out on audio and I'm getting ready to purchase it right now.

“This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Boom dot com.”

Georgia is BADA**

Wow. Doubleback weaves the drug cartel, illegal immigrants, money laundering, kidnapping, and plot twists into a captive page turner.

Georgia Davis goes above and beyond to solve a child's kidnapping case but as she delves deeper into the case she just finds more secrets and more people involved. And we get to see the badass side of Miss Davis. This installment is my favorite in the series thus far.

The narrator was fantastic. She had quite the cast to pull off too. I hope she continues to narrate future books.

Plenty of twists!

Note: While this is Book 2 in the series, it works fine as a stand alone novel.

Doubleback is even better than Book 1 (Easy Innocence). The plot is tighter, the characters have more depth (for the most part), and the stakes are higher. Georgia Davis reluctantly teams up with her friend Ellie (an independent film maker) who is also reluctant to get involved in a kidnapping case. Still, these two ladies offer up their best advice to Chris, head of the IT department at a large bank, whose daughter has been kidnapped.

From the beginning, this kidnapping case isn’t typical – there’s no ransom demand for one thing. Still, the kid is eventually released safely back to her mom. But then some unexpected deaths have Georgia taking another look at it. What a deliciously tangled web of intrigue! The plot takes us to the desert southwest and even across the border into Mexico. Ellie continues to work her own case but as the two friends compare notes, they start to realize there’s connections between the kidnapping and the clean energy company Ellie is looking into.

This mystery was nearly perfect. I did have one laugh at the plot and that is the out of character sexytimes for Georgia. She’s been hunting a man who has answers and once found, not even a day passes before they tumble into bed together. Georgia has been so guarded, not looking for a relationship at all. Plus she wasn’t sure if this guy would ultimately kill her or perhaps turn her over to the bad guys, yet hey, there’s a storm and we’re stuck in this cabin with no TV. So, yeah, that was silly. The sex scene itself was OK, a little sexy, straight, to the point, brief. Personally, if you’re going to toss in a completely out of character sex scene, might as well make it epic.

Anyhoo, I can see Ellie and Georgia teaming up again. In fact, there’s some hints as to their past friendship and perhaps they did once upon a time tackle mysteries together. Georgia certainly has developed in this book, including renewing some old ties with the police department. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next book. 4.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Eva Kaminsky has a great voice for Georgia. She sounds experienced and tough when she needs to be. I did have a little trouble discerning the difference between her voices for Ellie and Georgia when they were in the same conversation. I did confuse a few things because I wasn’t sure who was talking when. For the most part, she had a decent Spanish accent, though she mispronounced Gila monster. While Georgia might well get it wrong, her Hispanic companion would not. The pacing was better than Book 1 but still a little slow for my tastes. There were no technical issues with the recording. 4/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Libby Fischer Hellmann. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Worth your time

Any additional comments?

Another very entertaining, interesting and enjoyable story. Definitely worth your time. I liked this book even more than the first in the series. From the first scene in the elevator your hooked, wondering what is really going on and how each person in the elevator fits into the story.

Again this story has a great cast of characters. The story is told in dual POV's and you get the chance to see not one but two strong independent capable woman in the leading role. There were more twists, turns and surprises in this story as well as action, suspense and mystery. The story is constantly moving forward and there is none of the "flat/dull/filler" middle you find in so many books. Georgia gets into some dangerous situations that keep you glued to the story. This story kept me listening longer than usual. Really liked Rafi's(?) character. Then bam, that happened.

Eva Kaminsky does a really good job with the narration of this book. This is the first time I have listened to a book she has narrated. Really good character voices. Clearly spoken, smooth even pace. Pleasant voice. She was able to bring the characters and story to life. Very Enjoyable

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com

A Good Story With Lots Of Action

This was the first book I have listened to by Libby Fischer Hellmann. I liked her writing but didn't have the background on the main characters whom she had introduced in other books.

This book was told from the perspective of both main characters, which took some getting used to for me. Once I did get used to it, I realised that it worked well in this instance. I became interested in both Ellie and Georgia and will probably go back and listen to the other books by this author. The action was non-stop and there were many side characters, sometimes getting me confused, but everything was tied together in the end and it all made sense. All in all, it was a good book.

Eva Kaminsky is one of my favourite narrators and she was excellent in the delivery of the story

Doubleback

Big money and high crimes…that is the game here. How much would one need to pay to make something go away? What about to just look the other way? What type of organization would have all of the right people in their pocket? Hellmann has a lot of action and some adventure in this second installment along with two main characters, Georgia Davis and Ellie Foreman from another hit series. Readers are sure to be entertained with this one.

Georgia Davis, a former police officer suspended from the force, has taken up a new gig as a PI. After the last year with the investigation of a young girl who had been murdered on the Northshore, Georgia is now getting back to a semblance of a life–until Ellie Foreman calls–with another case. Ellie, a video producer from another book series, has been introduced into this second installment and she has been roped into some pretty dicey stuff. A friend of a friend’s daughter has been kidnapped and the woman won’t go to the police for fear of never seeing her daughter again. So, Georgia rides on up to see the woman and sure enough, nothing is ever as it appears. When the girl is brought back to the house and some hefty amounts of money get moved in and out of the bank that this woman works for, Ellie suspects that something else is going on. Not really knowing what she is up against until the body count starts racking up, Georgia and Ellie find that they are in some serious trouble after an attempt on Georgia’s life. They are in it now until the very end; what cards to they have on the table to find out the truth and keep each other alive long enough to relay the information to the police.

Hellmann has a great story, filled with animosity, determination, greed, and power. The characters are well-developed, but the pace is very slow. This installment introduces another main character from a different book series which is great; however, this book goes back and forth in first person, which is a bit odd. This series is called the Georgia Davis Series, not the Georgia and Ellie Series; therefore, it was expected the introduction and the story would focus on Georgia, but have Ellie as a background character or supporting cast. Since this review is complimenting the audiobook, Kaminsky’s voice relay was entertaining. Her narration is clear and the character differentiation livens the slow pace up quite a bit. If you are a readers of crime thrillers, suspense and mysteries, you may find this story to be a good fit for you.

A copy of this audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a three-star rating to Doubleback by Libby Fischer Hellmann.

Nice Read

This was my first book by Libby Fischer Hellman and I really got into this. Once I got into it, and after getting by all the cursing in the first couple of chapters, I would recommend this book to anyone that wants the twists and turns and surprises that Doubleback provides.

It involves 2 very strong leads and the determination to get to the bottom of this case, even after the police have long disappeared. One is a freelance documentor filming about ethanol and the effects on the additive and the other is a Private Investigator working for a deceased woman involved in the Cartel. You will have to find out yourself how things turn out.

Narration was done superbly by Eva Kaminsky and kept you interested all along the way.

4.5 stars for this one.

"This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost."

"Money can't buy happiness but it sure is a start"

I am a relative newcomer to the work of Libby Fischer Hellman so was delighted to be offered an audio copy of her book, Double back to review. And it was a delight. A private investigator is disturbed by the abduction of a little girl who is then returned without any apparent ransome demand. Then the child's mother is murdered. What first appears to be a local financial crime spirals in size to encompass far more ; and as the body count rises, Georgie, the P.I., and her friend Elly Foreman, have to face up to the question, "What happens if the defenders turn out to be the bad guys?"

The story line is fast paced and travels in directions quite unexpected, the characterisations are mostly well formed and realistic, and the whole is entertaining and easy on the reader/listener. The narrator. so important in an audio book, has a pleasant voice, nicely modulated and reads well without annoying ideosyncracies or unexpected pauses.
Recommended for anyone interested in a light but complex mystery thriller.

Georgia & Ellie together again - thrilling!

Doubleback by Libby Fischer Hellman is the sequel to Easy Innocence, and reunites PI Georgia Davis with video producer Ellie Foreman, the heroine of Hellman’s other series. Georgia and Ellie aren’t much alike – one is a single, tough, former cop turned private investigator and the other is a divorced mom who is a commercial television producer. They aren’t even really close friends when the story starts, but they are strong, intelligent and curious and want to get to the bottom of things.

The book opens with a scene in a stalled elevator. Although interesting and tense, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with either Georgia or Ellie. But just wait. Eight-year-old Molly Messenger is kidnapped, her mother asks Ellie for help, Ellie asks Georgia to look into it, and the story is off and running. Molly is returned unharmed, but her mother dies in an accident a few days later. Accident? From Chicago to Northern Wisconsin to an Arizona border town, Georgia and Ellie are confronted with suspicious deaths, fraudulent transactions, a paramilitary training camp, and drug and people smuggling.

Although Georgia is a fearless and dedicated investigator, she is also inexperienced and reckless enough to get in serious danger. Attempts are made on her life and she is physically battered and bruised, and may actually die trying to find out who is responsible and just how many people are involved.

This is another excellent novel by Libby Fischer Hellman. The action is believable and non-stop. The suspense is almost unbearable at times and the mystery is not easy to solve. As usual, she blends current events with an amazing knowledge of Chicago and its inner workings. There are a lot of details and the story is complicated, but Hellman makes it easy to follow and hard to put down. She shifts focus seamlessly from Georgia to Ellie and everyone in between and from location to location.

I highly recommend Doubleback. I first read it, and then received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review. It was just as thrilling and exciting the second time around. The narrator, Eva Kaminsky, fit the story perfectly and quickly became transparent because I was so focused on the action of the story. I recommend anything and everything by Libby Fischer Hellman, and hope Georgia and Ellie get together again soon.

Sit back and enjoy

I enjoyed this book. The wonderful Georgia is back and is assisted by her good friend Ellis, this means the story is told from the two characters perspectives. It does jump a bit but each chapter starts with the title of who's perspective it is so it easy to follow along. Ellie proves to be a good strong character like Georgia, adding to the fun and chaos. The book takes a number of twist sending the book off in different directions and there is plenty of action to keep you listening. There is a number of characters and I did get a bit confused keeping them all straight but I still really enjoyed the book and would recommend. I am now of to start book three.
What starts as a simple kidnapping case for Georgia takes an unexpected turn when the child is returned unharmed and seemingly with no ransom paid. The child can't talk and the mother won't, leading Georgia to believe something more was going on that even the police know about. When the mother of the child and her boss the president of the bank are both killed in separate incidences, Georgia feels she owes it to the little girl to find out what is going on, how else will she ever feel safe again? Georgia and Ellie follow the clues straight back to the bank and a money trail but everyone who knows anything is dead or missing making it that much harder to track down the men responsible. Following the money trail leads them to training camps and connections to Mexico and drug cartels. The pair are closer than they think to solving all the question the kidnapping unearthed and someone thinks they know more than they should, why else would they send mercenaries after them? Or are the mercenaries working for themselves?
The only reason the narrator got a four star was because the author changed the reader and I was expecting the same reader as book one, so having just listened to book one it tock me a while to get use to the new voice for Georgia. Other than that she did a good job and it will be interesting to see who reads book three, I can't wait.