Little Dead Red

By: Mercedes M. Yardley

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

The wolf is roaming the city in this Bram Stoker Award-winning tale, and he must be stopped.

Grim Marie knows far too much about the wolves of the world, a world where little girls go missing. After all, she had married one before he showed his claws, and what that wolf did to her little girl was unforgiveable. Grim Marie isn't certain if she can ever forgive herself for putting her Little Aleta in harm's way.

When Grandmother becomes ill, Aleta offers to take the bus through the concrete forest to Grandmother's house to bring her some goodies. She knows the way. What could possibly go wrong?

In this modern-day retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf takes to the city streets to capture his prey, but the hunter is close behind him. With Grim Marie on the prowl, the hunter becomes the hunted. Wolves pad through the darkest kind of fairy tale - one that can come true.

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©2015 Crystal Lake Publishing (P)2016 Crystal Lake Publishing

A Vigilante Thriller With An Unexpected Ending

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would recommend to a friend. I like that is was short and emotionally packed. It is easy to listen to in less than a week's worth of driving to and from work.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the emotional bond built with the main character Marie and her journey of becoming a wolf to find her daughters killer.

Have you listened to any of Joe Hempel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to The Bridge Chronicles series performed by Joe Hempel. He does an excellent job with this book and is on par with past performances.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The exchanges between Marie and her incarcerated pedophile ex-husband was an interesting and unexpected emotional development.

Any additional comments?

This book is a good listen. I would've given it five stars but what put me off just a tiny bit was the extensive descriptions of Marie's emotions and thoughts. It was very artistic but I personally found it a bit distracting to the story flow on more than one occasion. That's just me though. Maybe you'd love it. The ending is great and unexpected. Totally didn't see it coming. I look forward to more works by Mercedes Yardley. She's on my radar now.

Shocking Ending

I really enjoyed this short dark and disturbing book shows how far a mother will go to revenge her child by a pedophile with shocking ending. My only complaint I did not want it to end but definitely recommend it. Narration was great. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher. THANK YOU!

Grim tale with even narration

Mercedes Yardley has one of the loveliest, sweetest way of writing. At once whimsical, ethereal and direct, it easily transports the reader into the worlds she effortlessly weaves. What makes this all the more interesting is the hidden corners of mankind she so often depicts. Her prose contrasts with the dark subject matter, which at once brings a style of storytelling reminiscent of Tim Burton or Hayao Miyazaki. However, Mrs. Yardley's tales are generally more anchored in the possible than the fantastic. Her fairy tales are layered, and often don't come with happy endings.

Little Dead Red is a dark read, with only a few minor nods to its titular inspiration. However, it moves quickly and invests the reader in the story of Grim Marie as she seeks a resolution that balances between justice and revenge. One of the story's strong points is helping the reader get into Marie's head, even if it's one of the last places the reader wants to be. Four stars for being thought provoking and engrossing. And perhaps greater than either, for making me more aware of my own surroundings in the event I can help a struggling Marie in the future.

I tend to shy away from audiobooks as I am quite picky with narration. The narrator here provides a solid, even performance that, unfortunately, wasn't for me. Once I became used to his cadence and emphasis, I was able to roll right into the story. That is, until any of the female characters spoke or he provided added emphasis by slowly and lowly ending a sentence. I get that it's part of the performance; it just wasn't a performance within my taste. Pickiness aside, it was serviceable, so a solid three stars.

I was provided a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Extremely grim, but wonderfully-written

As the title says, this story was extremely grim. It revolves around a woman whose 12 year old daughter was abducted, raped, killed and dismembered. Yeah, that grim. To make it worse, the daughter had already been dealing with the trauma of having been abused by her step father.

Our protagonist, Grim Marie, heads out to catch the wolf who killed her little red riding hood. She's done feeling sorry for herself and obsessing and decides to take matters into her own hands. What follows would be too spoilery to share, but suffice to say Marie proves beyond a shadow of a doubt how dedicated she is to her cause.

The author did a great job of revealing the past and present as well as relating Marie's state of mind through eloquent prose that sprinkled knowledge into your brain as it smoothly relayed events. Unfortunately for me, I felt it did TOO good of a job in many instances and left me feeling uncomfortable.

The narrator was more than adequate. While it took a little bit to ignore the stuffy-nose quality to his voice, he did an excellent job bringing Marie's world to life.

It's a short listen, so it might be better in a collection of stories or paid for outright vs spending a credit, but it was a good one. I would recommend it so long as the reader is aware of some more graphic subject matter.

I was provided this book free of charge in exchange for my unbiased review.

HELL YES

Any additional comments?

It is a rare occasion when a horror book (or books in general, for that matter) successfully surprise me. "Little Dead Red" accomplished this difficult feat! Without spoiling any of the fun, I'll simply say, this is an astounding modern take on the Little Red Riding hood story, set squarely in the horror genre. I loved it. Would definitely read this again!!

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

Dark and Gripping

If you could sum up Little Dead Red in three words, what would they be?

Dark, Gripping, Exhilarating.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, kept me glued till the end. A dark story.

Any additional comments?

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

wonderfully creepy and gruesome

the story gave the willys as a good creepy read should. I was pleased with the ending as well.*cue the evil cackle muhahhaha. one of the better narrators I've heard as well.

Stay on the path...

OK so I did not know what I was getting myself into with this one.. I am one for happy stories and such. This was a curveball... Murder, injustice, desperation... a mothers love.. All the time this story tugs at your heart strings, bashing you with all the evil in this world and at the end when you are battered and bruised.... well, you will have to read to find out. I will say I listened to it as I was at work and did not want to turn it off, it had me wanting more and more information the whole time.. That being said, I say if you have the time and want an emotional roller coaster then check this book out. If you want a fairy tale where the lil girl is saved and her grandmother bakes her cookies... this is not the tale for you...

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

Dark take on Little Red Riding Hood

I was given this audio book free of charge so that I could listen and provide an honest review. Enjoyable short story which takes the somewhat dark tale of Little Red Riding Hood a step further into Darkness. Well written and Joe Hempel did a wonderful job of narrating even though the main character was female. Credit worthy listen!

Little red riding hood steps into the inner city

Little red riding hood steps into the 21st century. Cities, cell phones, buses, etc. bringing soup to grandma at the hospital turns deadly. What will mom do to catch the wolf? Who is the wolf? Twists and turns await you. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.