Little Voices

By: Vanessa Lillie

Narrated by: Amy Landon

The voice in her head says he’s guilty. She knows he’s innocent.

Devon Burges is in the throes of a high-risk birth when she learns of her dear friend’s murder. The police quickly name another friend as the chief suspect, but Devon doesn’t buy it - and despite her difficult recovery, she decides to investigate.

Haunted by postpartum problems that manifest as a cruel voice in her head, Devon is barely getting by. Yet her instincts are still sharp, and she’s bent on proving her friend’s innocence.

But as Devon digs into the evidence, the voice in her head grows more insistent, the danger more intense. Each layer is darker, more disturbing, and she’s not sure she - or her baby - can survive what lies at the truth.

©2019 Vanessa Lillie (P)2019 Brilliance Audio, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“[An] impressive debut…This superb psychological thriller is hard to put down.” --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Haunting and gripping…[Little Voices] grabs you from the first chapter and takes you on a twisting, turning journey with a surprise ending that will leave you stunned and wanting more.” --The Miami News-Record

“An unsettling mystery with an unreliable narrator who will keep you guessing the whole way through. Little Voices is as haunting as it is gripping.” --Liv Constantine, best-selling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish

Didn’t finish

This book just didn’t hold my attention. I stopped listening after about three or four hours. I might be willing to give the author another try with a different book. Also the narrator was horrible at doing men’s voices

Good story, could've done without the voices

The narrator reminded me of Siri. The voices in her head were obnoxious and unnecessary.

Decent storyline / fair reader

The storyline was decent, a few plot twist at the end that could have been developed better to make it more suspenseful. Reader left much to be desired in her lack of voice inflection, emotions, or changes in characters.

Surprise ending

Very good story. I really didn't see the ending coming. Listened while driving home from vacation

Compelling story, lackluster narration

This mystery/thriller pulled me in right away—the same day Devon goes into early labor, her friend Belina is murdered and another friend, Alec (Belina's employer), is the lead suspect. After she gets out of the hospital, Devon throws herself into the case (in spite of her husband's objections). Devon has a background in law, specifically investigating and prosecuting corporate fraud, and so, when information emerges that suggests money laundering may have played a part in Belina's death, she finds herself drawn even further in to the case.

The book is set in Rhode Island (Providence and Newport), and as a Providence resident I found the depiction of the city and Rhode Island as a whole quite compelling. I used to live off Blackstone Boulevard, in the area where much of the book takes place, so it was fun to recognize so much of the setting. If you know anything about RI politics, you'll know the state has a long, twisted history of corruption and bad behavior by politicians at nearly every level. Political dealings and misdeeds are part of this story, and added some extra intrigue to the narrative. Mentions of Devon's past work made me wish for more about her investigation and takedown of the speaker of the house, and her connections with her husband's shady political establishment uncle, the lead detective on Belina's murder, an FBI agent, and a local independent journalist reminded me of the types of relationship dynamics that made Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series so compelling.

The final twists in the story were, and I mean this in the best possible way, extremely messed up. As an avid thriller reader, it's unusual that I'm completely blindsided by a twist. I had an inkling about one of the twists revealed near the end, but the other caught me off guard and I was quite impressed. If you're sensitive to the following subjects playing out on the page, you may want to approach with caution: childhood sexual abuse, suicidal ideation, traumatic birth, loads of misogyny (both from others and internalized—to be clear, I don't feel this is a sexist book, but a book that clearly and accurately depicts misogyny).

The audiobook narration, unfortunately, was dry and stilted. Many awkward pauses in the middle of sentences, several annoying voices and inaccurate accents, etc. Playing the book on 1.25 and 1.5 speeds (varying depending on the level of focus I could dedicate at a given time) helped some, but didn't totally alleviate the issues I had with the narrator. Still totally worth picking up!

Lots of twists

My favorite genre is psychological stuff. This one was particularly good. The story unfolds in short snippets - keeping you hanging on for the next detail. It’s a good read

GREAT read

This really is a great story. it had amazing twists that I didn't see coming. it pulls on your heart strings at the same time.

Computer narration????

Narrator sounds computer generated…like you hear when calling a business and they use a computer synth instead of an actual human. Hard to even get through the first chapter. Can’t concentrate.

Good narrator & story flow.

I did not suspect this ending right up to the end . Very God ! I love Vanessa Lillies books .

Book is intriguing; Narrator not THAT bad...

Little Voices kept me interested and intrigued. Regarding Amy Landon, the narrator....A few of the reviews, in my opinion, are overly negative. I'm glad I decided to find out for myself. Would not have wanted to miss it.