Once Gone

A Riley Paige Mystery, Book 1

By: Blake Pierce

Narrated by: Elaine Wise

Women are turning up dead on the rural outskirts of Virginia, killed in grotesque ways, and when the FBI is called in they are stumped. A serial killer is out there, his frequency increasing, and they know there is only one agent good enough to crack this case: Special Agent Riley Paige.

Riley is on paid leave, recovering from her encounter with her last serial killer, and, fragile as she is, the FBI is reluctant to tap her brilliant mind. Yet Riley, needing to battle her own demons, comes onboard, and her hunt leads her through the disturbing subculture of doll collectors, into the homes of broken families and into the darkest canals of the killer's mind. As Riley peels back the layers, she realizes she is up against a killer more twisted than she could have imagined. In a frantic race against time, she finds herself pushed to her limit, her job on the line, her own family in danger, and her fragile psyche collapsing.

Yet once Riley Paige takes on a case, she will not quit. It obsesses her, leading her to the darkest corners of her own mind, blurring the lines between hunter and hunted. After a series of unexpected twists, her instincts lead her to a shocking climax that even Riley could not have imagined.

©2016 Blake Pierce (P)2016 Blake Pierce

Great story, wrong narrator.

I enjoyed the story, but a British accent was the wrong choice for this book.

British accent was out of place

It was a good story. A little over the top but good. However having it read by someone with a British accent was really weird.

story, ok

wrong accent for story. it was pretty good, a little slow. I should have picked another narrator.

Decent Thriller

I'm noticing a trend in these FBI thrillers - female agents who are brilliant like no other, become damaged goods who have to work through their own trauma while saving the day. I've never read a thriller where a male agent was trying to solve a crime while recovering from serious trauma endured on the job. This aspect felt pretty cliched to me. That said, that didn't totally ruin the book for me and I was able to enjoy the suspense and action.

Elaine Wise did a great job with narration (I am partial to a British accent) but was not a good pick for this book. I kept forgetting that this story took place in the States! Overall, it wasn't bad but I wouldn't recommend it to friends.

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

Great story but...

I didn't like it being narrated by a British accent. The story is set in America. The characters are all American. It should have been narrated by an American. For the most part I could ignore it, but the different pronunciation of certain words broke the enchantment for me.

I also took issue with recklessness the protagonist went about doing her job. It didn't ring true for me, especially after her so recent "ordeal". One minute she's a bad ass, then she's breaking down. Her partner and boss letting her continue to work when she was so obviously out of control just didn't seem like the no nonsense FBI we all know and love.

This could have been really good, the main character just needs a little work to be believable. Will I read the next one? Probably, because I want to know about the pebbles, and I like the author's style of writing. The story moves really well, there's good suspense and motif is hidden until the very end.

mind twister

This was a wonderful storyline I enjoyed listening to it. Looking forward to the next book

Main Character

The main character is hard to take in for me. She does not follow rules at all and always puts herself in danger. I don’t think she would stay a agent if she did this stuff over and over. I overall like the story and may listen to some more eventually to see how character develops. Was kinda strange accent for narration made me think this took place somewhere else.
On the fence about novels at this point
Like overall storyline

Narrator too good for the story

Very boring and drawn out story, should have two narrators, and too much voice emphasis on predictable happenings.

Confusing with the British accent

The narrator’s voice is lovely, but the British accent had me confused as to the setting for a while. I’m not used to the British saying, “Call 911” because they use “999”. Also “Yosemite”, as in the national park, was mispronounced as were a few other words.

What is with the British voice narrator

Is there a reason that this book set in America is narrated by a British voice? I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if it had an American narrator with American words or pronunciations