Play Dead

Elise Sandburg, Book 1

By: Anne Frasier

Narrated by: Natalie Ross

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

No one is more familiar with Savannah's dark side than homicide detective and native resident Elise Sandburg. She's been haunted for years by her own mysterious past: She was abandoned as a baby in one of the city's ancient cemeteries, and it’s rumored that she is the illegitimate daughter of an infamous Savannah witch doctor. The local Gullah culture of voodoo and magic is one that few outsiders can understand, least of all Elise’s new partner. Now someone is terrorizing the city, creating real-life zombies by poisoning victims into a conscious paralysis that mimics death. As the chilling case unfolds, Elise is drawn back into the haunted past she's tried so hard to leave behind.

©2013 by Anne Frasier. (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Just ok

This book portrait the voodoo and magic as a farce and without a place in society. Unfortunately, that is the reason that the next story does not have an appeal to me. I was attracted under the assumption of voodoo being a moving force in society and the police having difficulty solving crimes.

The author wrote a pretty convincing who dun it. I knew that I was being pushed to assume one person was the killer. Later when I was able to think about the story and what Sherlock says (Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.) it was easy identifying the killer.

Most of the story dealt with the detectives looking at their lives. Elise Sandburg delves into her parentage and David Gould past is revealed. The crimes were solved with her using her belief in voodoo possibility effecting the crimes. David was a total non-believer who looked for the common explanation. I was not impressed with the detectives to sign on as fans of theirs. Which is why the next book does not appeal to me. This is a good mystery.

Ok will listen to the sequels

The setting is great, characters fairly well developed and the narration pretty good. It just did not grab me like some others of the genre. If I had not listened to the first I probably would not continue with the series.

Might have been good if...

I started listening to this book and, although I was getting interested in the story, the way this narrator read the story grated on my nerves. Sad to say, but I couldn't take it any more and deleted it from my device. Perhaps I'll try the Kindle book instead.

Worth listening every minute

Story was riveting and I couldn't stop listening. The twists were unexpected. The narration was on point, convincing and well done.

loves quilting, gardens, audio books and GRANDKIDS

Well written. I was glad that there wasn't language to ruin it. It was worth my time to listen but was a little dark for me. The end was a surprise.

confusing but not.

part of my problem is that the reader sounds so much like Kate Segal and I don't like her. also the book bounces around. When you're listening to a book and stop and start, I felt like sometimes I had mused something. it wasn't that interesting. this is my favorite genre. not horrible but not worth the purchase.

Worth a read

Any additional comments?

The narrator takes some time to get used to. There are times when her voice becomes low and soothing and I don't feel like this fits very well with a thriller/mystery book. However, after a while, I did get used to this and was able to fall into the story.

I really liked how the author portrayed the murderer in this book. She gave insight into the mind of the killer without revealing too much about the person. This made it remain a mystery as to who was actually committing the crimes. I also liked how she gave little bits and pieces of them without actually revealing too much. The end of this book was such a surprise and I never saw it coming.

This is definitely a series I would continue on with. Especially if they are as suspenseful as this one.

Nail-biting Drama

New author for me. Absolutely loved the book. Great attention to detail in building the tension. Narrator was just so-so. She had one male and female voice. It was difficult at times to figure out who was actually speaking. Only thing I didn't like about the book was the ending. Last chapter was anti- climatic and Elise and David's relationship was just left hanging.

Good twist, interesting story!

Really good character development. The plot was interesting. Overall it felt ominous not really suspenseful until the end which was good. Narration was good after getting used to it.

Liked enough to get book #2

The puffer fish/voodoo/zombie thing is old but this book has some redeeming qualities. I enjoy that the main characters have flaws and emotional baggage. The chemistry between the two main detectives was slow to build but that made their final connection worth the wait. I wish the plot had more twists and that there could have been more humor, but what was absolutely stellar was Natalie Ross' narration. Excellent. Moving on to #2.