Splintered Silence

A Bone Gap Travellers Mystery, Book 1

By: Susan Furlong

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Among the Irish Travellers living in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, no one forgets and no one forgives. And as former Marine MP Brynn Callahan finds out when she returns home, it's hard to bury the past when bodies keep turning up....

After an IED explosion abruptly ends her tour of duty, Brynn arrives stateside with PTSD and her canine partner Wilco - both of them bearing the scars of battle. With a mix of affection, curiosity, and misgivings, she goes back to Bone Gap, Tennessee, and the insular culture she'd hoped to escape by enlisting in the Marine Corps.

Marginalized and wary of outsiders, the Irish Travellers keep to themselves in a secluded mountain community, maintaining an uneasy coexistence with the "settled" townspeople of McCreary. When Wilco's training as a cadaver dog leads Brynn to discover a body in the woods, the two worlds collide. Soon it's clear that and Brynn and Wilco are in danger - and they're not the only ones.

After the police identify the dead woman, Brynn is shocked to learn she has a personal connection - and everything she's been told about her past is called into question.

Forming a reluctant alliance with local sheriff Frank Pusser, Brynn must dig up secrets that not only will rattle her close-knit clan to its core, but may forever change her perception of who she is...and put her back in the line of fire.

©2018 Susan Furlong (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Published by arrangement with Kensington Publishing Corp.

Great read/listen

Splintered Silence was my first read/listen from author Susan Furlong. The story and characters are slowly & methodically developed, drawing the reader in. Narrator Amy Landon added greatly to the listening enjoyment with her wide variety of entertaining voices & inflections. I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

Story plot good, execution, not so much....

Would you try another book from Susan Furlong and/or Amy Landon?

I would consider it

Any additional comments?

If the author is going to tag her protagonist with a military background, she should do some more research. None of the so called "Marine MP" experience made any sense. Also, medically discharged service people are awarded disability pay depending on the specific injuries. So portraying the protagonist as penniless is a bit of an insult to how the US treats its wounded veterans. It is sad that the author put so much work into the story of the Travelers and so little into military service.

Keeps you guessing

It was so easy to get lost in Furlong's well-developed characters. Every time you think you get to know them, a new layer is pulled back and you discover something new and surprising. The story also unfolds in layers and keeps you guessing the whole time. This is a mystery in the truest sense and so fun to read. The narrator's performance was the perfect fit for this story.

Great book

I loved this book. I knew nothing about the Irish American Travelers. Not only did I learn lots. but I really liked the characters.

Great plot and characters

Audio books make it easier for my work commute and this book definitely had me hooked and looking forward to my drives! Love how the author writes her characters which makes them easier to connect and visualize, including Wilco :) just preordered her upcoming book looking forward to getting that one started this summer !!!! Will not disappoint!

Had Loose Ends, but Overall, I'd Recommend...

*Ok, so first, where is Kevin Dugan. luv'd that he had helped her grandmother in her time of need.

*Why'd her grandfather do those things, betrayed his granddaughter that way. no reason given, maybe in the 2nd bk. idk

No Spoiler's coming up i dont think:

Those were biggest for me, so...the narrator is not new to me. I think she did a better job in the The Hunter series by Mercedes Lackey. she differentiated all the characters very well there. Here, not so much. Still a decent job, jus could have been better. my personal preference would have been Marcella Riordan, who narrated, Murder in Thrall, by Anne Cleeland. Oh man she had that wonderful Irish accent down pat and could move between various characters seamlessly.

So, I've read a Traveller romance once, her research fits well with that, so no issue with author's research there.

Luv'd Wilco, actually have several bks and audibles featuring K9 partners bc i luv that specific genre so much. Showing that dogs get traumatized too in war, that was great. what wasn't was the fact that the author didn't at least mention the resources that are available (whether the character uses it or not) to combat vet's. Injured or not, diagnosed with PTSD or not. They offer job search assistance too. and dont think they leave the pups out, there are vet services for combat dogs too. those are limited and specific to certain areas near military bases but still, they're there.

not so much on a romance basis, that's for those that might want more of that. brief, very brief, intimacy with Dugan. Well, maybe not intimacy, ok yes, changed my mind, sharing her traumatic past culd be considered an emotional as well as their brief physical intimacy, which the author didnt go into alot of detail, so for those who dont like that, say for instance the way Laurell K. Hamilton can in her books, dont worry.

So, Plot's good, Pacing slow in beginning, when it sped up 3/4s in, her abitlity to defend herself was a 2 out of 5 in my opinion, especially considering Marine basic training, then the additional training for their specialty, as well as military usually offer more hand to hand defense training if desired, after those two prerequisites. so the author's action sequence wasnt believable there, on how the fmc defended herself, plus, when she discovered all this info due to Wilco, not once did it occur to her to pull out her cell, either to call the Sheriff, or document what she found by pic's, video recording, ANYTHING??
So of course she's discovered, surprised, overpowered, and drugged. Really?!!!?
And where was Wilco? Author didnt mention what the dog did, or if the Perp did something to him or if he tuk off or anything. next we the reader know, Wilco is coming with the Sheriff, after all the action tuk place. so there's that.....

Yall it's still a gud story, didnt give too much away i hope, just spoke about specific issues related to structure.
Good Reading and Listening yall.