The Collins Case

Heartfelt Cases, Book 1

By: Julie C. Gilbert

Narrated by: Kristin Condon

A young family disappears …

FBI Special Agent Julie Ann Davidson isn’t assigned the case, but she works it anyway because she knows the Collins family. Add in a baffling case of internet thievery, and Ann and her partner, Patrick Duncan, have plenty to think about.

Who took the Collins family and why?

One thing’s certain: time is running out.

If Ann and Patrick don’t work fast, Rachel Collins and her kids will die.

©2012 Julie C. Gilbert (P)2014 Julie C. Gilbert

story good ... narrator issues

A decent story but rather predictable...
the narrator had problems with any words ending with "nt". this was a real annoyance to me, but overall, not a bad narrator.

FBI kidnapping story

Very interesting story about an involved kidnapping plot. An agent's best friend is one of the victims. Thanks to the author for a free audio book. The only thing I didn't like was the music between chapters. I was able to fold clothes and do other chores d/t someone else reading for me.

Beware of Religious content

This is a story of a man's past catching up with him. Unfortunately, his new life, including wife and children were part of the collateral damage.
The FBI, whilst on another case, was alerted to a setup, which in turn, led to the kidnapped victims.
There's a lot of people looking to their faith in the Lord, which is an integral part of this story. If you are offended by such references, I suggest this may not be a suitable read for you.

A great story with a bit of an edge

This story kept me listening, a bit of suspense along with romance and faith. The stories are best listened to in order but it's not necessary.

Nice book

I was gifted this book by the author for an honest review. I really enjoyed the narrator of this book. She has a wonderful voice. The story was good too. I tend to shy away from Christian fiction. I am a Christian but the authors tend to go over the top sometimes. But Julie Gilbert was great in incorporating a Christian message without going overboard. The mystery was easy to fallow and you enjoyed the characters. I hope to listen to more in this series.

I really liked this one

I had a hard time hearing what the narrator said through my Bluetooth earbuds, but switching to wired earbuds fixed the problem. I mention just in case you experience the same. It would be a shame to not listen or give up.

Anyway, I liked this enough that I am going on with the series immediately. Great story with likable characters.

An exciting Christian mystery

In The Collins Case by Julie C. Gilbert, Dr. Rachel Collins is busy putting away her groceries when a stranger sneaks up on her and orders her to cooperate, or her two children, 3-year-old Emily and 5-year-old Jason, will suffer. The man gives Rachel an injection that knocks her out, and she wakes up the next day in the Cora Compound in Stanley County, South Dakota. Meanwhile, Rachel's husband, Chris, also Dr. Collins, comes home after a long day at the hospital to find his family missing. He starts to call his cop friend, but hangs up almost immediately. Right then his phone rings, and a voice he hasn't heard for years tells him that if he doesn't meet the man on the Brooklyn Bridge, Chris's family will suffer. So Chris blows up his house and disappears.

Monday morning Ann Davidson goes into her job at the FBI, where her partner, Patrick Duncan, shows her a newspaper article that her college friend, Rachel, has disappeared with her family. So Ann takes off for Pennsylvania for a few days to investigate on her own. But she can't stay long because the man in charge of their unit at the FBI calls an urgent meeting. Someone investigates the biggest attack on the banking system in the U.S., taking anywhere between three cents and $4 from anyone with an online banking account, leading to a multi- billion dollar haul.

The narrative goes back and forth between Ann's perspective and that of Rachel. Both have to rely on both their inner strength and their faith in God. Many Christian fictional books tend to preach or tell the readers that a life following God will now be ideal. But in this book, the Christians live out their faith realistically, struggling to trust God despite not seeing his purpose in the situation. I liked the statement of Ann's thoughts one day, reminding herself that God will avenge, but asking God to allow her just one swing. But the book also shows people who refuse to accept God and his help. Further, we see how Christians don't have a perfect life and that even though Christians have God, that doesn't stop bad things from happening to them. As a Christian who suffers from a severe pain disorder, I can relate to the frustration of not seeing God's purpose in difficult situations, but I also can see the need to trust him, as the characters in this book are forced to do.

The plot of this book moves quickly and excitingly, but it didn't give me the added tension that a typical thriller would do. I found myself getting invested in the story and appreciating the way the book kept us connected to the story and the characters. There were some interesting twists that kept me glued to the book.

The audio version of this book is performed by Kristin Condon. She has a soft, gentle voice that suits this recording well. I did find it annoying that the recording played music at the start of each chapter. I much prefer not to interrupt the flow of the narrator's voice with music or sound effects, as I use my audiobooks to relax, and I don't like the disruption. But Condon's performance was very strong.

The Collins Case was a very interesting book, with great angles to the plot. I do rather suspect a couple details were not fully accurate to real law enforcement, but I can't talk about those without giving away spoilers. I think this book is especially great for Christians, to encourage them in their faith. I'm not sure if non-Christians would find the discussions of faith off-putting, but I suspect that would depend upon the individual reading the book. I really did enjoy this book and give it four stars.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the author, but that had no effect at all on the content of my review.

Nice Christian Mystery

I loved this story. (As much as I can love a straight mystery. I'm a fantasy gal)
The actually writing quality was a little lacking, but didn't stop the enjoyment.
Ann and Patrick were great characters. I hope they'll be in the next book.
Kristen Condon is once again a brilliant narrator.

I received a free copy from the author. I was not obligated to write a review. All opinions are my own.

Are the theft and kidnapping cases linked?

Weeell, I'm not exactly sure how to write this one. Don't get me wrong, I was kept entertained by the audiobook of The Collins Case and I'll probably be listening to more of the Heartfelt Cases series. I did enjoy the suspense elements and the awkwardness between two characters as their relationship changed into something more. But... I'll be honest... I found certain scenes, and the characters' reactions to certain events, to be pretty unrealistic to the point of being frustrating at times. The audio production, while not terrible, was not the best either.

Was this audiobook a winner for me? No, not really. Will it stop me from checking out more books from Julie C. Gilbert? No, it won't. Overall it was OK and, like I said, I'll be listening to the rest of the books in the series that have been released on audiobook.

(I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

Christian Intrigue Novel

The Collins Case is the first book of the Heartfelt Cases and a Christian novel. From the surface, the Collins family seemed like the perfect family. Christopher and Rachel are medical doctors with a son, Jason and a daughter, Emily. However, Christopher Collins' is not who said he is and his past has caught up to him and has placed his whole family into danger.

FBI Special Agent Julie Ann Davidson and her partner Patrick Duncan has placed themselves into the Collins Case unofficially. Julie, who is Rachel's best friend, felt that she needed to find out the disappearance of the Collins family after their house has exploded while she and Patrick are put on an internet heist involving million of dollars stolen.

The Collins Case is a very interesting story to listen where Julie Davidson and Rachel Collins have placed their faith in God to help them out of their predicament. Julie is keeping her faith that God will help her to find Rachel. Rachel is praying that God will send someone to rescue her and her two children. This book has some twists and turns that will keep the readers and listeners to guessing of what will happen next in the story.

Kristin Condon, the narrator for the audiobook, sounded flat with her narration. There were no infliction of emotion for the characters even though the story has enough actions and conflict to carry to the end. What is unique about the audiobook is that there are music at the beginning of each chapters. This is the first audiobook with music that I have encountered and find it refreshing.

I was given this audiobook by the author/narrator via Audiobook Blast in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated or influence in any way for writing this review.