The Killing Woods

An Addictive Psycological Thriller

By: linda berry

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

#1 Bestseller in Psychological Thrillers in Kindle Store!

After years as a homicide investigator in a big city, Detective Sidney Becker accepts the position of police chief in her hometown—a peaceful mountain community in Oregon. Life is good. Beautiful scenery. Low crime. Close to family. Then a woman is found brutally murdered in the woods. The staging of the body resembles a victim found in the same area years earlier. The case went cold. Now the killer has come out of hiding. The only clue found at the crime scene is an origami butterfly with a handwritten verse inside. Sidney finds she is pitted against a killer more cunning than any she has faced before. She must decode his cryptic message and lure him into the open—before he strikes again.

Terrible narration.

Great story but the narration is so bad that it makes it a struggle to listen to. I’d rather have Alexa read it to me.

Slow build.

This story slowly built until the last 10 chapters then you get the big reveal and then the cool down. I hope the next book book is better.

Good storyline

Liked the characters and story. Did not like virtual voice at all. Inflections were off and pronunciation of some words wrong.

Ai reading story is horrible

The story was really good, however the fact that they had AI read it ruined the story. The reflection on the words were horrible.

Good story but AI narration is terrible

I liked the story but AI narration is terrible! Why would you ruin a good story with AI?!! I would like to listen to the series but don’t think I can take narration.

Awesome mystery!

I wasn't sure I would like a virtual voice, however within just a few minutes I was so engrossed in the story that I totally forgot about it. There was only a couple of small places where a word was off that I remembered. it wasn't distracting from the storyline. There were intriguing twist and turns that captured your attention throughout the book so you never lost interest from start to finish. Great job and imagination from the author!!!

Not a fan of virtual voice

Liked the story, but was very annoyed by the virtual voice. I would to have loved to listen to it read by an actual voice actor.

The worst narration I’ve ever heard

Could not finish this book even though the story was interesting Because the narration was just awful

great story, don't love the voice

It only thing that I had issue with was that this was a virtual voice the story was amazing

ABOUT THE AI NARRATOR

They tell you from the beginning that an AI is doing the narration so there’s that. There are a lot of books that exist and more are only getting written. As someone who goes through a book a day, the more that they can put out the better. AI is probably used in order to get more books available on audio. That being said, the lack of inflection makes it odd. And on that note, there’s a point where one of the characters is asking if their daughter ODed but the AI didn’t understand that and pronounced it odd. Kinda funny. And luckily there was context so you knew the intent behind the mispronunciation. It sounds like a person talking but there’s no tone. So in a crime novel with people talking about murder etc and it’s being said in such a light hearted way is a little unsettling and takes you out of the immersion. So maybe they should put AI in charge of romance novels where a lighter tone is probably expected, or nonfiction would be a better place and they could focus on getting actual humans for stories that need more depth to the dialogue. But there’s so many different book companies and agencies that it’s not like there’s just one person or business that is charge of audiobooks as a whole. And if there are certain books that aren’t going to be made in audio unless an AI is doing it, then I’ll take it. Aside from that, the story? Full disclosure, I haven’t finished it. But I’m engaged (despite the one dimensional AI), and there’s no way I’m not going to finish it. There’s already so many suspects and possibilities and so much going on, that I’m ready to buckle into the 12 hour ride. If you like mysteries and detective stories give it a go. You get use to the AI after a while. And despite everyone having the same voice, I know who all the characters are and am invested in all their stories and the main plot. Don’t let the AI scare you off. Give it a try. For reference, I hold Karin Slaughter and Tana French in high regard. And while not quite on their level, still well done.