The Last Winter of Dani Lancing

A Novel

By: P. D. Viner

Narrated by: Various

For fans of Tana French and The Silent Wife, The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is a chilling debut thriller hailed by Sophie Hannah as "brilliant" about one murder's devastating ripple effects.

Twenty years ago, college student Dani Lancing was kidnapped and brutally murdered. The killer was never found. Dani's family never found peace.

Thrust into an intense devastation that nearly destroys their marriage, Patty and Jim Lancing struggle to deal with their harrowing loss. Patty is fanatically obsessed with the cold case; consumed by every possible clue or suspect no matter how far-fetched, she goes to horrifying lengths to help clarify the past. Meanwhile, Jim has become a shell of his former self, broken down and haunted - sometimes literally - by his young daughter's death. Dani's childhood sweetheart, Tom, handles his own grief every day on the job - he's become a detective intent on solving murders of other young women, and hopes to one day close Dani's case himself.

Then everything changes when Tom finds a promising new lead. As lies and secrets are unearthed, the heartbreaking truth behind Dani's murder is finally revealed.

The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is a shockingly disturbing and deeply powerful debut, and P.D. Viner immediately joins the ranks of Tana French, A. S. A. Harrison, and Gillian Flynn.

©2013 P.D. Viner (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Brilliant! P. D. Viner's writing is audacious, clever and bold. I think he’ll go far." (Sophie Hannah, author of The Wrong Mother)

"An exciting thriller that is also deeply moving. A hugely impressive debut." (Mark Billingham, author of Rush of Blood)

"Inventive, clever, and beautifully written. This novel of a single crime's ripple effects on the survivors is told with ingenious plotting and rich, true characters. A bold and impressive debut." (Ace Atkins, New York Times best-selling author of The Broken Places)

Narration was over the top

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The screaming and crying of the narrators while other narrators were speaking was very distracting.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the story for the most part. However the narrators would wail or scream for endless minutes when their character was doing so. This was often distracting as they were doing so while other narrators were speaking. It also became too overwhelming and ear splitting at times as I often listen to my books with headphones. I frequently had to stop what I was doing and remove my headphones as the volume of the crying/screaming was louder than the speaking.

Not worth my free credit

I would be upset had I actually paid for this book but haven't wasted my credit was bad enough. Too convoluted, too many flashbacks, fantastical representations of human character and psychology: a bloodthirsty, deviate, psychopathic drug dealer would disembowel the main hero(policeman) in real life; instead he lets him go with free drugs to plant on somebody, teaches him how to administer drugs to somebody and make it look like they are a habitual user. Or, the conflict between mother and a 13 year old Dani is completely baseless. Or, why does she become an addict is not believable. Tom is the only person who could actually be believable as murderer because of his semi-developed, almost psychotic love for Dani. The novel is at best banal.

Horrible performance

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I found it impossible to get to the end. The obtrusive, melodramatic performance made me cringe.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Just read the book and quash the sound effects and melodrama.

What didn’t you like about Various’s performance?

Nothing.

Do you think The Last Winter of Dani Lancing needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I can't say.

Any additional comments?

This was gut wrenchingly awful.

enjoyable..

pulls you in & really liked the characters...i. great actors and sound effects. would recommend.

Unlistenable

This is recorded more like a radio play than an audiobook. The multiple voices and sound effects are horrid, so bad it was unlistenable. So I can't fairly rate the story, because I couldn't make it past the first 45 minutes.