Under The Ice: A Gus LeGarde Mystery

By: Aaron Paul Lazar

Narrated by: Lou Hecker

Note from the author: This is book nine in the award-winning LeGarde Mystery series, but it can easily be heard as a standalone, and all of the books can be heard in any order.

What do you do when your past comes back to kill you?

After escaping her abusive husband, life is finally good for Camille LeGarde and her daughter, Shelby. She has a great relationship with her new husband, Gus, who also loves Shelby like his own child. But the LeGarde family's fragile oasis is shattered when the man of Camille's nightmares is released from prison.

Greg Robinson never wanted to be a father. But he's playing the biological card for all it's worth to get close to Shelby, so he can realize his true goal - revenge against Gus LeGarde, the man who "stole" his wife and daughter.

Lured by the promise of connecting with her real dad, Shelby vanishes, sending Gus and Camille on a desperate race through the worst ice storm of the century to find her before Robinson can act on his chilling threat....

"If I can't have them, neither can you."

The author's alternate suggested listening order for the LeGarde Mysteries series:

1. Double Forté 2. Upstaged 3. Mazurka 4. FireSong 5. Tremolo 6. Don't Let the Wind Catch You 7. The Liar's Gallery 8. Spirit Me Away 9. Under the Ice 10. Lady Blues 11. Voodoo Summer

©2015 Aaron Paul Lazar (P)2015 Aaron Paul Lazar

Slow start

Would you listen to Under The Ice: A Gus LeGarde Mystery again? Why?

No. The dialog was a little awkward. I had trouble forming a strong sense of what kind of guy Gus is. At first he came off as a really sweet guy (loving husband, good step dad, grandpa, son-in-law, chef, prof), then there were section where I really wanted him to toughen up..into a Jack Reacher kind of guy. It never really happened. His reference to "pal" and "buddy" made me think he was talking to a child or a pet. Not a good friend or mentor.

Would you be willing to try another book from Aaron Paul Lazar? Why or why not?

No. Though it was fun to listen to a book based around an area which I am familiar.

Did Lou Hecker do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Eventually. Mr. Hecker had a nice character range. Unfortunately, some of the characters (Matty, Sig) were too much and took away from the story. Too many pauses threw off the overall rhythm. Some breaths were unnecessary and distracting. I would like to hear some of Mr. Lazar's work in the future. He has a nice sound.

Any additional comments?

I received this copy in exchange for an unbiased review via audiobookblast.

wow each new book I read by Aaron Paul Lazar

wow each new book I read by Aaron Paul Lazar makes me LOVE HIM AS AN AUTHOR EVEN MORE!! His writing is unique IN A VERY GOOD WAY & I can't wait to see what other books he has!! I don't leave reviews that just tell you the book description! I will say I loved the book, the NARRATOR DID AN AWESOME JOB & Its definitely worth listening to!! I am already looking for more books by this AMAZING AUTHOR!!

This was a good read

I enjoyed this book. A story about a great family with a horrible past. The characters were great. what a terrible experience for Shelby. A definite thumbs up on this one.

Word pictures abound in this book

Would you listen to Under The Ice: A Gus LeGarde Mystery again? Why?

This is actually the first of the Gus Lagarde mysteries that I have listened to I would listen to it again if I started from book one and worked my way through because I would like to have the continuity of the story . It works great as a standalone book.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the word pictures I literally could see them in the kitchen smell the food cooking on the stove hear the laughter feel the crackling of the warm fire . It is a rare author that can take you out of your place and put you into a book so completely that your own surroundings fade

Which scene was your favorite?

The opening scene in which Shelby comes home late , has lied to her family about where she has been , and all I could imagine was each of my children when they were teenagers . At one time or another we had that same argument .

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When the horse got loose and got into the feed bin . The love and care shown to the horse as well as the consideration of Shelby knowing she had left the stall unlatched and yet having enough of that sense of mind not to go ballistic even though I'm sure he wanted to I knew this was the father most any child would grow up dreaming they had.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed reading this book , it read like somebody had actually lived the life . The Mystery was there and it was important but to me the relationship of how all the people fit together was more important

Under The Ice

Any additional comments?

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."


Can we say DYSFUNCTIONAL? This family is way past this. The husband, dad,grandfather is the male equivalents of "Mary Sue!"
He spends all his time running his family's lives , fixing his broken best friend. Recording his radio show, teaching college music classes,

and cooking. This guy is obsessed with food.

I want to know how a 6 year old girl that was in a coma for 9 years until she was 15, could make up all the missed schooling and be in high school in 1 years
time. It might explain her stupidity .
I guess I need to find back story for this to make sense .


The narration is very well done.

Good book

I was given this book in exchange for my honest review. I have never been much into mysteries but this book makes me want to read the hole series.

Welcome to the family!

--I was given this audiobook is exchange for an honest review.

I loved that even though this is the ninth book of series, I was able to listen to this book and feel right at home with all of the characters. Gus makes you fall into his everyday life, taking care of Joe and dealing with his teenage stepdaughter, Shelby. I would love to be a guest at one of his meals! With that being said, getting to know the characters and meeting Shelby's real father as he gets out of jail, finding out what she thinks the relationship there should be and what he wants, and who is under the ice? So much going on, you get sucked in and just keep listening.


Lou Hecker does n amazing job narrating this. His voice is very rich and warm, but is able to portray the young, old, accents...amazing portrayal.

Slow going

Is there anything you would change about this book?

It takes way too long to develop.

Would you ever listen to anything by Aaron Paul Lazar again?

I'd give him one more try.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

He did a fine job a slow moving book.

Was Under The Ice: A Gus LeGarde Mystery worth the listening time?

It was OK, but just barely.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

A LIttle Disappointed

Family and friends are a very important part of Under the Ice. The relationships among the characters was warm and believable. Other than that, the rest of the story was slow going. Since this is the 9th book in the series, I wonder if I would have liked it more if I had read the other books in the series first. The narrator was ok, but the voices of some of the characters were fake and whiny.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

A Decent Story, Feels like a Soap Opera

I started listening to this book because it was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

I did not realize that it was the ninth book in a very long series. At first I thought the author had left out a lot detail, for instance a one line mention that the daughter had been in a comma most of her life. I realized that I had jumped into the middle of a soap opera and the character development had been going on through the previous eight books.

That being said, I am reviewing this from the position of this book as a standalone and not one of a series. I liked the book in that the story was relatively complete once you got to the end. Overall the story was interesting and it kept me listening to it each day until complete. I thought the author spent too much time on the relationships in the book, especially Gus's grandchildren. It was like sitting and watching someone play with their grandchildren and not being able to walk away after the initial cuteness wore off quickly. That combined with the sappy voice of the narrator was a little too much at times.

The narrator's female voices were just plain annoying to me. His voice was either too high or too deep for a regular woman, and it felt like he was trying too hard to make the women dramatic, much more than the men.

Overall the story is decent, the characters are interesting, but there is too much time spent on daily interactions that no one cares about, except if your into soap operas. The narrator adds to that distraction and adds too much drama to the book in his voice.

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