Viable Hostage

Emerald City Thriller

By: Audrey J. Cole

Narrated by: Marcio Catalano, Veronica Pace

Malorie’s best friend is missing, but no one seems concerned about the wayward medical student's mysterious disappearance - until another student's partial remains wash ashore a Seattle beach....

When Malorie witnesses her best friend and roommate leave a campus bar with a mystery date driving a silver Mercedes, she suspects foul play, especially when Lani fails to return home the next day. Both women, med students in their final year at Elliott Bay University, have a lot riding on the line, but due to Lani’s wild past, no one in her family is worried. When Malorie’s fears for her roommate deepen, she turns to her Uncle Wade, a sergeant at Seattle Homicide.

Within 48 hours after Lani goes missing, the partial remains of a brutally murdered young woman wash up on Alki Beach, and a human hand is found in a crab pot off Bainbridge Island. When one of the bodies is identified as a pregnant, fourth-year medical student, Wade believes there’s a connection with Lani’s disappearance. And, that they might be looking for a serial killer.

Malorie suspects Lani’s kidnapper is someone they know, possibly even one of their professors at the university, a prominent Seattle anesthesiologist whose wife is the president of EBU. But when Detective Blake Stephenson discovers evidence that links another suspect to the professor’s Mercedes, he and Wade must act fast to attempt a wild rescue in the middle of Puget Sound.

©2019 Audrey J. Cole (P)2024 Audrey J. Cole

Excellent addition to the series!

This is the fourth book in the Emerald City Thriller series. Malorie's story is suspenseful, filled with mystery, danger, and twists and turns. The storyline is intricate, and captivating. Impossible to stop listening. Marcio Catalano and Veronica Pace did an amazing job with the narration. I enjoyed it! Looking forward to listening to Fatal Deception, the next book in the series.

Highly recommend

Story line had me guesting right at the start.

The narrators were good using different voices for each character.

Highly recommend this suspenseful thriller.

I received this audible free at my request. I'm happy to provide my honest review.

Excellent

Once I started listening I couldn't stop. I stayed up all night so I could finish it. Very moving, emotionally charged story.

Both narrators did a wonderful job.

I received this audible free at my request. I'm happy to provide my honest review

An intricately woven and exciting mystery.........

Viable Hostage is part of a series featuring Seattle police detectives, and, although it can easily be read as a standalone, I highly recommend all of the books in this series. The book begins with three seemingly separate mysteries: the disappearance of a medical student, the discovery of a woman's partial remains on the beach, and the discovery of a woman's hand in a crab pot across the Sound.

The story alternates point of view from the various characters investigating the mystery. These investigators include Malorie, the best friend of the missing medical student, her Uncle Wade, a police sergeant with Seattle Homicide, and Detective Stephenson, a detective under Wade's command, Although I thoroughly enjoy Audrey Cole's portrayal of the two police detectives, I was even more impressed with Malorie. She is an incredibly bright and hardworking student, but she is also completely dedicated to finding and saving her friend, even when nobody else in her friend's family seems willing to help. I was continually stumped as to the identity and motive of the killer, and I honestly didn't have any correct guesses on that until the very end. I can't say enough positive comments about this book other than it is absolutely worthy of an Audible credit.

Viable Hostage is narrated in the dual narration style, and both Catalano and Pace perform this tricky style with talent. Catalano reads all thoughts and spoken words by males and Pace does the same for females in the book. They both delivery a flawless, smooth performance and make an already fun story even more enjoyable as an audiobook.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for this honest review.

Totally loved the plot, the way it was carried out

I have liked these audios so much that I have listen to most of them twice and plan to listen to them more as time goes by. The author puts a little bit of everything in it from thrills, chills, excitement and few surprises. I really enjoyed the plot, just as I thought I had it all worked out the author throws a twist that really surprised me. I thought it was well thought out, giving wonderful twists and turns, that hold your attention from the first page until the last. The killer is a surprise that took me a little while to work out.

The narrators did a wonderful job with the character voices, you always knew who was talking and what they were feeling. I thought it was just as good the second time as the first time. There are no background noise, no repeating of words and no volume changes, it is a very clear audio that keeps you hanging on to every word. They really put true emotions in to the characters, really showing their pain, passion and anger. I really could feel what each character was going through tears, it was amazing how well these two narrators blended well together. I really can’t wait to listen to more of their work.

This is a thrilling listen that holds your attention, keeps you hanging on and is a very hard audio to put down. The plot is well thought out, with wonderful twists and turns, thrilling, exciting with a great ending. I have really enjoyed this series and can’t wait to start the next one. Just the thought of what this book has in it is enough to put chills through you, as the author carries the theme through it you really feel a chill go down you down. It was truly an exciting listen that will stay with me for awhile. My heart really went out to the victims they lost so much but the ending was great.

Great Thriller! Great Narration!

Viable Hostage by Audrey J. Cole pulled me in immediately. Medical thrillers have always appealed to me, and this one is fantastic. The author wrote characters that are compelling, unexpected twists and several red herrings. Both narrators, Marcio Catalano and Veronica Pace were perfectly cast for this book. They add the right emotions to this listen and really bring the characters to life.

Barnacles and babies

This book has intrigue and love and trickery. It also has a lot of fantasy that could be true. Cruelty and greed come kill and grieve.But when you start listening to it you’ve got to stay with it to get to those sweet babies.

Wonderful

Audrey J Cole is becoming one of my favorite authors! This was a well written book . Kept me guessing and well I loved it .

Viable Hostage

This was my first Audrey J. Cole book but it won't be my last. It kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning all the way until the end. It was definitely thrilling and engaging. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller. Marcio Catalano and Veronica Pace did a great job bringing this story to life. I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

Suspenseful and intriguing thriller

Malorie's friend Lani goes missing after a mysterious date. As one of many female med students that have gone missing from the same med program, Malorie reaches out to her uncle at the police to assist.

Audrey did a fantastic job creating a complex and interesting thriller that keeps the listener intrigued and on the edge of their seat. She did her "medical" research well for this book and it was so realistic with and excellent build up to a masterful plot. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The narrators were great and i loved the energy in their performances.

I recommend this suspenseful and fascinating thriller.

Note: This book was given to me for free at my request and i provided this objective review voluntarily.