Desperate

By: Daniel Palmer

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Gage Dekker still blames himself for the car accident that claimed the lives of his first wife and young son. Then he meets Anna, who understands grief all too well. Within a year, Gage and Anna are married. After a heartbreaking miscarriage, they begin the long adoption process, until fate brings Lily into their lives. Young, pregnant, and homeless, Lily agrees to give her baby to Gage and Anna in exchange for financial support. But something isn't right once Lily enters their lives. At work and at home, Gage is being sabotaged, first in subtle ways, then things take a more sinister turn. Every attempt he makes to uncover the truth only drives a wedge between him and Anna.

©2014 Daniel Palmer (P)2014 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Critic reviews

"If you've somehow missed reading Daniel Palmer, it's time to - pardon the pun - get Desperate." ( New York Times)

a few surprises

narrator...5 stars. i like guessing what will happen next, but getting it right too often is a bit of a let down. That still didn't stop me from eagerly listening through to the end.

I couldn't put this book down!

This was indeed a thriller! Such a surprising ending! I was so stressed that I went on line to look for spoilers to ease my stress. I'm glad that I didn't find so that I could guess and enjoy. It is quite conceivable that a woman desperate for a baby could ignore signs. I'll was more by this author for sure.

The book itself was good.

I liked the different twists that weren't what you always expect however if I heard the guy say "I said" Brad Said, Anna said , she said in the middle of a sentence much more J was gonna lose my shit.

Very Nearly There

Yes, Daniel Palmer is developing along nicely as a thriller writer; just a little bit more investment in the development of believable and intelligent heros would be a welcome move. With the exception of Gage Dekker, all the other character remained ghostlike and underdeveloped. Upon reflection, perhaps this was intentional and the writer just wanted the whole story to be totally directed by his main character, Gage. If this, indeed was the case, then Gage's character needed further development and given more insight, less hysteria, and more intelligence than the present character appears to have. Having said that, I enjoyed the book thoroughly. The suspense was strung like a tight wire throughout the book and it was hard to put down. Peter Berkrot's performance as Gage Dekker was excellent and he brought the character to life. I look forward to Daniel Palmer's next book.

Edge of seat

And about fell off! Excellent mastery of mystery and unexpected twists and turns. Excellent plot and understanding of manipulation techniques. Wow.

Desperate for a little common sense.

I really thought this was going to be a great book. But the incredible story line was repeated so many times . It was truly aiming for low intelligence readers or perhaps word count . Overall it was boring , but I still listened until the ending. Time invested and curiosity.

First half was very good - then enter Roy

Have you listened to any of Peter Berkrot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. He is a good narrator and I generally enjoy his readings.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

The first half of the story had me really engaged - the second half had me wanting it to end. It became stupid and rediculous. It could have ended a lot sooner than it did. The author tried to do too much - a romance - a tragedy - corporate thriller - crime story all in one and I don't think it worked. Once the character Roy came in, the author lost me. The fact that Lily wasn't pregnant was evident to anyone with a brain in the first chapter. I would try another one of his novels, before crossing this author off my list, but this was underwhelming.

Predicitable

What would have made Desperate better?

This story was very predicitable and repetitive in the storytelling. I couldn't even finish it because there just wasn't any point. It got worse as the story went on.

Has Desperate turned you off from other books in this genre?

YES

What does Peter Berkrot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Peter almost made the book worth listening too.

Skip this one

The main male character, Gage, was irritating and the story line too predictable during most of the book. At times the story was overly dramatic especially when over dwelling on Gage's thoughts . Half way though I thought it was turning a corner to a interesting story, but a chapter later I realized that was not happening. Almost returned I but have a problem not finishing a book. Sped up the reading speed and stuck it out. It only became an actual thriller during the last part of the book.

Skip this book!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The narrator has an "affected" accent which he mixes with an annoying nasal tone. His voice practically made my skin crawl.