Ring of Lies

By: Victoria Howard

Narrated by: Michelle Ford

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

When English accountant Daniel Elliott dies in a car accident one rainy night, his widow, Grace, is overcome with grief... and panic. Daniel was controlling and their marriage loveless, but he always took care of the sheltered Grace. Or so she thought. She soon discovers Daniel kept secrets: an alias, mob ties, a list of numbers, a mysterious beach house in Florida... and a girlfriend who looks like Grace.

Swallowing her fear, she flies to Miami to claim the house Daniel left her. But the price of her curiosity is peril. Underworld figures stalk her. The other woman has left a damning trail of evidence pointing her way. And handsome, troubled FBI agent Jack West has crossed precarious paths with Grace before. He could be her savior or her damnation. All she knows for certain is that she longs to be in his arms.

With little to go on and danger at every turn, Grace must depend on Jack to help her navigate the criminal world of south Florida, and find the truth behind the Ring of Lies.

©2010 Victoria Howard (P)2013 Victoria Howard

Who did it!

Where does Ring of Lies rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Ring of lies is up there for narration and thriller.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ring of Lies?

When Grace finds out Jack has a 6 week old baby and spills the coffee at dinner.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Jack and Grace find out they love each other was my favorite scene.

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

Jack taking care of Amelia when her mother would not was moving.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

AudioBook Review

A romantic suspense story that I had trouble with the romance although found the suspense and the setting of scenes quite clever, Ring of Lies is a “what do you do when all you thought you knew was untrue’ sort of story.

To the positive, the story was developed with clever scene setting and description that gave me a sense of being there. The twists and turns as Grace navigates her own grief and the uncovered secrets and peril in Miami felt plausible, but there was just something not quite meshing in the story for me.

Mostly I think it was a character issue: I didn’t find Grace particularly capable or strong, and while she did manage to take in information and make decisions, they still felt tentative and unsure. And she was more dithery and insecure – no anger, no real displays of furious after finding a whole life her dead husband had concealed. Sure, the shock was expected, but I also believe anyone would be angry – furious if truth be told. Then we have Jack – a bit too Stacey Keach in Mike Hammer, with the associated ‘trying to hide the golden heart within’ sort of attitude. Why can’t a dislikable character just be left to be competent but no one you’d want to have a drink with? I would have believed that more, and then there would be no need to flavor this story with a romance that just felt forced and untrue.

Not bad in the whole, with enough issues with character dialogue feeling stilted or utterly misplaced to the character that is speaking, and there seemed to be a great rush to finish the story in the last moment, a curious problem with many titles in this genre. Is there a checklist that says you have to end in X pages so pages R, S, T, U, V and W all must tie up every thread whether that seems to make sense or not? There were some pieces that required more exposition, even if the ending did feel appropriate for the situation, even though rushed.

Narration is provided quite capably by Michelle Ford, who manages to impart voice and accent changes neatly, add emotional impact without overreach, and provide enough variation in delivery and pacing to provide interest while remaining easy to follow.

I received an AudioBook copy of the title via AudioBook Jukebox for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

left me wanting more!!!

loved this story! very suspenseful and the romantic twists were unexpected. narrator's voice was awesome.

Enjoyable book

Interesting story. A bit predictable, but still nice. The narrator doesn't have to make Grace's voice sound so pathetic though.

lies and more lies

Any additional comments?

Grace's world is turned upside down when her husbond dies and finds that he wasn't at all the man that she thought he was.
A throughly enjoyable mystery, that gradually gets unwoven. Although some of the plot is a bit predictable , this doesn't spoil this audiobook at all.It got my attention right from the start, and kept it the whole way ,good ending.
Good characters, that are believable and are placed in a believable scene.
Really well narrated by Michelle Ford.

I received this AudioBook from AudioBookblast in return for an unbiased and honest review.

Murder, mystery and Romance

I really enjoyed this very long audible story about Grace and Jack. They had met at a tennis tournament and were instantly attracted to one another. Grace was married and kept her vows. Later our two characters find themselves working together to keep alive and to solve several murders. Fun to guess and the narration was really well done.

Received this book free from Audiobook.com

This book is so good! Good storyline and good characters ....excellent reader...recommend highly! Have read/listen twice!!!

Engaging mystery

Many surprises for this new widow. The narrator did a great job. I am eager to read or listen to more by this author.

New Fan-Put Others On My Wish List-It Is THAT Good

Any additional comments?

This new to me author is well worth the listen. A mystery wrapped in romance or romance wrapped in mystery. Ring of Lies held my attention throughout the entire book.

The narration was fantastic. The narrator was able to transition from one sent to another fluidly. Outstanding!

Notes: a bit of strong language

Creditworthy/$: Yes on both. This would be a credit well spent. *I was able to listen to it in exchange for my thoughts and opinion.

Thank you for reading my review. If you found it helpful please select yes directly below this text.

What a story!

Wow! I absolutely loved this book. It had all the components of my perfect story. There was a love story written into a well thought out mystery. The love story didn't get in the way of the mystery and the mystery aided the love story. I feel most authors have trouble making that balance, but this was perfect.

This is the type of book that I want to (and pretty much did) listen to in one sitting. I wanted the mystery to be unravelled before I did anything else.

I can't imagine what I would feel if I found when my husband died that he wasn't at all who I thought he was. I would be like the main character and keep searching for answers. For her, the wedding band was definitely a Ring of Lies.

This is an amazing read for anyone who likes mysteries and/or romances.


This review copy audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge.