All Fall Down

Hostage Negotiation Team, Book 1

By: Julie Coulter Bellon

Narrated by: Simon Pringle-Wallace

Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes we all fall down....

That simple rhyme turns negotiator Claire Michaels' current hostage situation into an international incident. Claire just wants to help get everyone out safely, but as the crisis escalates, she realizes she's dealing with an al-Qaeda operative who has the means to become another bin Laden - with the potential to attack America. Claire has her own personal reasons for wanting to stop al-Qaeda, but time is slipping away as negotiations break down. Can she overcome her scars of the past in order to get the hostage out alive and possibly stop an assault on US national security?

Navy SEAL Rafe Kelly is on leave to recover from a knee injury he suffered during his tour in Afghanistan, and he doesn't expect to be fighting terrorists on his home turf. But when he is taken hostage and his brother is kidnapped, Rafe teams up with a hostage negotiator in order to stay alive and get his brother back. The terrorist is always one step ahead of them, however, and the situation quickly turns from desperate to deadly. Will Rafe be able to save himself and his country without anyone he loves getting caught in the crossfire?

©2012 Julie Coulter Bellon (P)2015 Julie Coulter Bellon

Action!

“Ring around the rosy…” I don’t think I can get this rhyme out of my head soon enough. Very intense read with explosives and some intense chemistry in the picture.
I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook; I was not required to write a favorable review. All opinions in this review are my own.
 

Clean Military Romance

Story: 5 stars

I love Ms. Bellon's military romances. There are really great, capable female characters and tough-as-nails but sometimes too perfect guys (that's ok, this is fiction!). This story is excellent as many of the characters try to work through the emotional pain of war and of witnessing horrors, or being taken hostage. They come out on the other side having successfully coped and with greater empathy and some degree of healing. You really care about these characters.

Narration: 4.5 stars

Excellent voice with good cadence, rhythm and expression. I love the touch of making Rafe's voice have a slight NYC(?) accent; it was a nice touch. Mr. Pringle-Wallace's female voices were excellent, as well. I'd definitely listen to him narrate again.

*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special

Tension Twists Filled. Plot

I was hooked into Claire and Rafe, the smooth flow of words, yet one could feel the underlining tension. She is bruised, but wants this case, something wasn’t right about it, also, she had enough regrets, without adding to it. For Rafe, the injury, the nightmares, one of his that had been there with him in Afghanistan, now he couldn’t help save one of his own. Now they have taken Vince, and want what Gary was working on. Seventy two hours to get to Afghanistan. Would Claire be with him, or would Homeland be stopping them both, and putting ?Rafe in protective custody. Twist and turns that keep coming, well done.
Narration was great and added to the story

Love the Narrator!

Would you consider the audio edition of All Fall Down to be better than the print version?

Yes, absolutely! The narrator kept me engaged when I may have put the book down otherwise. His voice brought the writing to life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked Claire a lot- she was smart, gentle, and also incredibly strong (and strong willed)!

What about Simon Pringle-Wallace’s performance did you like?

Simon Pringle-Wallace did a fantastic job at pacing- he knew when to speed up and slow down depending on what was happening. I also liked his interpretation of character voices and intonations. That helped me get to know the characters even more. I hope Simon does more of Julie Coulter Bellon's books, but I'm going to keep an eye out for more of his work either way!

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

There is a moment when you learn of a betrayal (but it's a spoiler, so I won't write it here). This was a disheartening and moving scene in the book.

Fast paced, exciting, with a bit of romance

This was my first book reading (listening in this case) anything by this author. Already looking forward to reading more from her. All Fall Down is a fast paced, exciting, got to keep reading kind of book. I seriously got frustrated every time I had to tap the pause button cause I just wanted to keep listening. I love the suspense and twists throughout the book and the characters have depth and heart. The narrator was great and added another layer of drama to the audiobook experience.