Devil's Cradle

By: Drew Avera

Narrated by: Jamie B. Cline

Length: 1 hr and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Devil's Cradle, from the author of the Dead Planet series and 2103, is a psychological thriller that shows how far one will go to overcome the burdens of their past.

Samantha Martinez's life has been turned upside down. Her family was torn apart after surviving an encounter with serial killer Cason Letum. Ten years later she still has survivor's remorse. She is haunted by the memory of that night and the tragedy that followed: the murder of her sister Sarah. With revenge in her heart she becomes obsessed with settling the score in order to quiet the torment in her mind, even if it costs her everything. But sometimes revenge isn't enough.

©2014, 2015 Drew Alexander Avera (P)2015 Drew Alexander Avera

Twisted, Psychotic, AWESOME!!

I was given this book free by the author for free in return for an unbiased review. Well, I'm glad I did, since it was a twisted thrill ride.The story starts with a cop searching for a girl who has been kidnapped by a psychopath. He finds the girl as she is about to be murdered in a ritualistic manner by said crazy, and he rescues her. The psycho is arrested, but later manages to escape and goes after the girl again, causing a tragedy in her family but not getting her. He is later arrested and sent to prison, where he continues to be a psycho, killing another inmate. This guy is Hannibal Lechter evil and crazy. The original victim becomes a cop, and actually attempts to kill the psycho while he is in prison. The story is told 1st person POV from the perspective of the cop who originally rescued her, the victim, and the psycho killer. Really cool technique. I won't spoil the ending, but this story just begs the question, when you obsess about something for so long, how do you avoid becoming that thing? This was an excellent story, excellently narrated, with Jamie Cline switching between characters seamlessly. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a trip into the heart of darkness.

The world turned gritty as I listened.

This story is relentlessly gritty. While that may sound excessively grim and dark, it is actually a good thing in the hands of a good writer. The book deals with devastating events and human reactions to those events. Avera creates a real world, alternating in time from the primary event and the present, and Cline's narration brings it to life.

A serial killer mistakes Sarah Martinez for her twin sister, Samantha. The murder devastates the family and Samantha's survivor remorse is not reconciled even ten years after the killing. Driven by a need for revenge, she must decide whether closure is ever possible.

For this listener, there is a shade too much bass in the recording, making Cline's words seem slightly "fuzzier" and a bit hard to understand. His enunciation and pacing are excellent and his use of accents is spot-on for the characters.

I recommend this Audible book for readers of psychological thrillers.