Left for Dead

A Novel

By: J. A. Jance

Narrated by: Karen Ziemba

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Ali Reynolds investigates two shocking cases of victims brutally left for dead in New York Times best-selling J.A. Jance’s latest mystery-thriller.

When Santa Cruz County deputy sheriff Jose Reyes, Ali’s classmate from the Arizona Police Academy, is gunned down and left to die, he is at first assumed to be an innocent victim of the drug wars escalating across the border. But the crime scene investigation shows there’s much more to it than that, and soon he and his pregnant wife, Teresa, both fall under suspicion of wrongdoing.

Ali owes Reyes a debt of gratitude for the help he gave her years earlier when she was dealing with a troubled friend. When she’s summoned to his bedside at Physicians Medical Center in Tucson, it’s impossible for her to turn away. And knowing Reyes as well as she does, Ali finds it hard to believe that he’s become mixed up in the drug trade, despite evidence to the contrary. Upon arriving at the hospital, Ali finds that her good friend, Sister Anselm, is there, too - working as a patient advocate on behalf of another seriously injured victim, an unidentified young woman presumed to be an illegal border crosser, who was raped and savagely beaten.

Ali becomes determined to seek justice in both cases and secure safety for both victims. Together with Sister Anselm and a conscientious officer who won’t let the case drop despite pressure from above, Ali digs for clues to find the true culprits. Fast-paced, tension-filled, and intriguingly complex, Left for Dead is J.A. Jance at her riveting best.

©2012 J.A. Jance. (P)2012 Simon & Schuster Audio

Disjointed

What would have made Left for Dead better?

Better narration and smoother segue's between the story threads. There were artificially long pauses throughout the story at the end of sentences, paragraphs and chapters that really grated.

Has Left for Dead turned you off from other books in this genre?

no

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Karen Ziemba?

Christine Hvam

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Being from Tucson I love the oh so thinly disguised locations and the crazy-quick commutes. Wish those commute times were real.

J.A....What Happened...did you fall and hit your h

What would have made Left for Dead better?

Writing to an audience of adults. I have read books for Young Adults that don't talk down like Jance does in this book. Quit adding things like, "We were all so tired we would have no problem going night night>" Really?

What was most disappointing about J.A. Jance’s story?

The whole book!

Would you be willing to try another one of Karen Ziemba’s performances?

No...her voice is irritating and one note. She should read children's books because that what I felt like when she read that book!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger...because I wasted a credit on it! I have tried to make it through the book 3 times, and quite frankly, I don't think I'm going to make it.

Any additional comments?

J.A. Will you please find Ali Reynolds a real job instead of having her flit around having the occasional roll in the hay with B and thinking she's just another person when really she is staring to come off as a snob!