Remains of Innocence

A Brady Novel of Suspense

By: J. A. Jance

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Sheriff Joanna Brady must solve two perplexing cases that may be tied together in New York Times best-selling author J. A. Jance's thrilling tale of suspense that brings to life Arizona's Cochise County and the desert Southwest in all its beauty and mystery.

An old woman, a hoarder, is dying of emphysema in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. In cleaning out her house, her daughter, Liza Machett, discovers a fortune in hundred dollar bills hidden in the tall stacks of books and magazines that crowd every corner.

Tracing the money's origins will take Liza on a journey that will end in Cochise County, where Sheriff Joanna Brady is embroiled in a personal mystery of her own. A man she considers a family friend is found dead at the bottom of a hole in a limestone cavern near Bisbee. And now there is the mystery of Liza and the money. Are the two disparate cases connected? It's up to Joanna to find out.

©2014 J.A. Jance (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Confusing

What did you like best about Remains of Innocence? What did you like least?

Really.ime the family being included of the Sherrif.

What could J. A. Jance have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Ade theconnectiontothectwostories flow better.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Tried but failed east coast verbage.

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

No. Most books get lost I movie..

Any additional comments?

Justnotreally as good as her others.

A tale of family dysfunction

My introduction to J. A. Jance was a book in the middle of the Joanna Brady series. I enjoyed it so much I read the entire series then started on the Beaumont series. I was so glad to see a new book in the Brady series; I thought she had forgotten about. The book starts out in Great Barrington, Massachusetts where a daughter of a hoarder is forced to return to her mother’s house. Lisa Machett’s mother Thelma is dying and Lisa needs to deal with Thelma’s affairs. In cleaning the house she discovers a large amount of cash. People who help Lisa are killed; Thelma’s house is burned down on the day of her funeral. Dr. Machetts is found murdered and tortured in his home in Bixby, Arizona. He is Lisa’s half brother.

Sheriff Joanna Brady is also dealing with the murder of Junior Dowdle, a long time character in the series, along with Junior’s body is a number of dead and mutated kittens, rabbit and small dog. Gradually the two plots weave together to form a compelling tale of family dysfunction and murder. This is a complicated read that moves forward at a rapid pace. As usual J. A. Jance has written an interesting tale. Hillary Huber did a good job narrating the book.

Disappointed

I have read/listened to many of J.A. Janice's books and always enjoyed them but this one is terrible. It rambles and is haunting. Very hard to stay with but I did hoping it would improve. Sadly it did not.

too farfetched

good story-line until Elisa became fatally stupid with house burning, involvement of bread truck mafia, etc... this is first tape of many that were so ridiculous that I had to stop listening .....Joanna, Elisa should have jumped into the same hole as the mentally challenged 60 yr old.... and who casts a heavily NJ accent into the role of an authority in a Western town??

Disappointing

I don't even know how to begin reviewing this book. The narration is terrible. It's nasal and slow, and often lacks the correct inflections, so that a clause within a sentence is read like a new sentence. But, as irritating as that was, I could have overlooked it if the plot was halfway decent. It wasn't. Suspension of disbelief? More like suspension of intelligence was required to swallow this story.

Rough narration

Recommend listening X1.25 speed. Some parts may be a bit speedy, but it’s 1000 times better then the slow and awful narration

Slowest & Most Nasal Narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The Narrator. There was no inflection of any type in her voice. Whether the characters were excited, sad or in regular conversation, it all came out the same. "Hey what are you doing", came out the same as "he said grimly"

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

What didn’t you like about Hillary Huber’s performance?

Spoke in a monotone, and through her nose

Do you think Remains of Innocence needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

maybe w/o the narrator

Disturbing Story

I typically enjoy Joanna. Easy stories but this one really disturbed me. It’s a work of fiction so I don’t understand why Jance chose to write a story that highlights animal cruelty. Isn’t there enough of that in this world, so why write about it in a fictional story? She could have written about anything, so why?

Couldn't even finish it

I can usually get over the monotone voice of some of the readers if the book is good enough to draw me in and keep me interested. By this book was a bad combo of a monotone voice and monotone storyline that made it painful to follow. It had its moments that peaked my interest, followed by the on and on droning of the author, making it boring and annoying.

Tired Narrator

What did you like best about Remains of Innocence? What did you like least?

The two separate stories are intriguing and held my interest. I kept listening because of the story. The narrator was awful. I've read Joanna Brady mysteries previously and have imagined her as energetic but in the hands of this narrator she is tired and a "one note" character.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The book is read with such low energy I can't say I had a favorite character, it was the plot that was my favorite part of the book.

How could the performance have been better?

Another narrator with more energy would definitely be in order. With audio books the narrator is the make or break part of the book. In this case the reader "broke" the book.