Roadside Crosses

A Kathryn Dance Novel

By: Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Michele Pawk

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The Monterey Peninsula is rocked when a killer begins to leave roadside crosses beside local highways -- not in memoriam, but as announcements of his intention to kill. And to kill in particularly horrific and efficient ways: using the personal details about the victims that they've carelessly posted in blogs and on social networking websites.

The case lands on the desk of Kathryn Dance, the California Bureau of Investigation's foremost kinesics -- body language-expert. She and Deputy Michael O'Neil follow the leads to Travis Brigham, a troubled teenager whose role in a fatal car accident has inspired vicious attacks against him on a popular blog, The Chilton Report.

As the investigation progresses, Travis vanishes. Using techniques he learned as a brilliant participant in MMORPGs, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, he easily eludes his pursuers and continues to track his victims, some of whom Kathryn is able to save, some not. Among the obstacles Kathryn must hurdle are politicians from Sacramento, paranoid parents and the blogger himself, James Chilton, whose belief in the importance of blogging and the new media threatens to derail the case and potentially Dance's career. It is this threat that causes Dance to take desperate and risky measures...

In signature Jeffery Deaver style, Roadside Crosses is filled with dozens of plot twists, cliff-hangers and heartrending personal subplots. It is also a searing look at the accountability of blogging and life in the online world. Roadside Crosses is the third in Deaver's best-selling High-Tech Thriller Trilogy, along with The Blue Nowhere and The Broken Window.

Please note: Part three of this audiobook consists of The Blue Nowhere.

©2009 Jeffrey Deaver (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

Why 3 Parts?

This was was the most difficult audiobook I have have ever listened to. I started it last years sometime and stopped in the middle of part 1. So I finally decided to give it another try and finally finish it. I felt as if I just threw away time. The reading of all the emails and "http://..." really wore me out. Not to mention the story was just boring to me. *sigh* And then I thought, oh part 3 will wrap this up with a twist... not! It was another story that made no sense to me. Whose bright idea was that?

Politically Left Leaning

This is the first Jeffrey Deaver book that I have read so please take this review with a grain of salt. I stopped listening to the book about halfway through the second chapter. If you are not political, or if you are not a conservative thinker then you may enjoy the book. As I listened to the first part of the book and listened to the main characters opinion of people who have similar views to my own it was more difficult for me to listen and root for the main character. This very well could be a good book. But I just don't tend to enjoy fiction as much when the villians are painted as conservatives...because I am one. Perhaps it does not have as political of a theme as it appeared to in the first two chapters and perhaps not all of his books have this theme...but when I read fiction I want to like the heros. I probably won't spend money on another one of his books unless I know ahead of time that he doesn't make a practice of making conservatives villians.

Definitely Not Up to Normal Deaver Standards

I purchased this book before any reviews were posted and just now got around to posting my own review. I will just have to echo other reviewers that put this book a couple of steps below a normal Deaver. I have enjoyed his various books including the Rhyme series, both in Audible and hardback book forms. The Dance series has proven to be less exciting for me than some, but like others the narrator here is enough to stop buying the series altogether if she continues. She has to be a second grade teacher in her other life.

The surprise extra book was okay. But, since I generally buy long format books for long trips, I wasn't too pleased to find that I had bought a medium length and a short book instead of one long. Others won't have that issue I'm sure.

Hardcore Deaver fans won't be able to resist no matter what the reviews say, but don't be surprised when you aren't that happy with this purchase.

A waste of time.

Poorly written. Unconvincing plot. Boring characters. Don't waste your time or money on this one.

Teenage detective story

I don't need to add much to what other reviewers have stated that are so obviously true.. Bad writing and the narration is even worse... this book should be in the Kids section. I felt like it was written for teenagers.

Its a waste... Guess I should have read the reviews earlier

Bogged Down in Minutiae

I liked Deaver, but this book is not up to his best. The story started out with an interesting premise, but soon became bogged down in trifling details about the Internet and social networking sites -- that anyone with a computer today already knows. A primary reason fans read this book is to get insights into kinesics via Kathryn Dance -- but there was too little of this. Add the long-winded descriptions, idiotic adolescent dialog, and the annoying narrator and I couldn't finish the book. I suggest Michael Connelly instead.

Big let down

I have read and enjoyed all Deaver's books and this one felt like he dashed it off in a hurry...a little kinesics, a little romance, a little computer/synthetic world drama, loose plotting and dumb twists. Too many characters that are undeveloped. Huge disappointment. Awful narrator. Of course I downloaded it twice, because the first time I got..."The Blue Nowhere" by Jeffery Deaver. HUH??? THinking this was too wierd to be believed, I downloaded it again and the problem was fixed. How that mistake was made must be a great story.

Goofiest Narrator EVER

I wish I had read the other reviews, or at least listened to the preview listen, before downloading this book. Forget the fact that Part 3 is a different book altogether - the first two parts were all I could take of this narrator. . . like fingernails on a blackboard to me. She sounds like Mommy reading a fairy tale to her kids. Her normal voice was palatable; but any time she did a character, especially children or men, she sounded like a cartoon. Sorry to be offensive - but this lady needs to find another line of work.

Disappointing

I am a Deaver fan however this book is not one his best. I had trouble following the internet gaming references. I did not find any of the characters compelling and in fact could not finish the book. Very disappointing