Scavengers

Posadas County Mysteries #1

By: Steven F. Havill

Narrated by: Stephanie Brush

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Not one, but two dead bodies are found in the harsh New Mexico desert. The first man's face is smashed beyond recognition, and the second one appears to have been forced to dig his own grave before being murdered...execution style.

Soon, new Sheriff Robert Torrez and Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman are knee deep in the midst of a brutal murder spree that spans both sides of the border. Retired Sheriff Bill Gastner is still on hand to offer his support and unerring street smarts, and to do a little investigating of his own in his new position as game and livestock investigator for the state.

Listen to another Posadas County Mystery.

©2002 Steven F. Havill (P)2005 Books in Motion

Critic reviews

"Skilled investigation, happenstance and cooperation mesh through every phase of the puzzle, ushering the reader along to one satisfying conclusion." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Throughout this low-key, character-driven series, Havill has managed as well as anyone in the genre to balance the particulars of cop procedure with the often unspoken emotions at the core of small-town life." ( Booklist)

Good book

Wish they had found a narrator that didn't make everyone sound like they were from New York. I adjusted the speed to make it less harsh.

New voices, same old Posadas County

For those who have been reading Mr. Havill's Undersheriff Bill Gastner series from the beginning this book marks the passing from one era to another. At the end of Dead Weight Bill Gastner retires and Sgt. Torres is elected Sheriff of Posadas County, and Estelle Reyes-Guzman becomes his Undersheriff and becomes the new voice of the series. It's a bit unsettling to be suddenly in the mind of Estelle, privy to the thoughts of a character previously known in the series for her inscrutability. At the beginning I really missed the voice of Rusty Nelson who read the previous books with Bill Gastner as the main character and it took me quite a while to adjust to the new female protagonist. I'm not sure why Mr. Havill decided to make the change, and to be honest I sort of wish he hadn't, but ultimately the quality of the characters shines through and I adjusted to the change. In answer to those who complained there was no action they are obviously new to Mr. Havill's work as his books have always been more about the interactions of the characters in this small town and the solving of the mystery. I've never missed the bang bang action of other series with their shallow characters and predictable plots. One thing is true, the plot is sort of left hanging in this book because many of the elements continue on into the next book in the series. Give the series a try (do yourself a favor and go back and read them in order) and if you like good characters you won't be disappointed.

The story is excellent.

The reader, however, is execrable. The character is a Hispanic woman who has spemt all but a year of her life in Mexico and New Mexico, who is actually ESL. The reader sounds like she has never even heard of Spanish. I am not a fluent Spanish-speaker - and I'm embarrassed for her. Plus, she sounds like she's chewing gum. Even her English is mangled. "Should" is pronounced "shoult." The characters' voices are just agony! Why would the nanny scream every statement? Why would a producer/director tolerate this travesty?

I'm guessing, since there are complaints dating back to the audiobook's release, that they don't care. I hope that other authors will take note and not allow Books In Motion to ruin their work.

This book should be replaced with a recording by a more suitable reader.

Good writer

Love the writer, read several of his books. I do not like the narrator at all. Should has stayed with Rusty. I have to rate the audio book lower than previous audiobooks.

Poor choice of narrator

I don’t normally write reviews, but I feel pretty strongly about this series tanking because of the narration! I will probably read this book as I could not get past the narrator. These books went from being about New Mexico to sounding like they have a mafia connection. The narrator has also managed to remove the charm and personality from the characters that Mr. Nelson had put in. I realize since it is from a female perspective, they probably wanted to use a female narrator. Perhaps another would be fine… I will not be buying any more books that she narrates in this series.

good read

The Narrator is excellent and the storyline well done. Hard to not like this authors work.

Good story, narration too fast.

Steven Havill doesn't disappoint. Great story. But although Stephanie Bush's diction is clear, it is too fast in general, and sometimes leaves the listener with the thought Where's The Fire!

Scanvenger

No surprises, little action, events in the book do not come together at the end but lots of descriptive narative. If you have insomnia and need sleep, get this one

Poor Narration Ruins Experience

Title says it all...

Ms. Brush may be a good narrator, but she is clearly clearly miscast...

Just avoid.

New Reader ruins the book

Do not waste your credit on this book. The new reader is worse than awful. Her clipped voice and stupid annoying, iritating characterizations totally ruin the book. I had to turn it off after 15 minutes, tried a second time and only made it 8 more minutes. It is such a shame because I totally enjoyed the series up to this point. I can't imagine anyone allowing this reader to continue. I will see if a kindle version is available and let my kindle read it to me.