Tell Me

Pierce Reed/Nikki Gillette, Book 3

By: Lisa Jackson

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 New York Times best-selling author Lisa Jackson creates her most electrifying thriller to date, as a mother’s unspeakable crime sparks a new killing spree....

The most hated woman in Savannah, Georgia, is about to be set free. Twenty years ago, Blondell O’Henry was convicted of murdering her eldest daughter and wounding her two other children. The prosecution argued that beautiful, selfish Blondell wanted to be rid of them to be with her lover. Now Blondell’s son, Niall, has recanted his testimony and demolished the case in the process. Reporter Nikki Gillette is determined to get the true story, and not just for professional reasons. Blondell’s murdered daughter, Amity, was Nikki’s childhood friend. The night she died, Amity begged Nikki to meet with her, insisting she had a secret to tell, but Nikki didn’t go. Her guilt is compounded by other complications - Nikki’s favorite uncle, Alexander, was the attorney who helped save Blondell from execution. And rumors swirl that he was one of her many lovers.

Nikki’s fiancé, Detective Pierce Reed, is concerned she may be compromising the case. As she digs for answers during one of the most sweltering summers in Savannah’s history, he also worries for her safety. Everyone involved seems to have secrets, from Blondell’s old boyfriend and his fundamentalist, snake- handling in-laws to the cop who led the original investigation. And somehow, the events of that tragic night connect to Nikki’s own fractured family. But now the killing has begun again. Is Amity’s murderer still at large, or is this a new, darker danger? Soon Nikki will discover what really happened twenty years ago, but the answers may come too late to save her life....

©2013 Lisa Jackson (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Good listen

Would you consider the audio edition of Tell Me to be better than the print version?

Yes, I love audio.

What other book might you compare Tell Me to and why?

All of Lisa Jackson's book thus far are similar and excellent

What does Julia Whelan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She has a good apt for interchanging her voice to keep the listener interested.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Good but not best

I am an avid reader of Ms Jackson's work but this one was too jumbled. Maybe it was just that I enjoyed the previous one so much that this one just didn't compare.

Enjoyed series

love the mystery! love the romance! can't wait for next book in series.
I pre-ordered next one. ☺

Honesty is brutal!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Omg! Unfortunately I spent many hours listening to this book. I finished it only because I spent money on it. The main character (Nikki) comes across as a spoiled child. The relationship between Nikki and her fiance' was rather dull. Nikki would have a tantrum and her fiance thought she was "cute". The author seems to have literally thrown in a sex scene just to "spice up" Nikki's relationship. A few minutes of '50 Shades Of Grey' gone terribly wrong.
'Characters' that had no relevance to the story would suddenly pop up throughout the book! If they did have any relationship to the overall tale, then it certainly failed to show up in story. Overall, it was simply one interview after another that truly went nowhere. Definitely, a thumbs down overall.

Not the best of Lisa Jackson

What would have made Tell Me better?

The story kept repeating the description of the murder. The narrator cannot do male voices. It was predictable and started to lag towards the end.

How could the performance have been better?

The performer was unable to do male voices. Reed sounded snobby and bored. Some of her southern dialect is ok but for the most part, she almost made the book unbearable.

Painfully long and a tad annoying

I really did not care for this book. I think the premise was good - a woman in prison for 20 years for murdering her daughter. But did she do it?

Also, the narrator was very good. Good accents, good differentiation of characters.

But - the good stuff ends there. At least for me. The quality of the writing is borderline romance novel. Which in itself wouldn't be bad - but, the story and the bad writing and weak characters just dragged on and on and on. Even that could have been ok if there had even been any point in the continual dragging out of the story, but there really wasn't. It was just blah-blah-blah.

Seriously - this book could have been (should have been!) six hours, not twelve. I listened to the first five hours, got fed up and quit. Then I decided I did want to know how (or if) the mystery was solved, but without having to put up with the boring characters and bad writing. So - I skipped ahead to track 12 in part 2 of the book. Listened for 30 minutes, then skipped ahead to the last hour. And - I really just needed to listen to about 40 minutes to have the whole story summed up, and I feel like I didn't miss anything at all.

Dull and boring

The characters were unappealing, the book was 5 hours too long, and extremely boring. The story was not captivating and Jackson kept writing in circles.

not for me

Would you try another book from Lisa Jackson and/or Julia Whelan?

I actually usually like Lisa Jackson books, so I will probably try one again.

What do you think your next listen will be?

No idea.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She did not have an accent when narrating the book, only when doing the dialogue. I found that distracting.

What character would you cut from Tell Me?

None

Any additional comments?

I just really didn't like the main character. She made stupid selfish decisions. I'd probably slap her if I knew her in real life.

juvenile and predictable

I struggled to listen to it. I could walk away for 10 minutes, come back and not feel like I missed a thing. Juvenile and predictable.

Ugh. Just... ugh.

Any additional comments?

I love Lisa Jackson but I don't know what happened here. This book was one tedious interview after another with vast numbers of characters who overall contributed little. The main character is spoiled and unlikeable. She disregards laws when it's convenient for her and relies on her cop fiancee to bail her out of her own stupidity time after time. There were loose ends all over the place. I finished it because I had used a credit on it, but it took me a month and I got a headache from rolling my eyes so much.