The Advocate's Betrayal

The Advocate Series, Book 2

By: Teresa Burrell

Narrated by: Meghan Kelly

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

The Killer left nothing behind but a rosary, a kitchen knife, and a dead man. But the dead man is a friend of Sabre Orin Brown. When his unsuspecting wife is accused of the murder, Sabre will stop at nothing to uncover the truth, even if it means unearthing chilling secrets.

From a San Diego jail to the shady Chicago nightlife, Sabre's search for the true killer forces her to face the question: What do you do when the ones you trust the most are the ones with the most to hide?

©2010 Teresa Burrell (P)2014 Teresa Burrell

Suspenseful!

Well-written with twists and turns throughout. Held my attention to the end!

Meghan Kelly did a great job narrating & bringing the characters to life.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Pretty Darn Good

I read - and listened to - Teresa Burrell's "The Advocate" (2009), first in the series, first. It was good, but a little messy: Burrell had a lot of great plot lines and threw them into the same book. It's almost as if Burrell was afraid she wouldn't get the chance to publish another book. The vocabulary was stilted, too: Burrell's a lawyer, and most of her characters sound like they are, too in Book 1.

Burrell got off to a rocky start, but I liked the character of San Diego kid's lawyer Sabre Orin Brown well enough to sign up for Burrell's mailing list at a Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. And that's how I found out "The Advocate" series is on Audible . . .

Book 2 - "The Advocate's Betrayal" (2012) is just plain good. I'm really used to figuring our "who dunnit" pretty early in a legal procedural thriller, but I didn't with this book - and it wasn't because the author as deus popped something into the narrative late in the game. It was just that well plotted. And the dialogue: Sobs, as her best friend calls her, still sounds like a lawyer, because she is - but the non-lawyer characters sound like real, actual people.

The book is set in San Diego, and I know it well enough to know the freeway directions and were on point, as well as the description of the areas in general. It's not a San Diego Zoo/Sea World/Lego Land/Wild Animal Park kind of book, though. It's a working person's San Diego, complete with a description of where to find more than one Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

The narration on this one was pretty good but - oh, no, please, no sound effects! The first time I heard one, I wondered what had fallen or was falling off my car. That startled and distracted me from what was otherwise a really good experience.

Recommendation: Start with Book 2 first, and then go to Book 1 for the background.

[if this review helped please press YES. Thanks!]

Exciting read...

Intriguing twists and turns made me look forward to listening. And I like an author who writes without TOO much violence or sex, but just enough to keep a story real.
Regarding the reader, she did a great job overall, but she should learn correct pronunciation before reading. Sometimes general vocabulary & sometimes local names were off. For instance: The legal term "demurrer" is not like demure, it's pronounced dee-mer'. Waring Rd is a short "A" not Wäh-ring.
Other than that a very enjoyable read!

Somewhat telling

I'd figured Luke early on was the killer, however the story continued to make exciting new twist...

Awesome!

This is a great series! It keeps you an edge and wanting more!!!!!! I can't wait to get in my car just so I can turn on another book to hear more!!!!!!!!!!!! A "Must" for your Audible Library!

Betty

I love your writing. The story was intriguing. It would have been perfect except for Betty’s whining voice. It was like fingernails to a chalkboard. I had to stop reading it just to get away from her irritating whine.

A Fantastic Edge Of Your Seat Legal Suspense

If you could sum up The Advocate's Betrayal in three words, what would they be?

If I had to sum up The Advocate's Betrayal in three words they would be: authentic, enjoyalable, and thrilling.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. There were many unexpected twists. The Advocate's Betrayal was an excellent follow up to Book 1 of The Advocate Series. The characters are all well developed with some added intrigue.

Which character – as performed by Meghan Kelly – was your favorite?

My favorite character performed by Meghan Kelly was Sabre, the female protagonist of this story. She is such a likeable character and easy to identify with.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This was indeed a book I wanted to listen to all in one sitting and almost did.

Any additional comments?

I absolutely love this series and hope for a Book 3. I love Teresa Burrell's writing and knowledge in this field. She really raised the stakes with this book. I received this audiobook free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

Great Mystery

I enjoyed The Advocate's Betrayal. Although it is the second in the series, enough background was given that I didn't feel like I had to read the first one in order to get to know the characters and the story was standalone.

Overall it was a great story and a great listen. Just a couple points to note: There were parts where the dialogue felt a little stiff and stilted. It wasn't in the narration, but in the content. There was a lot of legal information, medical information, and even background info given in dialogue that felt unnatural. It just didn't feel like that is how people would really talk to each other.

The mystery was topnotch. It kept me guessing to the end, and though I did finally guess it all, it wasn't until it had played out almost to the end. I did feel like the ending was just a tad abrupt. While the mystery was completely solved and there were no missing links or cliffhangers, I felt like the ending allowed for no real closure, especially for Betty.

The performance was, as is usual with Meghan Kelly, wonderful and very entertaining. If I had one bit of observation it would be the voice used for Betty. I found it very whiny and annoying. HOWEVER... that was probably EXACTLY as Teresa and Meghan planned, so I can't really say it was a "problem". :)

I will definitely be looking forward to more books in this series.

I thought I enjoyed reading Teresa's books but...

What did you love best about The Advocate's Betrayal?

Loved the characters and detail

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

How could the twisted plotting and twists not keep you on the edge of your seat?

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

Reading the book is like seeing an awesome movie in your head; Meghan's reading it to you adds a whole new dimension. She has the personalities down pat!

Gripping

This is only the second book that I have listen to by author Teresa Burrell but I think she’s got a new fan. The Advocates Betrayal, the second book in the series, was so captivating, I couldn’t stop listening. I listen to a lot of books and they become repetitive but o far, with the Advocates Betrayal series, this is not the case. The stories always have a lot of twist and turns leaving you trying to figure out the ending. If fiction mysteries are your favorite reading, I highly recommend trying the Advocate series.