Third Degree

By: Greg Iles

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Laurel Shields, 35 and mother of two, awakens to find that her husband, Warren, a prominent local physician, is not in bed with her. Creeping out to the kitchen of their palatial home, she sees him through the doorway of his study, wildly pulling books from the shelves.

Two weeks earlier, Warren and his partner were informed by the IRS that their medical practice was being audited; since then, the stress on Dr. Shields has steadily ratcheted up.

But Laurel has problems of her own. Quickly returning to the bedroom, she locks herself in the master bath, opens a home pregnancy testing kit, and fearfully tests herself. PREGNANT, announces the digital readout. Laurel closes her eyes as though absorbing news of a death, then quickly hides the evidence. She is not sure who the father is. Summoning all her strength, she walks into the kitchen to carry out the acting performance of her life.

Later that morning, Laurel returns home and is surprised to find her husband's car still parked in the driveway. The house has a strange stillness to it. In the den, she finds Warren sitting on the sofa in the same clothes he wore the previous day. His face is pale and unshaven, his eyes hollow with fear. Then, in come the children, innocent of it all...

So begins the most terrifying day in the history of a marriage, one that in less than five hours will make the Shields house the vortex of a nerve-wracking siege. While a nervous ring of armed men awaits its chance to storm the suburban home, inside the house the clock ticks down on exposure of Laurel's terrible secret.

But she is not alone in her lies. Before the siege is through, this terrifying drama will pull in desperate characters from the town and drive Dr. Shields, his wife, and her lover to the very brink of sanity and survival.

©2007 Greg Iles (P)2007 Brilliance Audio

My Synopsis: Really Creepy Husband

The story here had some terrific characters, as usual, some are loveable....... others are totally nasty. The wife in this story had great stamina considering her Doctor Husband was a total nut case and unfortunately, we have all known someone like him. No real twists or turns, just a lot of nail biting. Worth a credit as are all of Iles's books.

My only complaint is that the story was way too long and could have been listened to in condensed version but of course I didn't realize that until I was finished reading it.

Very good

One of Iles’ best. There is action and intense interest from the very beginning to the very end. I think you may be as captivated as I was. Enjoy.

Excellent writing and narrations.

I say "narrations" because there are so many character voice and accent variations. It's a full on one man play!
Great story with many twist and turns.

Not one of my favorites!

I am a huge fan of this author but felt this was not one of his best works. I didn’t care for the story or the lead female character. The narrative was pretty good but the voices of the children were horrible.

Under Siege and Interrogated to the Third Degree!

Greg Iles is a great storyteller. I've read a few of his novels including the Penn Cage series. In his stories you do not get lost with too many characters, storylines or side trips. His stories are suspenseful from beginning to end with lots of mystery. I would even describe this story as a psychological thriller. It is a story about the psychological impact that infidelity, lying and cheating has on one man and his family. He holds his wife (and kids too) hostage in their home because he believes his wife is having an affair.

This story has an "edge" which hooked me right out the gate and had me listening well into the night. There was a little bit of "fluff" which could have been edited out, but not enough to distract from the overall intriguing goodness of storylines and plot. The plot twists and turns are good even though I did see the ending coming but not in the way that it did. That was a surprise.

Narrator David Colacci performed this story very well. I've heard his narration of other novels but I did not like his performance or voice all that much, but loved his performance for this one.

Recommend....

l loved it

Greg Iles has become one of my very favorite authors. I love his characters and his style.

..Awesome listen

Narration was great all the way thru. Not much down time, meaning story was full of action.

Good read

I very much enjoyed reading this book. Held my interest and wasn’t sure how it was going to end

I love all of his books.

The story keeps you. You become invested in the characters. The best part..I can't tell you that it would ruin it~smile~

Most suspenseful!

An excellent book! The action takes place over less than 24 hours, but from the opening words, the suspense is nonstop. Excellent narration as well.