Winter Wind

By: J.R. Rain

Narrated by: Dave Wright

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Five years ago, Lee Jordan was nearly killed on the job. Now blind, deaf and mute, he's recovered enough to live a routine but silent life.

However, now, LAPD needs him back...

When the cases of many missing persons are tied together with the same M.O., this remarkable deaf and blind ex-cop is called in to help locate people who seemingly walked away from their everyday lives. But did they? When one of them surfaces, the forensic evidence makes it clear that this man did not stay gone as willingly as he disappeared.

Lee's only assets are his guide dog, 14 years of experience as a homicide detective - and an intriguing American Sign Language translator named Rachel.

Just as Lee begins to discover something remarkable about himself, he must engage in a battle of wits with a murderer he can't see or hear. With no weapons but his own mind - and a guide dog with a heart of gold - he sets off alone in Los Angeles to investigate the disappearances.

It's only a matter of time before more people may die under nefarious circumstances. And the manner of death could put the entire city at risk from...something even more dangerous.

Lee Jordan knows there is more to fighting crime than meets the eye, or ear, or voice. But will he survive his courageous solo pursuit of a twisted killer on the mean streets of L.A.? And can he really stop a madman by himself?

©2015 J.R. Rain (P)2015 J.R. Rain

Good story, terrible narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would've made it much less repetitive, and I would've chosen a better narrator.

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

No. The plot was interesting, but it didn't keep me on the edge of my seat because it was mired down with too much repetition (ad nauseam) that distracted from the plot.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator was excruciatingly boring. He spoke too slowly and almost infantile-like. The way some people speak to the elderly who are feeble hard of hearing. Listening to him read, felt like sitting in a kindergarten classroom during storytime. Especially during the interpretation dialogs. And almost everyone (including men) was given an effeminate voice.

Also very distracting in the narration, was the sound of large birds (crows or hawks?) constantly squawking in the background.

Was Winter Wind worth the listening time?

I'd say it was worth the READING time, but not worth the listening time. Buy the Kindle version instead.

The story is well written and very interesting, and I would've rated the *story* 5 stars, but I knocked off one star for being annoyingly repetitive.

Any additional comments?

The story itself is interesting, intelligent, and well written, but it was mired down with a horrendous amount of repetition. You won't notice it at first, but after a dozen chapters you'll begin to notice. Then a few more chapters and it becomes downright annoying and distracting.Readers are more intelligent than the author gives them credit for. It's not necessary to repeat EVERY SINGLE aspect of the protagonist's hardships OVER and OVER and OVER, in every paragraph and on every page, throughout the entire book. He's an excellent writer and story-teller, so those points were fully understood the first time he explained them. An occasional reminder every now and then (at an appropriate time) is ok, but please...not every sentence. Instead of being able to focus on the plot, I kept wondering when the protagonist was going to remind us that it was almost time to clean his tracheal tube AGAIN.

And one last note... The story is actually 95% protagonist's thoughts and descriptions about his disability, and only 5% about the actual crime they're supposed to be solving. Don't get me wrong. I found the protagonist's condition very unique and fascinating, but I was disappointed that the actual PLOT was barely existent.

Liked the premise

By the end I was hoping this story line would continue but with a different narrator. It was hard to listen to but I seldom quit a book.

TOO FAR OUT FOR ME...PARANORMAL NOT MY THING!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, not into this genre

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The detective part was what interested me, not so much the bizarre happenings, as well as how much time he spends dwelling on his disabilities.

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

Narration was good.

Do you think Winter Wind needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, at least I would never read anymore of this.

Any additional comments?

Amazon should advise if the book includes PARANORMAL. Somehow I missed this in the reviews, if that informationw as there.

awful and boring

The narrator's voice put me to sleep and the story is depressing and moved way too slowly

Can't believe that I listened to the whole thing!

Struggled to finish it. Narrator wasn't bad but the story line was weak. Really kind of goofy.