Pretty Broken Things

By: Melissa Marr

Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans, Karissa Vacker, Stephen Dexter

Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

A contemporary Bluebeard story set in the shadowy edges of New Orleans’ French Quarter by the New York Times best-selling author Melissa Marr

Note: This Audible Original contains sensitive material and may be upsetting to some listeners.

After receiving a lead from an unlikely source, Juliana, the mortician tasked with the bodies of victims of the "Carolina Creeper", the South’s most notorious serial killer in decades, sets off to New Orleans in search of Theresa Morris, an heiress and presumably the Creeper’s only surviving victim.

Theresa now goes by “Tess” and is a shadow of her former heiress self. She’s also being pursued by famous novelist Michael, who sets his sights on Tess as the muse of his work-in-progress, oblivious to her former identity.

As Michael gets closer to Tess and begins to put the pieces of her traumatic past together, Juliana zeroes in on her whereabouts. They don’t know it, but the three of them are on a collision course, hurtling straight into the Creeper’s path.

©2019 Melissa Marr (P)2020 Audible Originals

Dark and Twisted

Dark characters with twisted evil desires but lots of twists I didn't see coming.

Great listen

While not my usual preferred genre, this book really drew me in. The narrators were great at making you like or dislike their characters while telling the story. Marr is one of my top authors that I will pretty much read anything she writes. Give this one a shot.

I can't stop saying OMG

Have you ever read a book, that is so twisted, yet so compelling, it makes you mildly worried for the author?
When Pretty Broken Things started, I wasn't sure about the first narrator. I'm unused to Southern accents; but in for a penny, in for a pound. Once the plot caught me, which was by the second chapter, I knew I was lost. There are beautiful moments in the deep darkness of this book, and its raw authenticity made me question everything I thought I understood about victimology, profiling, and serial killers. Before this, had anyone asked me my most disturbing, yet addicting, read, I would have said The Butterfly Garden. Now I know it has been surreptitiously dethroned by Pretty Broken Things.

Another hit by Melissa Marr

New Orleans seems to inspire dark novels.

This psychological thriller murder mystery is a new genre for Marr and she does not fail to deliver another well written intricate story. She adds psychological questions to the bounds of morality versus self preservation. She teases at even her own profession of writers who seek the dark subject of psychologically tortured and serial killers.

There are three actors reading the book. All three have a pleasant reading voice. One actor has a slightly styled voice, but maybe this works for the particular character she is reading, who is a bit hesitant and unsure.

Unexpected surprise!

Wow! I really enjoyed listening to this book. I would love for Melissa to put out some more mystery and suspense:)

So good

I couldn’t stop listening, so many twists. I couldn’t believe how it ended. Must read

Not for the faint of heart. Listen today!

Excellent writing and performance. This book is not for the faint of heart. There is a protagonist that does some horrible things, understandable, but horrible. There's no clear good vs evil, there are shades of grey. This book is one that makes you think, that tugs against your ethics and morals and questions things. That's a good thing. Melissa Marr may be best known for her YA fantasy novels, but this novel perfectly demonstrates that she is definitely not locked into that category; that she can write brilliantly no matter he subject matter. This novel is not for YA, and feels so real it hurts sometimes. I will give you a heads-up to clarify something that was confusing for me. The book chapters are titled to include the name from whose perspective you're listening. For instance, if it says, Tess, it is from her perspective, Julianna, it is from hers, etc. Some portions simply say, "A Girl With No Past." It took me far to long to realize that it was the words of a book being written by another character in the book. The voice used in the audio book is so similar that it may be the same as the voice used for Tess, so for a while, I thought it was her. So, please be aware of that as you listen. Overall an excellent read/listen and one I'll be listening to again.

It was a thriller

This story kept me enthralled from beginning to the end. I enjoy New Orleans often and the description of the moods and smells is so pungent.

Exception to raw feelings... not the weak of ❤️'s!

What an exceptional and most suspenseful story! At first it was kind of confusing, (my first audio book) the stories are intertwined. After nonstop listening and getting to the climax I couldn't help but feel the raw emotions of each character. It was a pleasant surprise to hear my own daughter's name amongst the characters (Juliana) However both women were strong in their own rights! Melissa Marr delivers stories to invoke raw feelings. I can't wait to read (or listen) to yet another masterpiece 🤗

This Broke Me (In A Good Way)

Prior to listening to this book, I'll be honest, I was a loudmouth about the fact that I detested audiobooks. This is the book that broke me. I'm an addict now. Pretty Broken Things, complete with all three narrators, kept my attention SO completely, that I couldn't actually stop listening to it. I stayed up all night just to finish it.

There are some VERY creepy scenes in this book. Beings that I am a fan of books like this, that's nothing new to me... But Melissa Marr writes them well enough that I had to take a hreak a couple times to process what I had just heard - get some coffee, calm down, center myself, and come back to the book fresh. The narration here? It HELPS that. These narrators are excellent at pushing emotion - or voiding their voices of such if necessary - through their reading.

I'd absolutely recommend this audiobook for fans of the thriller genre - and I'd instantly pick up any more written like this. Please give this a shot.