This Case Is Gonna Kill Me

Linnet Ellery, Book 1

By: Phillipa Bornikova

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

What happens when The Firm meets Anita Blake? You get the Halls of Power - our modern world, but twisted. Law, finance, the military, and politics are under the sway of long-lived vampires, werewolves, and the elven Alfar. Humans make the best of rule by “the Spooks”, and contend among themselves to affiliate with the powers-that-be, in order to avoid becoming their prey. Very loyal humans are rewarded with power over other women and men. Very lucky humans are selected to join the vampires, werewolves, and elves - or, on occasion, to live at the Seelie Court.

Linnet Ellery is the offspring of an affluent Connecticut family dating back to Colonial times. Fresh out of law school, she’s beginning her career in a powerful New York “white fang” law firm. She has high hopes of eventually making partner.

But strange things keep happening to her. In a workplace where some humans will eventually achieve immense power and centuries of extra lifespan, office politics can be vicious beyond belief. After some initial missteps, she finds herself sidelined and assigned to unpromising cases. Then, for no reason she can see, she becomes the target of repeated, apparently random violent attacks, escaping injury each time through increasingly improbable circumstances. However, there’s apparently more to Linnet Ellery than a little old-money human privilege. More than even she knows. And as she comes to understand this, she’s going to shake up the system like you wouldn’t believe.

©2012 Melinda Snodgrass (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Surprise, surprise!!

I didn't read the blurb and found after 5 minutes of listening this was a story with vampires, werewolves and elves - not my chosen genre. Best mistake I have made with literature to date as I thoroughly enjoyed the story from start to finish. The reading was great to listen to and the story was entertaining and funny.

Better than expected series

What other book might you compare This Case Is Gonna Kill Me to and why?

This first book was a less dark type after the Hollows series by Kim Harrison. Also made me think of a sci-fi Grisham.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed the female office revolt, as it was funny, but the whole story was good.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Don't want to ruin it for others.

Any additional comments?

Try this book out if you enjoy a chase and sci-fi creatures in a world all their own.

I Couldn't Stop Listening! I loved it!

I really enjoyed this book, I will be recommending it to all my friends- something I don't do often, it's a great start to what looks to be a fun series. I ended up losing 4 hours of sleep because I couldn't stop listening. I get excited when I can add someone new to my Author Watch List, and I've now added Phillipa Bornikova! Im glad I ignored Robin's bad review. IncidentalIy, I was going to skip this book originally because of that bad review, but when I decided to check other sites for reviews (i.e. Amazon, Goodreads) all I found were good reviews - except, wierdly, by another review posted by "Robin" on the same day who also couldn't find anything good about the book, and who claimed to not even be able to finish reading her kindle edition and send it back requesting a refund. Is she talking about this book??? She certainly has gone to a lot of trouble to buy the book in different formats just to be able to post super negative reviews........mmmmm, I love a good mystery. Anyway, I don't often post reviews, but since this is a new book from a new author I didn't want anyone who might be wavering to pass this gem up just because of one bad review.

Slow starter but it grew on me.

I wasn't sure about this one in the beginning. To start off with it was a bit too much of a soap opera and the character was a bit of a whiner. As it progressed the story firmed up and so did the main character and I began to enjoy the story a lot. Quirky and humorous, filled with some interesting observations of everyday life and a new take on vampires, the story really grew on me. To my surprise I finished this one quite keen to buy book 2 which I liked as well.

GOOD START.

Very interesting start to a new series. I'm glad I took a chance with this one series. Therese Plummer is a very good narrator. Her voices for both male and female characters are good. The flow of the story runs smoothly. I hope Linnet will find her friend, John back. Lots of action with magic, supernatural,,werewolves,,vampires and a bit of romance. Excellent.

Incredible

I completely loved everything about this audiobook. It's a fantastic story very well narrated!
The storyline is so original, exciting and refreshing that I simply could not put it down. Great characters within a fascinating world.
I am so happy to have discovered this author. I am also going to be looking for other books done by this narrator!

Great Story!

I really enjoyed this book. It has a fresh and very interesting story that I couldn't stop listening to. I don't know what the other reviewer was talking about there being to much talk about horses and food, that's crazy. It wasn't too much. The horses were an interesting hobby and I don't see anything wrong with humans eating food. LOL This story has a good legal mystery, romance, hot sex, vampires, weres, fae and never a dull moment. I highly recommend it and I can't wait for the second book in the series. Therese Plummer has a wonderful voice for all the characters!!

MORE! MORE! MORE!

Where does This Case Is Gonna Kill Me rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Deinitely in the top 25%

Who was your favorite character and why?

Linnet & John.

Which character – as performed by Therese Plummer – was your favorite?

Linnet

Any additional comments?

I've read 11 of 12 of the Sookie Stackhouse books and felt a huge chasm opening up....no more Sookie books! :( So in a chat with one of the Audible specialists, I found out about Phillippa Bornikova! The only problem is that there's only ONE book!! Please, please write more Linet Books!!

Fun Listen

Great performance. As usual w/ Therese Plummer.
I really enjoyed this story. It's fun. The concept of who can become a vampire grates on my nerves but I won't give it away. There's some great girl power moments midway through. Funny stuff. It's worth both your money and/or credit.

Not an Easy Book to Like

WARNING: This book is slow.
I have one hour remaining, and only now has the publisher's "summary" come to fruition (the "Linnet's been attacked multiple times and escaped through improbable circumstances" part). I was expecting a lot more action based on this summary, but the action is almost non-existant.

When the attacks do occur, they are over and done with in about five minutes of reading time. Linnet's brushes with death are supposed to be comical, I think. They weren't. The whole story has such a depressing undertone that it seems trite and flat when the author attempts any levity.

During the rest of the story, Linnet is involved in petty office politics, work, or horseback riding. The latter is discussed in way too much detail. I don't know squat about fancy horse moves, and they have no impact in the story that I can see so far. In my opinion, these bits should have been removed by the editor.

To top it all off, Linnet is not an easy character to like. She's insecure, judgmental, smart-but-stupid, and sleazy. Ultimately, I end up pitying her a little bit because she obviously feels unloved and alone--she was fostered by a vampire that views her as a pet servant, and she only got to know her parents and little brother as an adult. She instantly hates almost everyone and shares snide opinions that remind me of a middle schooler. Whenever she is stressed, she ends up sleeping with a co-worker because "she deserves this," and she's "tired of feeling like she shouldn't." It doesn't even feel like she's having sex for fun--it reminds me of a person that binge eats and sobs into an ice cream carton as they shovel food in their mouth, ultimately causing themselves more and more misery. The sex scenes are awkward and very unexciting--even the one that is supposed to be with the "good" guy. She isn't close to anyone, so the sex always seems cheap and meaningless and probably disease-inducing (especially the guy who's slept with every female in the firm).

To sum it up, this is not a fun, light book. If you enjoy books with a main character that's not all-together, you may enjoy this one--Linnet is a mess in every aspect of her life except her work ethic. I myself prefer a main character that doesn't put herself down every fifteen minutes, but I still find the story worth finishing. Worth a full credit? No. Worth a sale price? Sure.