Shelter

A Gripping Suspense Thriller

By: Erica R. Stinson

Narrated by: J. Bruce McRell

Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Gabriel, a devoted single father, seeks a haven for his daughter, Anne, during a raging blizzard. They stumble upon a state-of-the-art smart home, a beacon of hope. But what begins as a refuge turns into a nightmare when the house locks them in, its sophisticated technology refusing to release them.

Desperate to save Anne, Gabriel faces an unyielding foe—this high-tech fortress. His goal is simple: escape. Yet, with each thwarted attempt, their predicament worsens. Trapped inside without sustenance, the looming threat of starvation and dehydration becomes more menacing.The house's sinister intent becomes evident, tightening its grip on them. Gabriel races against time, unraveling the home's dark secrets, fighting not just for escape, but for their very survival. Failure means a grim fate—death within the confines of this technological prison.Join Gabriel in 'Shelter,' a riveting psychological suspense thriller, where a father's love confronts an unrelenting adversary. Can he decipher the house's twisted game and secure Anne's safety before their hope dwindles into the chilling embrace of the unknown?

©2019 Erica R Stinson (P)2023 Erica R Stinson

how a shelter got so dangerous

i got the audiobook for this book for free through StoryOrigin in exchange for an honest review, the narrator was good, he tried to speak diferently in to show our two main characters jake pryor, a man that has lost everything with the death of his wife and daughter at the hands of criminals during an assalt to his home (this part on the book i find it has too much details and its a bit triggering for some because it has some really vivid rape scene) and the other main character gabriel warner, that lost his job and he has an audible impared daughter, he is a widow because he lost his wife to cancer and he doesnt want to share with his daughter how bad they really are ( but just beetween me and him, i think its best tell children why we do some things and why we need to do stuff instead of just let them believe everything is fine we are just dictators) while going to a job interview he and his daughter are in a big accident and got stranded from everywhere during a major blizard, and they find a house that gabriel break in because its so damn cold, and this house belongs to Jake pryor, and lets just say, it was a major nightmare for gabriel and his daughter anne, anne really has a soul of an hero <3

this book its not horror, but because of the rape scene its triggering for some, it keep me listening i did like the narrator, i only dont give full mark because some times i just lost myself in the whole details. but Erica R. Stinson you need to try crime in your next book, like hercule poirot ;) i think it would be a great bet.

A real roller coaster ride!

What do you get when you build a story around two families who are damaged from personal loss? Shelter is what you get, this story will set you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that has some significant highs and some lows as deep as the ocean floor. Erica Stinson has created some very memorable characters who are not just believable, but filled with basic human failings and flaws, not to mention weaving a tale almost as old as time yet updated to include the trappings of our modern age. Having J Bruce McRell narrating this story made it super enjoyable, his delivery and enthusiasm was excellent.

A chilling story

A great story about courage, love & truth. Gabe had a rough time. The loss of his job & all
the bills. We all know how that is. Then to have a horrific accident in the middle of nowhere. The house that they took refuge in was another scare. Bravo for Ann being so brave. Great story.

Shelter

This was a good story.A man loses his wife and daughter to a horrible home break in.A few yeras later another man and his daughter take shelter in this mans NEW house in a snow storm.Watching from afar on his devices,Jake sees a man and is ready to hurt anyone in his house. Narration by J Bruce McRell was not what this story needed.His constantly 'up' inflections seem more in tune with a documentary,not a thriller. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'

Great story

After a Family is torn apart a millionaire builds the Ultimate safe house only to trap a father and daughter in need of shelter
I really enjoyed this story of tragedy And overcoming it
Well narrated and a great ending highly recommended
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

Definitely a must

A book that takes you into the depravity of people then also lifts you to the goodness in people. I listened every chance I got. It felt like the time flew by; it was a excellent listen. with the details you could imagine each aspect of the story. Definitely a must!

Unique storyline

Pretty unique storyline. You start off with Jake's wife Sharon and their daughter Georgie. Tragedy strikes and Jake rebuilds his life some time later. Another father and his child are caught in a blizzard and find themselves in need of help and try and seek refuge in Jake's state of the art million dollar house in the remote woods. Due to Jake's traumatic past, his paranoia is on high alert and his house is a fully automated fortress. Anne and Gabriel find themselves at the mercy of this crazy house in the middle of this terrible storm and while Jake and his family are away.

First and foremost the narration is a bit hard to reconcile. While McRell has a pleasant enough voice there's too much bravado or uppity cadence that just doesn't go well with the story contextually. I feel like this should be more subdued or quietly emotional but the narration feels like we should be talking about super heroes or something. It just felt incompatible with the story for me.

That said, I tried to just get past that and listen to the content. The author felt a little inexperienced at times. Overly describing things that didn't need expanding on....discussion of the merits of cell phones and the brand and the snacks the child ate and a handful of other things. It was almost like adding padding to bulk up word count or something. I think with better editing this might have been pruned down in a few areas. Not that the story was too long, just unnecessary details that didn't need describing.

The matter of fact way in which Jake's family met with tragedy seemed a bit gratuitous too. Without putting any spoilers out there, some scenes just seems overly graphic for a pretty subdued mellower rest of the book. I get that it gave maybe some necessary context, it just seemed over the top for shock value. It was like the beginning was rated R and the rest was PG.

Some of the language was funny to me...seemed to be pretty run of the mill then there'd be a comment about the dad needing to take "a big sh@t"....It made me laugh. It made the author and the characters more relatable.

The pace of the last quarter of the story seemed to go in high speed. But honestly that's fine. A quick finish doesn't drag out unnecessarily so I was fine with that.

Decent story. Could use a little clean up but it kept me interested and following along well.

Certainty Twisted

As a parent, this was a challenge to begin reading, but the book was worth the read. Some of my worst nightmares, but the story of the characters and how their lives pushed together and worked together worked well. The author does a great job with the descriptions of the sense and building the characters without wasting time. The novel was to the point and the action never slows down.

Not really a suspense thriller but enjoyable

I don't think this book was a gripping suspense thriller. There was some suspense but I wouldn't classify it as a thriller. It was basically a book about when bad things happen to good people and how they react. It starts with a robbery and murder of Jake's family. Then we meet Gabe and his deaf daughter Anna as Gabe has just lost his job. How these two families meet and what the outcome is is the subject of the remainder of the book. I don't want to spoil the story but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I received a free copy of the audiobook from Story Origin. The narrator did a great job and was very easy to understand. I look forward to reading more of Ms Stinson's work.

Loved It... Well Written... Great Narrator

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

What a gem of a book! I really enjoyed the suspense, but the dynamic between parent and child was so well written... that’s what really got to me. This is a sad story at times, and none of the characters are perfect... but that was charming to me. I have to say that I got a little teared up at a couple of points. Any book that generates that type of emotional reaction is a keeper for sure.

The narration was absolutely perfect, it drew me into the story and filled my mind with images of the characters. Just superb.