Unintended Consequences

Innocent Prisoners Project

By: Marti Green

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Nineteen years ago, Indiana police found the body of a young girl, burned beyond recognition and buried in the woods. They arrested George Calhoun for murdering his daughter, and his wife testified against him at the trial. George maintains he didn’t do it. That the body isn’t his little Angelina. But that’s all he’s ever said—no other defense, no other explanation. The jury convicted him. Now his appeals have been exhausted, and his execution is just six weeks away.

Dani Trumball, an attorney for the Help Innocent Prisoners Project, wants to believe him. After all, there was no forensic evidence to prove that the body in the woods was George’s daughter. But if the girl isn’t Angelina, then who is it? And what happened to the Calhouns’ missing daughter? Despite the odds, the questions push Dani to take the case.

For nineteen years, George Calhoun has stayed silent. But he’s ready to talk, and if the story he tells Dani is true, it changes everything.

©2012 Marti Green (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

OMG

this was probably one of the best books I have had the pleasure of hearing /read. it was so touching.
I loved how they had honeymoon hour to keep their relationship strong even with busy lives. I loved how she had such a great relationship with her son I think that is why she wanted to help George so much. I liked how everyone played a part in solving the case. it just shows that good team work an strong believe can overcome so many obstacles. you will not be disappointed with this book. it makes you feel so many ways through the entire book.

In the words of Bartok, "I tell you what, Wow!"

If you could sum up Unintended Consequences in three words, what would they be?

I can sum it up in one word, "Intense."

What other book might you compare Unintended Consequences to and why?

"The Chamber" or "The Innocent Man" both by John Grisham, because of the intense anxiety that you feel for the legal team, and the defendant (The Chamber). In addition to these feelings you can't help but feel anger and frustration toward the legal system willing to execute a man without a sense of justice behind it (The Innocent Man).

What about Tanya Eby’s performance did you like?

You hear the voice of each character. As a listener Eby allows you to hear the thoughts, emotions, priorities, and sensations of each and every character. Eby transitions so well you don't always realize that you only have one professional narrator. She is absolutely amazing.

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

When George is telling the story of what really happened to his daughter, I was driving down the interstate. It was necessary for me to take a moment and remind myself that this story is a fictional story. It was nothing happening to anyone I know or love. This was the only way to keep from crying while driving down the road.

Any additional comments?

The book wasn't even over when I was searching Marti Green to see if there was a sequel to this book. I was nearly bereft at the thought of losing any contact with these characters. Sounds a bit dramatic doesn't it? Well, so it is. But I have read the Harry Potter novels over and over because I just can't say good bye to people I have learned to like and respect without a fight.

For the record, this is a debut novel. There are no additional writings by this author at this time. I seriously hope I will hear more from Marti Green.

Predictable

This was a pretty good story but very predictable. No surprises. Which is a tad disappointing for a murder mystery. Still it was entertaining and not a bad listen.

Great title

This book caughg me right from the start. The plot keeps getting thrown for a loop. Just when you think you've reach the end another twist in the story happens.

interesting read

This was an enjoyable book and a good story. No sex or gratuitous violence, which I appreciated as many authors seem to throw those things in unnecessarily. This story stood on its own. The narrative was also good.

Excellent book

Had me on edge all the way thru the end. Read it in one day.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Where does Unintended Consequences rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I HATE THIS QUESTION!!! GET RID OF IT!!!!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Unintended Consequences?

WHEN NANCY LET'S THE "DETECTIVE" IN HER ROOM.

Which scene was your favorite?

THE VERY LAST. 😁

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

WHEN GEORGE WAS TOLD ABOUT "SUNSHINE."

Any additional comments?

GOOD BOOK, LOTS OF TWISTS AND TURNS. KEEPS YOU GUESSING.

Chic-Lit Gone Rogue

Good plot; poor writing. Like Danielle Steele, too much repetitive angst over non-sensual issues. Whoever came up with the great story must've taken over at the end and wrapped it up really well. Main characters , Dani and mini-me, Melanie, are two stupid teens pretending to be adults.

Authors ideology wrapped in an OK story

What did you like best about Unintended Consequences? What did you like least?

The story concept could be developed into an excellent story. On the downside, the author's ideology and some technical impossibilities make this story something between a 2 and a 3 star.

Any additional comments?

If you are reading or listening to this story, you have to first be willing to endure a fair amount of Harlequin romance sprinkled throughout the drama. It isn't unbearable, but it is there, so be warned if that isn't your thing. Next, be ready for some ridiculous plot devices, such as a eureka moment that declares fingerprints of a living adult prove the adult leaving the print is a close relative of a child that died 17 years before. Just to be clear, while fingerprints are in part the result of DNA and inherited, lineage CANNOT be established through fingerprints. There are several of those minor technical distractions but still not horrible. Next, for me at least, the persistent 5 minutes late to talk to a witness, 1 minute after a Judge leaves for the day, 1 hour too late for a clerk to look something up, locating a crucial witness hours after they were killed... etc, etc, just became annoying. A little of it adds suspense, too much is just annoying and used to eat up time which the wrongfully accused is running out of.
I guess my biggest difficulty was in trying to shake the feeling that the author was lecturing me on several ideological topics. Death penalty, police incompetence/corruption, mean and bureaucratic low level employees of government and hospitals, lack of medical care for uninsured, etc. It just all began to overwhelm what could have been a good mystery/court fight. Certainly, the occasional belligerent Court Clerk adds to a story, but not everyone the heroic attorney meets is a callous idiot put on earth to obstruct the few good ones. Likewise, not everyone who opposes the death penalty is good and those who favor it are bad. This author seems to hint that everyone that favors a death penalty is, at best indifferent to the possibility of an innocent person being executed. At worst, they are happy to execute the innocent, as long as someone dies. In a similar ideological mischaracterization, not everyone who disagrees with the death penalty wants prisoners to go unpunished or believe that all prisoners are innocent. In fact, opponents don't even necessarily disagree with a death penalty on the belief that the government convicts the innocent at some alarming rate. So at the end, a good base plot was turned into a readable but less than good read.

Recommend this book

This book starts out a bit slow but after the first few chapters you can't stop listening. The performer does a nice job but attempts to recreate male voices which becomes a bit annoying throughout but all and all she does a nice job. This book is a thriller with a twist that you don't see coming. You are rooting for the good guy until the very end. I recommend this book and this author. Well written!