Live to Tell: A Detective D. D. Warren Novel

If I had known how depressing this book would be I would have skipped it. Live To Tell is a story about a children's psychiatric ward, family heartbreak and horror. It was very real, very raw and truly heartbreaking. Usually I like my murder mystery without child, infant and baby murders. With that said ... I had to finish till the end because I just needed to know the outcome. The three narraters were the best I have ever listened to and I look forward to listening to them in the future.

Excellent story. Once again I'm never disappointed with any of your books. You possessed the special talent few writers have.

I love when a book has you hooked in the first chapter..this is one of those. A shocking thriller that makes you see a subject in a new light. So worth the credit. EXCELLENT LISTENING!!

I really enjoyed this book, while the story was sad and heartbreaking I couldnt wait until the outcome. Narration was equally as good, a worthwhile listen.

There are some things to like in this story, enough to merit a 3-star rating, but rather than gaining momentum to the end, I liked it less. First, the positives. The multiple narrators were good, particularly since various chapters tell the experiences of different primary characters. The narrator for D.D. Warren was good, and the narrator for the Danielle character seemed a great fit. Also, the theme of disturbed children and the various family and institutional caregivers set up an interesting framework, and presented multiple perspectives that seemed genuine.

Now for the reasons my enjoyment and rating sank. I'm not impressed by Detective D.D. Warren. She seems to interject a dislikable, smart-alecky and inappropriate denigration of people she's interviewing. She jumps to scattered presumptions, based on no meaningful evidence. She spends so much time thinking about how she'd like to have sex with half the men she works with or meets, but would be better served to be thoughtful about her case. She brings her detectives into an operating ward for disturbed children, in the middle of the night, to serve a warrant that could have waited until the full day staff was present, and then blames the caregivers when things go wrong due to the caregivers giving attention to the detectives. And finally, the whole plot started to slip (I'm trying to avoid a spoiler) with the focus on the "interplanes". For me, the plot sagged from diabolical, to simply preposterous and ridiculous. Fortunately, the book ends with a final narration by "Danielle" rather than D.D. Warren, and that boosted the feeling of resolution and satisfaction. Back to D.D. Warren, this is the second recent book where I've had similar negative feelings about the quality of her "detecting" and her tendency to go off on ridiculously unfounded premises. There are a lot of better-written detectives and investigators to pick from.

You won't be disappointed - has a great plot and will keep you guessing. Loved the narrators as well. I didn't down load "The Neighbor" because of the reviews on this site but after listening to this book I will go back and purchase it because of the narrator Kristen Potter she is a great story tell I could listen to her for hours.

I agree with one reviewer that it is hard to read about sad circumstances which involve children, but this book is so worth listening to, and WOW the readers are just exceptional. "thumbs up for Lisa Gardner"

"I can’t stop listening/reading!" this is what all my friends have said too. It's fantastic and you never look at a kid the same way when they are acting out, like at a grocery store.. ???? .... I love Lisa Gardner's books! Great Job!

I usually listen on my commute to work. This book was so good I found myself sitting in the driveway waiting to see what would happen next! Very well written.

She's Just Great

All of it was good,

I thought the job was just great

I didn't laugh or cry, I usually just enjoy the book's I read

A very good book to listen to, in fact I plan on listening to it again...