The Secret Witness

Shepard & Gray, Book 1

De: Victor Methos

Narrado por: Timothy Andrés Pabon

From the bestselling author of A Killer’s Wife comes the thrilling first installment in the Shepard & Gray series, featuring a young sheriff who teams up with a former prosecutor to stop a copycat killer.

This is Reaper speaking.

So begins an anonymous letter published in a Utah newspaper after a young couple is viciously murdered. Tooele County sheriff Elizabeth Gray leads the investigation into the double homicide, which is eerily reminiscent of a string of brutal killings years ago. When the letter leads detectives to yet another body, Gray calls on an old friend for help.

Former prosecutor Solomon Shepard is still struggling to recover from the deadly courtroom attack that ended his career. He’s been keeping a safe distance from the action, teaching criminology seminars about serial murders and psychopathology—until Gray asks for his help on the Reaper case.

As the body count mounts, Shepard and Gray race to unravel the deranged design of a copycat killer—and find themselves in a face-off with an enemy they never saw coming.

©2022 Victor Methos (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Gripping from the beginning, this audiobook features a well-crafted story delivered by Timothy Andrés Pabon using an ideal mix of fear, remorse, and personal animosity to define characters and scenes. A whodunit at its core, this is also an exceptional psychological thriller that benefits from Pabon's performance, particularly his ability with nuanced dialogue.… Pabon combines a low-key delivery with well-chosen intensity, making this an audiobook that listeners will not want to turn off." (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner)

"A red-hot suspenser aimed at readers for whom a single serial killer just isn’t enough." (Kirkus Reviews)

Enjoyable procedural

First in a new series by Victor Methos, this is a mix of police & court procedural with a bit of suspense/thriller from tracking a serial killer. It had a lot of elements that I love from watching Law & Order.

Solomon Shepard is a retired prosecutor that gets pulled into a search for a serial killer by family friend, Sheriff Billie Gray. The familiarity and banter between these two was a comfort in contrast to the stark realities of a town gripped by the resurgence of The Reaper. Solomon’s unlikely friendship with his teenage neighbor, Kelly, was also endearing.

While it was difficult, I liked that Methos detailed the attacks and how the killer worked. Not everything is as it seems and there’s lots of twists and turns to enjoy as well. As with any murder investigation & prosecution - having all the answers doesn’t alleviate the grief and frustration of all involved.

I’m looking forward to more of Solomon & Billie.

Narration:
This was my first time listening to Timothy Andrés Pabon and I enjoyed his performance. There are a lot of characters, personalities, and emotions here and he delivered.

Good read..

This was a pretty good story BUT it could have been better if the author would EVER bother to tell you what the MC's looked like. Not a clue what Solomon Shepard or Sheriff Billie Gray looked like; fat, skinny, tall, short, hair color, nothing. Had it been a female author she would have spent 5 pages telling you what the MC look like but male authors can't seem to be bothered. It's a shame, really.

No romance and no swearing.

As for the narrator: Timothy Andrés Pabon is a good narrator. His voices and emotions make the story!

Uninspired and boring

I was hoping for a good thriller. Unfortunately I got an unbelievable, slow moving dud. The storyline is just not that compelling. Characters are thin and the ending is disappointing and shallow. Obviously the writer is talented but just didn’t have much to say in this book.

If “meh” was an audiobook

How was the writing? Meh. The plot? Ok I guess. The narration. pronunciation, characters, pacing, subplots, atmosphere, relationships, antagonist, backstory, dialog, legal/procedural research and details, technology details, …?

You get the idea.

Family I’ll

A good read like the twists and turns. Good for car rides not difficult to follow.