A Cold and Broken Hallelujah

Long Beach Homicide, Book 3

By: Tyler Dilts

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

On a sweltering September night, Long Beach Homicide Detective Danny Beckett is called to a grisly crime scene at the mouth of the Los Angeles River. A defenseless homeless man has been burned to death by three teenagers with gang ties. The suspects are already in custody, and the evidence is overwhelming - but when one suspect’s brother is targeted for murder, Danny starts to think there may be more to this seemingly clear-cut case. Obsessed with discovering the true identity of the victim, a gentle vagrant who may have been hiding a tortured past, Danny and his team start to uncover a high-reaching conspiracy that puts them all at risk - and threatens to open new wounds that could cut even deeper than Danny’s old ones.

©2014 Tyler Dilts (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Finally finished

"Not a bad story." she said. "But, I guessed the ending twist!" he said. "Probably won't go looking for another book by this author or reader" he and she agreed.

Interesting story

I truly enjoyed this book
Narration was wonderful.
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys law and order fiction.

Really liked this

I like the story line, the character development . I have listened to the other two books in this series and really enjoyed them as well. Since this book was published in 2014, I hope the next book in the series is coming out soon.

talented and dramatic reader

I enjoyed the story overall. I really enjoyed the narration, he did a very good job with the voices for each of the characters and reading the story dramatically...
the racey language would be the only thing that might deter me from listening to it again:-(
thank you for the story!😊

Loved the Title of the Book, but that's about it..

After finishing this book, I felt like there were several areas missing very important backstory. It wasn't until I came to write a review of this book on audible that I learned it's book 3 of a series (amazon, where i purchased it, failed to mention that). I now understand why the author skirted past huge defining moments with a summary sentence. I'm sure the many questions that I had are probably answered in the first two books.

Either way, I can only write this review as if the book was a stand alone novel. I don't believe you need the prior books to follow the story. Except for the main characters, the plot line involves people that most likely exist only in this book.

Detective Danny had this obsession with knowing more about a homicide victim named Bishop. The author tries to explain a connection between the two which I didn't quite understand because I felt like I didn't really know Danny. I'm sure if I would have read the previous books, I would understand the decisions and emotions of Danny, but it seemed 2-dimensional. It's like the author assumed that I knew Danny's history (which would be a pretty good assumption).

The story isn't bad and the narrator does well. On the surface I believe the book is okay, but I think it would have been a better experience if I was already connected to Danny. I would understood some of the text better regarding his wife and partner, why he acts the way he acts and why he's in constant pain.

If it was a stand alone story, I'd probably rate it as a 3 star book due to poor character development, but knowing now that it's part of a series, I'll rate it a solid 4. I'm sure most of the questions I had are answered in prior books.

I would recommend this book,....after reading the other 2 first though! Lol!

A very nice read

If you could sum up A Cold and Broken Hallelujah in three words, what would they be?

Kept me interested.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I enjoyed this book and the narrator did an excellent job. I didn't find too many surprises out of the book but it certainly didn't bore me at all.

Great Story

This book had it all - comedy, mystery, family relationships, friendship and even a touch of romance.

The style is rather matter-of-fact and reminiscent of Detective Joe Friday from Dragnet, but once in, you appreciate it for what it is - a cop story. It was eye opening as to process and procedure and believable. Told through the eyes of the detective the hardness, kindness and emotion/emotionless aspects of the job came through seamlessly. It also brought to light some of the things I often forget about - old injuries that continue to plague long-time officers as well as the cases that never leave their mind. Not surprisingly it also gives window into the camaraderie of members of the force and those they work with outside the force (social workers, coroners, and family members of both victims and persons of interest).

I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

The narration was a perfect fit for this book.

Mystery/Police Procedural Thriller

This Narrator had a laid back vibe that I wasn’t sure I could hang with but I’m so glad I did. The Characters were interesting and flawed but likeable and easy to relate to. The mystery and police procedure unfolds over the course of the book and I found myself dreading that it would be over. Would love a sequel with these characters and I think this Narrator fit the main Characters personality perfectly.

A Dull and Boring Hallelujah

I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't. The performance was stilted and the story just couldn't hold my interest. I kept going hoping it would get better. It didn't. The descriptions of Long Beach were pretty good. To be honest, I was about halfway through the book when I realized I didn't even know the name of the main character. The sad thing was, I didn't care.

Too slow and drawn out. Never build a strong case

as they wanted and then jump to going after the head boss behind crime. Narrator was very good.