Behind Closed Doors: A Small Town Riveting Kidnapping Mystery Thriller

By: Marie Wilkens

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Unearth the chilling truth behind a small town's secrets as a mother battles against time to save her abducted son.

In the chilling aftermath of seven-year-old Derek's inexplicable disappearance, a distraught yet fiercely determined mother, Katie, refuses to stand by idly. Fueled by an unyielding love and aided by her resilient best friend Sophia, she delves into a harrowing race against the clock, plunging into a whirlpool of town secrets and personal demons that threaten to engulf her. As a looming winter storm threatens and the kidnapper skillfully covers their tracks, time is fast running out. Immerse yourself in this electrifying thriller, where the bonds of family are tested like never before. Can Katie rescue her son before an unspeakable fate befalls him? Experience a story of tenacity and undying love, where every heartbeat is a countdown to a nail-biting climax that will leave you breathless.

Derrick

A lot going on but yet nothing was really going on. I really thought Sophia had something to do with the kidnapping of her son. Everyone seemed suspicious to me..

It was ok, but…

I almost stopped listening as soon as I heard the virtual voice, but I decided to give it a chance. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no emotion in what should have been a very emotionally charged story. The characters all had the same voice with no pauses or transitions to differentiate who was talking. I think the story was decent, but the narration took too much away. I won’t choose another virtual voice book based on this experience.

Virtual voice is a no-no

Besides listening to a robot, a lot of the story is ridiculous! Every 5 minutes someone “chuckles”! Even the mother whose child was abducted. No one uses “chuckles”! And the 2 women ditching the police to solve the crime on their own? Come on! Someone else made a comment that this felt like it was a novel written by a robot. It kind of felt that way. Lastly, if something was said once, it was repeated at least 10 times. This author is a “no” for me.

repetative

I disliked the virtual voice, it made the story seem slow and robotic. This was definately a fictional novel and was repetitive several times.

Repetitive statements

The voice was flat and monotone. The characters were annoying. The mother said the same statements over and over.

Could have been so much better

So, I was really looking forward to this book partly because I wondered how well it would be read. Sadly, it was less than great. There was little vocal distinction between the characters statements making it difficult at times to recognize when the reader shifted from one character to the next. Also, it was read without inflection to indicate emotion. With the use of AI, there should have been a much better presentation.

The story could also benefit from the use of a thesaurus. Chuckle, scoffed and other words were used so often and even somewhat inappropriately that it became tiresome and predictable. Editing should have been better and could have helped a lot.

Lastly, while books and movies often require a suspension of disbelief, the behavior of the mom in this book was over the top and would definitely result in legal action against her for her vigilante behavior. You just can't take the law into your own hands without some sort of repercussions.

Better luck next time!

Awful narration by AI! AI owes the author of this book an apology!

A good narrator can add so much to the enjoyment of listening to an audio book. AI narration was awful..no inflection, no change in character voices, no emotion, stress put on the wrong words...I won't listen to another book narrated by AI..

I kept waiting for a twist

I thought the ending would have been more complex. I really didn’t Ming the generated voice.

Imature and predictable writing

Narrator was terrbble, sounded forced with over pronounced words. Writing was childish with predictable wording and replies. You knew what the character was going to say next like playground banter. It was not very dynamic writing. The plot was fine.

Painful

I desperately wanted to follow the storyline. I’ve read so many books or listen to so many books. This one, however, was painful. The narration made itself. I couldn’t figure out how this narrator could have absolutely zero voice inflection. Everything was completely monotone. The virtual narration was a total disservice to this book that I will likely never try to listen to again I do not like virtual voice. I wish that it were a filter option when choosing books.