Behind Her Special Agent Badge

Murder, Mayhem, and Life in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement

By: Floy Turner, Sherrie Clark

Narrated by: Lee Ann Howlett

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Floy Turner is back, but this time she's knee-deep in murder, kidnappings, and burglaries. Leaving behind her Florida Highway Patrol Trooper hat and Miami's highways and byways, she dives into the world of high-level criminal investigations. Not only does she love it, but she finds she has a real knack for it.

In this sequel to the best-seller Behind Her Miami Badge, Turner takes on the role of special agent in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida's premier law enforcement agency. With an innate passion for justice, she and her teams don't stop as they hunt down those perpetrators who threaten the public she swore to protect. As a result, serial murderers, robbers, and burglars, as well as dangerous fugitives, drug dealers, and human traffickers discover that they can run, but they can't hide with Turner hot on their trails.

Strap yourself in and get ready to embark on a roller-coaster ride as Behind Her Special Agent Badge drops you behind the crime-scene tape before racing you through loops of gripping action with peaks of humor sprinkled in along the way.

©2016 Floy Turner and Sherrie Clark (P)2017 Floy Turner and Sherrie Clark

Florida Crime Fiction

Any additional comments?

You will enjoy this Audiobook if you prefer Crime Fiction, especially when it takes place in Florida. The audiobook follows Floy Turner who grows up, of course enjoying Nancy Drew. The book begins with Turner being one of the esteemed chosen to become a Special Agent in Florida. Her training starts in Tallahassee where her daughter attends FSU. She however has a home in South Florida and commutes. The commuting and tough job eventually causes the end her marriage and she is alone to focus on her career. This career includes catching fugitives, prisoners escaping to the Everglades, bringing down drug dealing hustlers who are in a crime ring that includes Judges and attorneys, and other crime related missions. All of Floy Turner’s missions are explained in the audiobook and highlight popular parts of Florida including stakeouts in Kendall or home invasions in Overtown. Other insights about Florida are mentioned throughout the book, including Hurricane Andrew and the Miami Hurricane Football games.

Overall however I enjoyed this book. I really appreciated the truth behind the story. For example, the way criminals are caught can be quite complicated and takes a lot of research. Unlike shows like CSI, lab tech studies can take weeks for results.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Perhaps it was just me, but something is missing.

Let me preface this by saying that I generally enjoy memoirs and police/crime books. However, this particular book just never pulled me into it. I found it to drag and be very mundane as there was little action and worse, for a memoir, even less emotion. I suppose if one is into the minutia of police cases, then this book offers a steady string of one case after another. The strange thing is that some of the cases (each one is announced ahead of time) had the potential to be very interesting (serial killers, international crimes, kidnappings, sex trafficking) and are even familiar to the public (i.e. the Versace murder), yet they devolved into ho-hum details of office meetings and investigative techniques. Again, if that is the type of book that interests you, then this may be just your cup of tea. About halfway through the listen I even jumped ahead a few chapters to see if the tone of the book changed, but it didn't.

The other thing about this book that just didn't seem to fit is there were sections throughout that it lapsed into, for lack of a better term, sort of a 'chick flick' genre. Getting ready for a major case and the author is pining over the "silver-haired hunk" she is being partnered with and how she ends up in a passionate kiss with him at the end of their first shift together, discussing the female versus tactical clothes she need to decide between, glasses or contacts, etc. Again, maybe I am just not part of the audience that this booked was geared for as I am sure there are many listeners that will find it a refreshing perspective.

I gave the narrator, Lee Ann Howlett, an extra star because I think she did a great job in trying to add some energy into a book that really sorely lacked in that area. She made the listen bearable, in my humble opinion.

I hesitate to say that this was a bad book, and it certainly seems to have been painstakingly recalled from Floy Turner's actual experiences, but I just found it to be rather mundane. Perhaps it's a case of real life just not being all that exciting when just the facts are being relayed, or maybe it just wasn't my type of listen.

Finally, I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review and I hope it proves helpful to those considering purchasing this book.

Terrific!!

Floy Turner and Sherri Clark write a good crime story in the genre of most crime stories. There is a very good looking hero, beautiful women, evil villains and goodies win in the end - oh sorry, I have given you the punch line! But don't the goodies always beat the baddies? Anyway, if you want to relax with a good book, the authors knows how to please. I would have liked a little more in depth variety, even though he does write well and his descriptions of people, places, the weather etc., are very good. The setting is a little different from the normal crime locale but for those who don't know that area of the world, it is very interesting. I wouldn't say it was the best crime novel I have ever read but it does fit the bill!

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

An inside look at Florida PD.

Officer Floy rocked! She really brings us into the hard work of what she does, and just how dangerous it can be. She is one smart, amazing women filled with courage and grace, and I am very happy she helped solve so many cases.
This book is well worth the the listen, and has really good stories in it.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

True crime

This is a true crime stories and it very true. All is honest with the writing and talking. The book talks about different cases she worked on.

Real life look into fighting crime

Where does Behind Her Special Agent Badge rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It was interesting hearing about all of the various cases that she was involved in and how being a female on the force was sometimes a benefit (drug dealers wouldn't suspect a woman) and sometimes a hindrance (can be a boys club). I would say that this audiobook ranked somewhere in the middle in as far as audiobooks that I've listened to go. I think what was missing for me was any sort of emotion throughout the book.

What did you like best about this story?

I almost went into law enforcement, so I have a real interest in listening/learning about how it really is. That's truly what kept me listening.

What does Lee Ann Howlett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I can't really say too much about Ms. Howlett's narration. She narrated well, but I don't think that the writing gave her much of an opportunity to show off her narration skills. The writing was similar to what I feel I would find in a police summary. Factual, devoid of much/any emotion. Not necessarily good or bad, just is what it is.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, I didn't have a reaction at all. I listened to it, but the narrator was fairly monotonous, although that could have been due to the writing. It was factual, but there was very little emotion, good, bad or ugly in the audiobook.

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.