Beyond Blue

By: Austin S. Camacho

Narrated by: Allan Callaway

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

Beyond Blue features a team of unique and intriguing detectives whose only purpose is to help police officers in trouble. The story follows four of the agency's cases, which overlap and intersect: An undercover officer is in danger of really being drawn into a life of crime; a crooked lawyer is destroying police careers by making arresting officers appear to have violated criminals' rights; a cop's wife accuses him of abusing their daughter; and a retired police detective could lose his job in airport security because of drugs being smuggled in through JFK International. Pursuing these cases is a team of unique and intriguing detectives. The agency's director, the enigmatic Paul Gorman, sits at the center of the action, pulling the strings to direct his team to solve their cases and cover each other.

©2014 Intrigue Publishing, LLC (P)2017 Intrigue Publishing, LLC

Great Story, memorable characters, ok production.

“Beyond Blue”
Author: Austin S. Camacho
Publisher: Intrigue Publishing, LLC (September 1st, 2014)

Narrator: Allan Callaway
Audible.com Release: February 20th, 2017
Length: 7 hours and 43 minutes (Unabridged)

Camacho, author of several detective thrillers, writes a unique and interesting story about a privately funded para-police organization who helps New York Police Officers out of career ending situations due to personal and professional issues. At the helm is the no-nonsense and street savvy Paul Gorman who leads a team consisting of former NYPD Police and military. The plot unfolds with seemingly four separate cases regarding a crooked lawyer, a drug smuggling ring, a six-year undercover officer infiltrating the New York Mafia, and a street cop accused of child molestation by his divorce seeking spouse. These four cases are loosely connected culminating in a satisfied conclusion. At times, the dialogue and plot-points border on the absurd, but Camacho’s writing is straight-forward and creative providing an exciting private detective story that will appeal to hard-boiled noirs and police dramas. I hope Camacho continues to write more tales with Gorman and his team.

Allan Callaway narrates “Beyond Blue” and I was originally not impressed with his voice but my opinion did change because Callaway provides a rather impressive experience matching the action and sometimes humorous moments of the narrative, revealing unique flavors of each character, and deftly brings out the wit and sarcasm often found in seasoned police officers and private detectives . What really shines for the narrator is his ability to switch back and forth between characters providing accents and traits that are theatrical and appropriate. At first, I was not convinced Callaway was the right choice for this noir-style tale but certainly would be disappointed if he does not helm the next one.

Where this audio book fails is in production, which is unfortunate. Lines are repeated or re-recorded words later dubbed in creating a less than polished presentation. I have listened to amateur podcasts with better sound than this one and wonder if a basic laptop and microphone were used for recording.

Overall, “Beyond Blue” is good offering the perfect summer read with great banter between characters in slightly far-fetched scenarios, or a decent listening experience but some listeners will find the production values somewhat questionable.

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

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good story

The story and idea for beyond blue agency was great
I like how it was told through different storylines kept it interesting
And although the narrator was good several mistakes were missed in editing
overall based on the story I’ll checkout more by this author
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Astoundingly poor production

I'm utterly astounded by the poor production of this audiobook. It's adequately performed by Allan Callaway, but there are numerous outtakes remaining in the audiobook that should have been edited out. I heard at least 3 in the first chapter alone and there were many more throughout the remainder of the audio. It's very unprofessional.

The characters are interesting and quite colorful, but the story is blatantly contrived and predictable. I do appreciate that there are multiple cases woven through the story and all are tied up nicely in the end.

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

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Back the badge!

law-enforcement, action-adventure

Excellent read for cop friendlies. The basic premise of BBI is righting wrongs done to good cops by criminals and even corrupt coppers or simply doing the good job in ways that are a bit sideways. Lots of action and the interwoven plot lines are filled with misdirections and red herrings. LOVED IT!
Wish I could avoid nitpicking the narrator, but he needs to edit better instead of allowing multiple repeated sentences. AND, the word cartage as in hauling products or furniture is not a French word, especially in Brooklyn! Otherwise, he did a decent job, but this book really deserved better.
I hope that this book is the start of a series!
Really happy that I won this audiobook in a giveaway!

Protecting the rights of your comrades.

A great team of talent to fight for the underdog and wrongfully charged. Action-packed throughout.

Allan Callaway did a great job narrating.

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

Couldn't finish

If there is an update on this I will gladly listen to it again. There are way to many he/she said, asked, replied. There are sentences that could easily be removed from the story to improve the flow.

As for the narration, I had to slow the playback down, which really isn't to big of a deal. There were repeated sentences, skips in the recording, and worse of all there is background noise that's very distracting.

I received a free copy of this audible. I have freely submitted my honest review.

The thin blue line holds together

I enjoyed this book, I did get a bit confused and found I had to really concentrate so I didn't get lost in the story because the story jumped from different characters and different cases. There is a lot going on so it will be a story I will re-listen to again in a few months time, when I have forgotten the story. Liked the plot line and thought it was unusual, not many books focus on helping cops before they go bad, they are either good guys or bad guys. The characters were likable and I like the way that even though they tease and joke with each other when it comes down to it they are there for each other.
Who do police men and women call for help when they are in trouble? A grateful business man has an answer for that question. That is why he is funding the Beyond Blue a private detective agency that just helps the brothers and sisters in blue. They have four operatives working on four different cases from something so simple like a wife filing for divorce by claiming abuse to a crooked lawyer framing policemen to get his clients out of jail. They also tackle the harder cases such as a working out how to pull an under cover agent out before he crosses a line he can't come back from to investigating an ex policeman fired from his job that have far dangerous consequences than first thought. With so much going on it is a good job they have a great boss in Paul Gorman who juggles all the balls in order to hopefully keep his team alive and safe.
I liked the narrator he had a lot of characters to give voices too but the production needed a bit of work as he repeated himself a few times. It was just the odd couple of words every now and again so didn't interfere with the story telling.
I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Loved the story line!

To have a group of men and women, like the police, ready and willing to have your back is good to have when you need them. But, who has THEIR back when things get really tough? This book shows a possible answer to that question. I enjoyed this book from start to finish and had a really difficult time putting it down.
The narration is spot on for each character and the feelings and the atmosphere of each scene is like the 'music' in the movies. Keeps you on your toes.
I recommend this, for sure!

A Terrific Beginning to a New Series!

An engaging premise will draw you right into this story. Former cops now providing extraordinary help to current law enforcement when needed. An excellent team to have on your side when false accusations fly.

Terrific dialog, intriguing characters, and tons of potential for future stories. It’s a great start to a new series. Don’t miss it!

I received a free copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily written this review. Narrator Allan Callaway suits the story perfectly. Audio is the best!

You will find my full review at Mystery Suspense Reviews.

Great concept

Beyond Blue.. Is a book with a great concept and story line. Gripping and fast paced the plot is follows 4 lines of story all intermingling. Characters have the beginnings of life - which will develop if there is more to follow.
I found this book almost impossible to put down.
Great entertainment.
I was given a free copy of this audio book at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.