Borderline

By: Joseph Badal

Narrated by: Pamela Almand

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez, two New Mexico homicide detectives, are assigned to investigate the murder of a wealthy Albuquerque socialite. They soon discover that the victim, a narcissistic borderline personality, played a lifetime game of destroying people's lives. As a result, the list of suspects in her murder is extensive.

The detectives find themselves enmeshed in a helix of possible perpetrators with opportunity, means, and motive - and soon question giving their best efforts to solve the case the more they learn about the victim's hideous past.

Their job gets tougher when the victim's psychiatrist is murdered and DVDs turn up that show the doctor had serial sexual relationships with a large number of his female patients, including the murder victim.

©2016 Joseph Badal/Suspense Publishing (P)2016 Joseph Badal/Suspense Publishing

This wasn't a cozy mystery

Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez are homicide detectives in New Mexico. Barbara is a widow who is struggling to get over the death of her husband and has turned to alcohol. Susan's marriage to a flight attendant is fragile. Apart from their personal problems, the two women are fighting sexism in their male-dominated workplace.When Victoria Comstock, an Albuquerque socialite, is killed, not many people seem to mourn the demise of the woman. Barbara's and Susan's investigation reveals that Victoria had ruined many people's lives through manipulation and pure evil.

When Victoria Comstock, an Albuquerque socialite, is killed, not many people seem to mourn the demise of the woman. Barbara's and Susan's investigation reveals that Victoria had ruined many people's lives through manipulation and pure evil. As the list of suspects keeps growing and the pressure to get a result is mounting, Barbara and Susan find a second murder victim. Is it the same killer?

It was quite nice to get two female detectives as the protagonists of a crime thriller, and these two made a great team that I would love to see more of. Remember Cagney and Lacey? If you liked them, you will enjoy this. The mix between delving into the detectives' private lives and the actual police procedural was just right and made these two characters fleshed out and credible. The plot wasn't predictable, which was a nice bonus. Some of it was a bit clichéd, but it was highly entertaining and held my attention throughout. There were a few twists that really surprised me. I felt the epilog was totally unnecessary, though.

Pamela Almand's smooth voice and enthusiastic delivery made this a pleasure to listen to. She had a wonderful range of different voices, so it was always obvious who was speaking, and Pamela portrays male characters so convincingly. This is the second time I've listened to her, and I like that you can tell she is fully invested in the story and enjoys what she is doing. There was no issue with the production at all.

This wasn't a cozy mystery, but there wasn't a lot of violence or gory details and the language was fairly clean. I think this would appeal to any fans of fast-paced mysteries and crime thrillers. I will certainly look out for the second book featuring Barbara and Susan to be published in 2017.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Female detective in a man's world

Borderline is a novel about two female detectives investigating a murder of a woman with borderline disorder, and as the story develops, this woman seems to have ruined many people's lives, so there are many suspects.

We also get insight in the two detectives personal lives, struggles and their constant struggle when it comes to female detectives in a man's world. There are a lot sexism in this book and it made it rather dull. We've heard enough about the sexism in law enforcement - guys, get over it!

I usually enjoy detective novels, but I also expect these novels to be filled with a good sense of humor. I didn't have any laughs even that the book is loaded with original characters, who actually could be funny. Most of the characters weren't very likeable, and that annoyed the heck out of me.

I'm sure this book has a large audience, so it could be just me not all that captivated by it. It was hard to hold the attention, even the plot is well-developed. However, I didn't feel the characters was developed enough.

Narrator Pamela Almand was outstanding in her performance, and did voices and accents very well. She was very lively and involved and I'd love to hear her in other genres. She didn't have a girly voice, which made her very good when it came to the many male voices in this book.

*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. Read all my reviews at mybookhype dot com.

2 Female Detectives and 2 Brutal Murders

This was an all consuming mystery which kept me guessing and intrigued until the end. There were 2 female detectives trying to solve 2 brutal murders with many, many suspects. Although the murders were gory, the book does not go into excessive detail about them. There were several different plot angles and the characters were all very well developed. I really liked the two lady detectives and could see them being the protagonists in a detective series.

I received the Audible version of this book in exchange for an honest review and I did not want to stop listening! Not only was the book suspenseful, it was narrated very well by Pam Almand. She has a very pleasing voice and was able to give all of the characters their own distinct voice.

All in all I totally recommend this book. It is a very enjoyable and suspenseful mystery (without being scarey!).

Interesting first novel

Borderline is the first captivating novel in the Lassiter and Martinez series of mystery thrillers written by multiple award-winning and best-selling author Joseph Badal.

The story follows two New Mexico detectives tasked to investigate the death of a high profile individual. But, as their investigation progresses, they find out that the involved party deserved their fate. Things get even more complicated when other bodies start to fall and new and disturbing evidence comes to light.

Voiceover artist and narrator, the talented and award-winning Pamela Almand, performs this fascinating crime novel in her signature voice, bringing all the events and the characters to life with style and passion. Although this is an older recording, Pam's dedication to the project is clear from the beginning.

Dark secrets, sexual predators, twists and turns that you will not see coming, plus 2 strong female leads make Borderline extremely entertaining.

I'm looking forward to the next installments in the Lassiter and Martinez series by Joseph Badal, especially since Pamela Almand is the recurring narrator.
If you liked this review, please vote Helpful below and find more of them here and on theAudiobookBlog. I also post honest reviews at the author, narrator, or publisher's request, you can get in touch with me for more details.

Excellent narration

Story was entertaining but felt a little thin. I thought the narrator a great job with the different characters.

Strong Female Leads

I like that there were 2 strong female leads in this book. The story was definitely interesting and I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen. Some of the dialogue seemed a little strange to me, but overall, I liked where the story and characters went.

I believe this was my first experience with Pamela Almand's narration. She did a nice job with the various characters and capturing the experience of the female detectives.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom.

Worth your time

Any additional comments?

Really enjoyable, entertaining and interesting murder mystery.

Inspired by actual events? The truth is stranger than fiction.

This one kept me guessing for a bit. The story is fast paced and constantly moves forward. Several intersecting plot lines along twists and turns and another murder add to the mystery. There are enough suspects to go around that it takes a bit for you to whittle down the suspects and narrow in on the correct one(s).

Along with a great cast of characters I really enjoyed that this story had not one but 2 strong female leads. Detectives Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez are both great characters.

This is the first Joseph Badal book I have "read", bit it definitely won't be my last.

This is the first time I have listened to a book narrated by Pamela Almand. She did a really good job. Great character voices. Pleasant voice. Smooth even pace and clearly spoken. Great male and female character voices. All around great job. I would definitely listen to more books narrated by Pamela Almand.

This audiobook was provided by author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

Two Detectives, A Murder and a Bunch of Suspects!

Where does Borderline rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Borderline is entertaining and very well "voiced". NOT the usual run of the mill plot. It isn't over the top but unique without giving too much way.

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

Enough thrills and unexpected turns. Certainly enough suspects to keep the most jaded armchair detective guessing until the end.

What does Pamela Almand bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Pamela Almand is a good choice for "Voice Over Talent". Pamela's preference instead of "Narrator". The material has quite a few characters, and Pamela establishes voices that are distinct to them. That added to the audio book experience over the e book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Girls Gone Wild in Albuquerque. What happens in New Mexico, ...

Any additional comments?

With a few short breaks, I listened to Borderline in "one sitting" as Audible likes to phrase it.

I appreciate the opportunity to listen to and review Borderline.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com

Wealth, Murder, & Madness

Great police procedural - officers with abilities and flaws. Political pressure put on the force for a quick solve, officers who buck the system for real justice, and a murder victim whose multiple suspects loved her and hated her at the same time. And the murderer is someone not ever considered. This murder leads to another one with the murderer not on the radar. Badal weaves these two death together perfectly. I was gifted this from Audiobookworm for my honest review.

Grabs you and keeps you

Borderline,, First book I've read by Joseph Badal - mighty impressed and he is on my to look for authors list from now on..
Lots of police procedures in this tense and gripping murder investigation.
A well crafted book with excellent narration.
DEFINITELY worth a read.
I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Fantastic murder mystery

This thriller kept me at the edge of my seat all throughout the listening, hard for me to put it down had it not been for my thesis. It was like watching crime movie of the 90s. I think this gem should be turned into a film. Besides, Pamela's narration was really amazing again, which render the listening unpausable :)

An Exciting and Gripping Murder Mystery!

I really enjoy police procedurals, and this one is a doosey. We follow two police detectives Susan Martinez and Barbara Lassiter as they try to find the murderer of vicious Victoria who must be the most unsympathetic victim I ever read about. I didn’t take me long to become part of the action, and I was following with Barbara and Susan tracking down the clues. There is lots of action in this book, including the private lives of the two detectives. If you love a good murder mystery this a great one, and can’t recommend this enough.
I have to say I never guessed who murdered vicious Victoria, the only thing is I didn’t want the person found. As the Barbara and Susan investigates the murder the more suspects they uncover.
The narrator did a marvellous job, making each characters voice very distinctive. Considering the large cast of characters