Breathe Your Last

An Addictive and Nail-Biting Crime Thriller (Detective Josie Quinn, Book 10)

By: Lisa Regan

Narrated by: Kate Handford

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Josie presses her hands into the center of the drowned girl’s chest and pumps, counting off compressions. She takes in the girl’s beautiful face, her brown eyes glassy. The memory of a champion swimmer on the podium with her teammates - a red swim cap on, her head thrown back in laughter - a stark contrast to the cold, still body before her. Breathe. Just breathe.... 

The body of a young girl lying face down in a swimming pool - white tennis shoes still on her feet, chestnut hair fanned out like a halo - is the last thing Detective Josie Quinn expects to find on an early morning visit to see her brother before class at Denton University. But when she recognizes the girl’s face as she drags her limp body from the water, there’s only one question racing through Josie’s mind: How does a champion swimmer accidentally drown? 

Nysa Somers’ family is distraught. She was a model student, beloved daughter, and everybody’s friend. There’s no way she would do anything reckless enough to put her scholarship at risk, let alone her life. It’s up to Josie and her team to piece together what happened in the hours leading up to Nysa’s death, and that begins with finding her missing backpack. 

But the bag, discarded in the woods on the nearby campus, contains nothing more than empty food wrappers, Nysa’s phone, and a cryptic calendar entry telling her to be a mermaid. 

The next day, a terrible housefire envelops the nearby home of a retired fireman, nearly killing his two granddaughters. The last words the little girls heard him mutter before he set the blaze were, be a match.  

As the body count rises, it’s only Josie who can see the deadly pattern forming. Can she convince her team that the wrapper found in Nysa’s bag that everyone overlooked is the crucial link they’re missing? Not while her partner, Noah, is avoiding her calls and acting so coldly towards her. Josie knows she must go it alone if she’s going to stop this silent and calculated serial killer before any more precious lives are taken. 

But with the killer finally in her sights, Josie takes a deadly risk and finds herself hanging onto life by her fingernails. Can she trust her team to save her, and before it’s too late? 

A totally gripping crime thriller from an Amazon, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal best-selling author. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni, and Rachel Caine.  

Listeners love Lisa Regan: 

"A brilliant twist.... It had me well and truly hooked.... A fantastic read!! I was captivated by the storyline right from the very first page and I couldn’t put the book down until I’d finished it.... The story twisted and turned.... I faced so many ‘what the hell’ moments as the action just kept coming!! Happily, I have to say I didn’t guess who was responsible and loved how it all cleverly fell into place! Each book of the series just keeps getting better!" (Stardust Book Reviews, five stars)

©2020 Lisa Regan (P)2020 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Not Worth the time or credit !!!!

The story line is weak....the opening with a girl drowned in the pool goes on and on with no conclusion, the same with the grandfather who sets his house on fire.....why ?????.......and the cop who almost jumps off a roof ??????.......the premise that they all ingested "spiked brownies" .....how/why were they singled out ?????
Too much speculation....and what happened to Noah ????
Not a good listen .....

Not the best

Story moved to slow. Not a fan of this author or narrator. Maybe her other books are readable.

Just Wow!!

Just Wow!
Time to be a Mermaid....
Time to be a Match....
Made me second guess eating brownies while reading this book. I promise you, you will never guess who-dun-it!! Trying to figure out what Noah was being so secretive about just about killed me. Very emotional!! The cliff hanger at the end, (pun intended)! Just Wow! Crazy good, hard to put down. You absolutely need to read this book!!

Riveting!

This is one of my favorite series and I eagerly wait for each new chapter in Josie Quinn‘s life! This book was really fascinating and intriguing with a villain unlike any from her prior novels. From the very first victim of a highly skilled swimmer found drowned in her clothes to several other bizarre incidents, I could not stop listening to this book because I was just so puzzled as to what had happened to the victims. And of course there are always interesting sidelines with the regular cast of characters! Highly recommend and cannot wait until the next episode! Lisa always leaves you wanting much more! I also really enjoy the narration by Kate Handford.

Another Great Story!

I am totally loving this series! This was another “couldn’t stop listening” kind of book!

VERY RIVETING!

Breathe Your Last kept you guessing who was drugging people and make them do things that kill or almost kill themselves. Loved the ending!

Excellent and unique story line

Lisa Regan created a unique and unexpected storyline for this book. The narrator is good. She incorporates emotion into her narration, which provides the venue for me to visualize the characters and locations.
Happily, I’m on to the next Lisa Regan book in the Josie Quinn series!

Twisted

The Josie Quinn stories never fail to suck you in and keep you wanting more!

Detective Josie Quinn

Plot. The Detective Josie Quinn series consists of several police procedurals, most involving missing or murdered women or girls. The setting is a small town in Pennsylvania. Josie's childhood trauma is interwoven into each story; we watch her character struggle with her job, love life, and the brain-twisting murders traversing the series.

Liked, Characters. Stories are initially straightforward who-done-it murders that morph into complex mysteries to enjoy. Josie's circle of friends consists of her fellow cops, the medical examiner, and her boss, each with a unique personality. Her family is initially small, but you'll see it expand as the stories progress. Not too many characters to keep track of - as they are integrated into each story. You'll have fun getting to know the characters and puzzling solutions. You'll find yourself muttering, "Wait ... what?" near the end of most books as the plots twist and surprises abound.

Not so hot. The first three books were poorly narrated by Eilidh Beaton as diction and child-like pronunciation were annoying. But stick with it as the rest are well read by Kate Handford. Production is fine, bumped speed to 1.4 - a preference, not a criticism.

The series is written by Lisa Regan and released from early 2018 through today. Bookouture published iinitially, later picked up by Hachette.

Recommended murder mysteries.

Best But Worst Story Ever. A Must Read.

Okay. I guess the heading has you all scratching your heads. How can this be the best worst? And how can I say it is a must read?

Detective Josie Quinn lives in a small town in Denton, PA. Although she has stated )in previous books) that her small town has little crime, I have to wonder how she came up with that determination. Denton has had several serial killers and crimes of nearly every kind. Ah…but I digress.

How can this be the best novel? Because Lisa Regan has developed such a believable storyline and so absolutely engrossing that for a few moments towards the end of the book, I literally hated her. I was ready to burn all her the books and stomp the ashes. I had a scathing review written inside my mind and had decided to write to her directly to tell her off.

Then it dawned on me that I was getting angry over fiction—a brilliantly written passage—that gutted my stomach and flung my emotions into the firestorm.

Far be it from me to spoil the book, so I will leave you with my first statement: This is the “best worst story” she has written to date. You won’t be sorry you read it.

2 Problems in the recording

The story was great as always, but there were two small parts that weren't edited correctly.

*Riveting Thriller*

Detective Josie Quinn is going along for the ride with Misty to drop Harris off for his first day at preschool. On route Josie is quizzing him on what to do and the dangers he may face, much to the dismay of his mother Misty rolling her eyes

On the way back she is going to see her brother before his classes start at Denton University.

Upon arrival she sees a young girl floating face down in the pool. Josie jumps in and fails to save her. The question is why? This young girl is the school’s champion swimmer. A disciplined clean living model student.

Whilst Josie is investigating the young girl’s death they find her backpack and once they eventually get into her phone there is a message telling her to “be a mermaid”

A day later a very young girl flags Josie down for help as Josie approaches the scene she calls for back up, it’s a house fire and another young girl is trapped. Josie does her usual heroics to save the girl and as help arrives they realise it’s the home of a retired fireman and grandfather to the girls. The message this time “be a match”

Now as the bodies are starting pile up they realise the culprit is a virtually invisible person with a motive to take out all the people that have ever got in their way. This person feels justified and has no empathy.

As they get closer to the truth there is a thrilling climax with possible heartbreak ahead for one of the team and someone puts their safely lessons to excellent use.

Totally riveting and hard to put down

Too many heroics

Oh why is the author turning Josie into a superhero? She tries to save a drowning girl, saves a kid from a burning house and performs more heroic feats in a few days than most people come across in a lifetime. And it’s all getting in the way of a very good plot. I like these characters but the heroics are just ridiculous.

Another steady progression.

If you have read the previous books then you know what to expect. The steady progression and development of the characters flows on. The case is once again twisted and intricate.

Still enjoyable

Still interesting and entertaining enough for me to continue listening and/or reading the series.