Cold Black Earth

By: Sam Reaves

Narrated by: Alice St. Clair

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

When Rachel Lindstrom fled from her rural hometown in Western Illinois to join the State Department and see the world, she never expected to return with her life in tatters. But after the horrors of war and a painful divorce, the only place where she can rebuild is the town she once escaped.

At home, however, there is little comfort. Her brother, still reeling from his wife's suicide, struggles to run the family farm and handle a hell-raising son. Rachel's arrival also draws a pair of rival suitors: her brother's handsome friend and a rough-hewn sheriff's deputy who pined for her in high school. Romance is the last thing on Rachel's mind, but a little comfort would be nice - except for the complications.

When a deranged killer escapes from a local prison, the far-flung farmsteads go on high alert - especially when the bodies start turning up. And in a county where the miles outnumber the people, it soon becomes clear that the madman is close behind Rachel.

©2015 Sam Reaves (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

Pretty Good

This is the first Sam Reaves book I have read. It was pretty good. I liked the narration too.

not the best narrator choice

Story was ok. Narrator made the character sound whiney and old. All the men sounded like dofuses. Story probably would've been better read or by a different narrator.

Could Black Earth

Kept my attention all the way through. A lot of trying to figure it out. All in all, I read it all night.

Really disappointed

One of my first Audible books. The narrative was interesting, but a bit repetitive. But the two things that really drove me crazy were the narrator and the ending. The narrator has a habit of emphasizing the wrong words in a sentence or overemphasizing too many words. I found this extremely distracting. It also illustrated to me how important the narrator is in interpreting an audible book. Although I enjoyed most of this book, the ending seemed so contrived and out of left field, that I was not even interested in the unraveling and explaining of the story in the final chapters. I do love Audible though!

Good suspense

I'm excited to have found a new suspense writer. And the narrator is good too. I'll be purchasing more of Sam Reaves's books to listen to.

meh so so

nice twist but seriously, the story could have been told in 1/3 of the time. A LOT of whining and pity-partying made by the main characters, who were fairly one-dimensional. every conversation had an 'I'm sorry' which got tiresome.

Wonderfully read!

Enjoyed the story, but have to admit it was the narrator who kept me waiting to hear more! Can't wait to hear more books narrated by Alice St.Clair!