Dead Center

Rookie Club Series, Book 1

By: Danielle Girard

Narrated by: Rachel Dulude

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Fifteen years ago, the Rookie Club began as a tight-knit band of female cops struggling for respect. Jamie Vail was one of them. So was Natasha Devlin, the woman Jamie caught in bed with her husband.

When Natasha Devlin turns up dead, Jamie can't bring herself to care. She's got enough on her plate, hunting a sexual predator who preys on female officers. He leaves them alive, but brutalized. But when the MO of the Devlin murder matches the MO of the perp in Jamie's case, she's brought in on the homicide investigation and back into the Rookie Club she has been avoiding since her husband's affair.

As more cops become victims, Jamie must confront her past and solve the murder of her ex-husband's lover before she becomes the killer's ultimate prize.

©2016 Danielle Girard (P)2018 Tantor

Well written and narrated detective mystery!

The Rookie Club series is very similar in concept to James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series in that female detectives are banding together for the benefit of the group's members. I listened to Book 2 in the series before Dead Center and found I liked One Clean Shot more. I'm a fan of the novels of Danielle Girard and I recommend this and her other detective novels.

Good listen if you expect mature themes/language

Obviously, this isn't a young adult book, so expect mature themes and language and you won't feel shocked when it comes. This series swears more than the previous I thought, but I loved the characters so much I was able to ignore it. I love the perspectives of multiple characters being jumped between, I love that the listeners hears more than one side of the different intertwined crimes and personal lives of the inspectors. I am eager to read the next in the series. If you like other Girard books, you'll like this one.

Great story and nar6

Loved the story, couldn't stop listening or reading. was shocked at the end of who done it

Another great book

I just started this series and it did not disappoint! I can't wait to read the rest. Great characters and great story.

Great read!

Danielle writes a wonderful book! It is a mixture of mystery,adventure and she through sin a hint of the softer side of cops! For me the murderer was a mystery to the end! I can’t wait to listen to the next book in the series! Rachel Dulude is on of the best storytellers I have listened to! She doesn’t sound like just a reader. She puts her heart into the storyline. Thank you

Subject Matter Not for Me

I listen to a lot of crime and police procedural type books. They are my preference. generally I am able to handle them quite well because there are an appropriate number of pick me up type details to counterbalance the generally gruesome topics. That's not really the case with this book, and I wasn't able to finish it because of that. None of the characters are likeable all of them have flaws that just compound the overall topic of graphic sexual battery and rape. I'll be returning this book and not continuing with the series.

How does a book like this get by editors?

I have never written a review before, but this book was so bad it drove me to do it. It was so bad I returned it before I’d even gotten through an hour of it. Blatant inconsistencies (she gets slammed to the ground, and is on her back, but then the rapist yells at her to get on the ground and shoves her down…again?); cliche and ridiculous writing (“if you answer these 60 questions about your rape, I’ll buy you a coke” — to a 28-year-old woman, not a 10-year-old); and robotic and indifferent narration. Ugh. How does something like this even get published?

narrator mispronounced all names from California

I'm from California & we hate it when you don't take a minute to look up pronunciations! just like tourists, thinking it makes them 'cool'

Good story yet poor narration

Rachel Dulude’s reading of Dead Center lacked appropriate emotion. Suspenseful attack scenes (there were many) were read with a deadpan tone. Avid Audible listeners know how essential the narrator is. I search for new listens by narrator now. A good story can be ruined by a poor narrator. I enjoy Danielle Girard books but will avoid Rachel Dulude in the future.

Dead Center

The book was interesting a few twists and turns which I like. It was read well. The characters were well developed. My problem is with the subject matter. I do not enjoy hearing about abuse and rape. That’s my problem.

Staccato Narration

The story is ok, but the reader read a line at a time rather than a sentence, with intonations and pauses in completely the wrong places. This is a shame as her voice should have been perfect for this tale.