• Dead Weight

  • Lizzy Gardner, Book 2
  • By: T.R. Ragan
  • Narrated by: Kate Rudd
  • Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,830 ratings)

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Dead Weight  By  cover art

Dead Weight

By: T.R. Ragan
Narrated by: Kate Rudd
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Publisher's summary

Twenty-one years ago, Carol Fullerton's car was found abandoned by the side of a California highway. The teenager hasn't been seen or heard from since, and the case has long since gone cold. Now Carol's mother is dying. But before she draws her last breath she wants to know, once and for all, exactly what happened to her daughter....

Six months ago, Diane Kramer emptied her savings account and vanished. According to her sister, Andrea, the only clue to her whereabouts is her obsession with a charismatic weight-loss guru known for his unorthodox methods. Now Andrea fears Diane's body issues may have cost her more than she bargained for....

Kidnapped and terrorized as a teenager by a serial killer, Sacramento PI Lizzy Gardner knows better than anyone that letting go is easier said than done. The police have had their chance to save these women. Now it's Lizzy's turn.

©2012 T. R. Ragan (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Dead Weight

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The Lizzy Gardner series is addictive

Dead Weight is Book 2 of Theresa Ragan's six novel Lizzy Gardner series. The series is best read in order, which I did not do. Book 6, when Lizzy leaves the private detective business, seems to complete the series. That is unfortunate because Lizzy and her weird group of cohorts are really interesting as are her cases.

Kate Rudd, who narrates the entire series, is one of the best.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Don't Bother

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

More organized plot, it was a bit to all over the place. T.R Ragen did such a great job with Abducted but lost a lot of steam in this book. Jared one of the main charecters in the first book was barely even a part of this one and when he was it wasn't in a way you would think or enjoy.

Has Dead Weight turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, Still love mysteries and the first book in this series.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kate Rudd’s performances?

Sure, she does a good job at the different style of voices.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Triple threat

This is actually three crime thrillers in one. There’s two missing person investigations and a third story involving Lizzy and her friends moving past their victimization. You really need to have read book one to have an appreciation for that last plot. Also, listening to the first book helps to solidify who Lizzie, Jessica, and Haley are because there are tons of female characters once you add in the two missing gals, the female suspects, and multiple mothers.

The payoff for paying attention is a taught trio of stories. The pressure builds and some might find the final hours especially triggering for violence against girls. I found this raw and and riveting.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good Series - but has a lot of room for improvemen

Any additional comments?

One of the things that I think that could make this series a tad bit better would be for Lizzie to NOT jump out of her car and try to confront anyone she thinks is following her. When she does this I just have to roll my eyes thinking that anyone who had been abducted and would not open her door without her glock in hand would NOT be getting ready to open a stranger's car door just to find out why they were tailing her.While it is a little bit disconcerting to have multiple cases in one book - it is realistic in the one a PI would work. But you can't make any money if the bad guy is always the one hiring you.
This is a good book and has some very realistic characters in it. Haley and Jessica are very believable in the way they handle trauma - I'm very glad that Haley stopped short in her seeking of revenge.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Typical but Good

If you could sum up Dead Weight in three words, what would they be?

Good Not Great

What did you like best about this story?

It moved fairly quickly.

Which character – as performed by Kate Rudd – was your favorite?

Hailey - I wish there was more Hailey.

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

Dying to be thin?

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

keeps you listening

Would you consider the audio edition of Dead Weight to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

It's a pretty good mystery.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This is the second book I've listened to in the series. I do enjoy the books, but the reader can be a bit distracting at times. It's like she's trying to read to a five-year old at times.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Sitting? That's the whole point of audiobooks, so we don't have to sit.

Any additional comments?

I like Kate Rudd. I just with she would relax a little in her reading. Sometimes it's like she's trying to read to a child.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not as good as the first, but still worth a listen

I had no sooner finished book 1, Abducted, when I bought books 2 and 3. I liked this book, but not as much as the first.

I multi-task while I listen, and change the type of books I read depending on my activity and need to concentrate on the task vs. the book. This book required a little more attention, particularly in the beginning where you get the set up of the two plot threads.

While some readers found the book disjointed because of the two stories, I did not. It seemed perfectly reasonable that a PI would work on multiple cases simultaneously, especially when she has other employees. However, I did have to go back and remind myself which secondary characters were in which thread at one point because I hadn't committed it well enough in my head the first go-round. I bought both the book and audio, so this was easy to do.

The book is not equally divided between the two stories, and does follow the "dead weight" thread more heavily, especially toward the end. There was some interesting character development in this book, building upon those characters of the first book. This continues into book 3, and as the way book 3 left it, I assume in book 4, but there are no major cliff-hangers.

While this is a stand-alone mystery, the character development is not. It's best to read book 1 first and then enjoy the next several in the series.

I like this author and will look up other novels she has written under TR as well as Theresa Ragan.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Better than the 1st

Surprised to find this was better than the 1st book. Narrator still leaves much to be desired though.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great reads. Listens

Engaging stories with a good narrator. Suspenseful and at time I’m saying NO. like the style

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very fast moving and exciting

Great narrative. Kept me engaged and interested throughout the story. A very electrifying emotional presentation.

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