Desert Heat

By: J. A. Jance

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

A cop lies dying beneath the blistering Arizona sun - a local lawman who may well have become the next sheriff of Cochise County. The police brass claim that Andy Brady was dirty, and that his shooting was a suicide attempt. Joanna Brady, his devoted wife and mother of their nine-year-old daughter, knows a cover-up when she hears one...and murder when she sees it.

But her determined efforts to hunt down an assassin and clear her husband's name are placing Joanna and her surviving family in harm's way - because in the desert, the one thing more lethal than a rattler's bite...is the truth.

©1993 J. A. Jance (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

INTERESTING BUT NOT SPECIAL

Since I was familiar with several of the Joanna Brady series, I enjoyed listening to the book that began the series. I enjoyed the book, but wouldn't want to listen to it a second time.

Meet Joanna Brady

I really like J. A. Jance. I enjoy her stories and I like the style she uses to tell them. Of the 3 main series that Jance wrights I like Joanna Brady the most although I like her other series as well. The biggest short coming of this book is that it's to short. That's not to say that Jance didn't tell the entire story in this book because she did its just that I would have enjoyed a 16 hour book for twice as long as I enjoyed an 8 hour book. Still in all the main purpose of this book was to launch the Joanna Brady series and this book does accomplish that.

Hang in there gets better

The story is good. The narration starts out sounding like a robot but ends up good.

Great Book!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, since it was recommended to me I feel like I should continue!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the rest in this series!

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

Pretty much! It definitely kept me guessing!

great story

great book. loved it. will recommend to anyone who likes the audible style and has the time to listen.

Trite story, sub-par narrator

I kept feeling as if I had read this book before - many of the pivotal scenes seem to have been "borrowed" from other books in this genre. Several critical plot points rely on hotels, hospitals, airlines, etc. revealing information about their customers. I had to check when the book was written (1993) because this is just not done. It may have happened occasionally in 1993 but I seriously doubt it was standard practice.

None of the characters were the least appealing or likeable to me. The main character - Joanna - was the best of the lot, but her mother and her daughter pushed me beyond the point of tolerance. The mother's conversion at the end, after continuing her badgering judgements when her son-in-law's death was fresh, was not credible.

The narrator was OK during the narrative sections f the book, but terrible at dialogue. The absolute worst was the daughter, Jenny, who sounded like a nasal whiny brat, no matter what she was talking about. In many instances the text described the tone of the character ("slowly," "in a hushed voice," "thoughtfully") but I do not think the narrator changed her characterization a single time. If she was unable to adapt to the book, she should have simply read it all as narrative, as other narrators have done successfully.

I will not be listening to other books by this narrator or this author.

Rereading

Enjoying this series for the second time. Great characters not the best narrative hope it improves

I love the Joanna Brady series thus far.

I like the family element of the series. In Desert Heat specifically, you have a woman who doesn't know how how strong she is until her inner strength is put to the test by the murder of her husband, leaving he a single parent. She's discovering who she can count on and to what extent.

Hooray for J.A. Jance

I liked the story and the characters. Can't wait to start the next book. The narrator was perfect.

Great Read

I liked the way the family managed the death of their loved one. I liked the way the aspirator died.