Devious Minds

By: Colleen Helme

Narrated by: Wendy Tremont King

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

It's been almost a year since a near-fatal gunshot wound left Shelby Nichols with the ability to read minds. In that time she's faced one problem after another. She's been shot at, framed for murder, and targeted by a serial killer, just to name a few. Now she's trying to help her lawyer husband win a murder trial that will enable him to become a partner in his law firm. Sounds easy, right? But nothing ever goes as planned when it comes to Shelby Nichols.

When special agent, Blake Beauchaine, shows up to collect a debt from Shelby, things get even more complicated, and Shelby is soon on her way to Paris. A routine meeting with a rogue agent reveals a sinister plot, putting Shelby into the cross-hairs of a known terrorist. Even worse, she doesn't speak French, so it seems her mind-reading abilities won't help her this time.

Things go from bad to downright dangerous for Shelby, especially since her usual guardians, Uncle Joey, and his hit-man, Ramos, are back in the states. Lost and on her own in the streets of Paris, can Shelby escape the cold-blooded killer in time to stop his devious plans, or will this be the end of the line for Shelby Nichols?

©2016 Colleen Helme (P)2016 Colleen Helme

Shelby Nichols gets involved in espionage in Paris

The Shelby Nichols Adventures protagonist is delightful and adorable. The series has just the right mixture of suspense and humor. Since being shot in the head by a bank robber one year ago Shelby can read minds. A homemaker with 12 and 14 year old children and a lawyer husband before she could read minds, Shelby now does private investigator work as part of her newly formed company Shelby Nichols Consulting. Her main customers are the local police department and a mob boss she calls Uncle Joey. She and Ramos who is Uncle Joey's enforcer and hit man have become rather close because he has saved her life on several occasions.

Devious Minds has two parts the first of which has Shelby helping her lawyer husband defend a woman accused of murdering her husband. Special agent Blake Beauchaine then invites Shelby to join him in Paris to help out on a case. The situation in Paris is interesting, exciting, and potentially deadly. Most people who know Shelby believe she has premonitions. In Paris the number who know she can read minds increases from 5 to 6.

This is Volume 8 in the 10 volume (so far) Shelby Nichols Adventures. Ive been binge listening to the series in order or 2 weeks while listening to other novels to make this series last as long as possible. The writing and story telling by author Colleen Helme is great and narration by Wendy Tremont King is just as good.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Another Awesome Shelby Adventure!

Another awesome heart racing Shelby adventure with lots of close calls!

Shelby heads to Paris with special agent, Blake, but she is unaware on how much trouble she will find herself in. However, once she is captured by a terrorist group, who is lead by the notorious "Cipher," she quickly realizes she's in serious danger, and doesn't know if she will get out of it this time. Almost everyone speaks and "thinks" in French, so her "mind-reading" skills are put to the test.

Cipher who is very clever, has never been seen by anyone, and hides within this terrorist group, even the co-terrorist do not know he's the leader. While Shelby is being held by these terrorist, she is able to listen to the thoughts of Cipher, and learns his true identity and his plans to blow up a political target.

Thanks to Uncle Joey sending Ramos to Paris to look after Shelby, she is rescued in the nick of time before the terrorist can harm her. Shelby, Ramos, and a French investigator set out to capture Cipher and put an end to his evil plans. They are able to deflect several of Cipher's attempts, and Cipher begins to wonder how Shelby is evolved and really wants her out of the picture

This was another edge of your seat story, with the typical humor you come to expect form Shelby.

Wendy Tremont King's performance as usual is awesome, and I really enjoyed her voice for the inspector.

Another five star adventure. "This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast dot com."

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

hard to put down and worth the listen

Any additional comments?

After a near fatal gunshot wound to the head almost a year ago, Shelby developed the ability to read minds. Since then, she has gotten herself shot at, framed for murder, targeted by a serial killer, and working part-time for mob boss, Joseph "The Knife" Manetto, aka Uncle Joey. When Shelby agreed to do a favor for CIA agent, Blake BoShane in order to protect Uncle Joey, she never imagined that that favor could be anything more than routine. While in France helping Blake with his case, a meeting with a rogue agent reveals a sinister terrorist plot. Shelby gets kidnapped only to be rescued by mob-htiman, Ramos. Now she and Ramos must face their deadliest challenge yet. Will Shelby and Ramos save France and themselves?

Narrator, Wendy Tremont King brings Helme's memorable characters easily to life. Her unique voice add flare and depth to the plot and engage the reader. The dynamics between Shelby, Ramos, Uncle Joey, and her husband, Chris are believable and easy to relate to. The author does a great job of distinguishing thoughts from external dialogue andaction scenes.. The plot is fast-paced, intense, and well written. Reader who are familiar with Shelby's escapades or are new to the series will have a hard time putting this book down. Recommended for those who enjoy humor, mystery, and adventure books.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

This book really worked for me

This book really worked for me, to the point that I’ve just nipped over to Amazon to buy book 1 in the series. I haven’t read or listened to any books in this series before now and I feel that this book could have been slightly enhanced if I knew the backstory a little better.

Shelby Nichols is a the main character of this series and I adore her – she’s the perfect blend of ordinary, the kind of woman who packs tissues and extra socks for every journey ‘just in case’ and extraordinary, she has connections to the mob and is flown out to Paris to help Special Agent Blake Beauchaine track down a terrorist. Obviously it’s better not to think too hard about how Shelby has ended up in this situation because it’s too fun to dwell on! She finds herself being kidnapped, attacked, generally shoved about a bit and then rescued by the smoking hot Ramos, the mob-hitman who suffers from a terrible case of unrequited love. The sexual tension between the two is pretty spicy, however, she does genuinely seem to love her husband so I’m not entirely sure where the author is going to go with this relationship and I’m a little frustrated on Shelby’s behalf.

I think it’s the things that make her ordinary in contrast to her abilities that really makes her work as a character, she’s likable, she loves her family and she gets scared when faced by terrorists and murderers rather than running in and saving the day on her own each time.

The one thing that I did find quite funny was that she makes a couple of references to being a mother but the children are barely mentioned throughout the entire course of the caper that is Devious Minds – she mentions her husband quite often and speaks to him on the phone while she’s away for a week in Paris but doesn’t seem to have much to do with the kids in this book at all. I assume that there’s a lot more of them in the other books otherwise I’m a little concerned for this fictional character’s maternal instinct…

Wendy Tremont King is a spectacular narrator and the audio production was of high quality, listening to her read this book was an absolute pleasure – she brought the characters and the story to life, I don’t think there would be another voice talent better suited to the character of Shelby. I would definitely listen to her work in the future, especially if it was another book in this particular series.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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20 of 24 people found this review helpful

Loved it!

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

YES! This series is a lot of fun, but I would recommend they start at the beginning of the series but this one is great!

What did you like best about this story?

It was Shelby in Paris, enough said! :)

What does Wendy Tremont King bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She really gives Shelby a voice, she is a great narrator and really does well with the quirkiness of this series.

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

Watch out Paris, here comes Shelby!

Any additional comments?

This series is absolutely so much fun and if you have not read it then you are really missing out on a great cozy series. The characters are great! Go grab book one now! :)

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Best book in the series yeah

I just can’t stop listening to these stories. As soon as one and I am ready for the next one. I love the characters, humor, adventure, and romance.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Entertainment at its best!

Often writers seem to run out of ideas by the time they get to the 5th or 6th book of a series. I can think of quite a few very famous series that crashed & burned out somewhere around book 5. This book was a fun ride & there wasn't a single moment that I wasn't entertained. In 30 seconds I'll be reading the next book in the series. Loving it!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Love! Love! Love!!!

This is a fun series. The story are interesting and the situations Shelby get into and her reactions are very entertaining!!!! Wendy Tremont King brings the character to life!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Love all the action

Wendy is a great narrator she always makes the book come to life. Spoiler alert*finally the kisser than waiting for.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Best ride so far

I loved every minute of this book. So much going on with Shelby dodging trouble again in the form of gun fire, bombs and torture. In amongst all this trouble there is humour too to lighten up the tone. Lots of new likable characters are introduced in the beautiful city of Paris. I loved the narrative of the french language; it added another dimension to the story. Wendy does a fantastic job with making sure each character stands out. Then add in Ramos. Chris sounds like a great husband, but Ramos is just a god really. Who wouldn't like to have him as your bodyguard. I can't wait to download the next one. This series has become a favourite and I can't listen to them fast enough.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Brilliant!

I loved it! Another great mystery for mind reading Shelby and uncle Joey's sexy right hand man Ramos. Wendy Tremont King did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life. I highly recommend!

You need to read a Shelby Nichols novel!!

What did you like most about Devious Minds?

Shelby Nichols is a brilliant main character. She's got a gift that I think some people would want but I guess we could all see the downside of as well. For a person with such incredibly bad luck she is very likable in all ways. Also a great story to help her shine! I loved that Shelby had some difficulties in using her mind reading because of the language barrier and that the author didn't decide that she would miraculously develop the ability to understand French, after all I think in English so everyone must construct thoughts in their native tongue or dominant language?

What other book might you compare Devious Minds to, and why?

I don't like to compare in case you don't like the books that I compare this too. It's a great mystery, crime solving based book with good characters and an interesting story!!

Which character – as performed by Wendy Tremont King – was your favourite?

Really good narration. A nice voice that propels the story along nicely and really makes Shelby interesting. The male characters are equally well done.

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

Yes. It's a really great book

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.