Don't Even Breathe

Maggie Novak Thriller, Book 1

By: Keith Houghton

Narrated by: Karen Peakes

From the bestselling author of Crash comes a riveting thriller rife with murder, misdirection, and ghosts from the past.

Florida homicide detective Maggie Novak has seen hundreds of brutal murder cases, but when she is called out to investigate the charred remains of a young woman, in what appears to be a Halloween prank gone wrong, she is confronted with a twenty-year-old secret. The body is formally identified as that of school counselor Dana Cullen, but a distinguishing mark makes Maggie look again. She believes it is the body of her school friend Rita, who perished in a fire twenty years ago.

Maggie’s hunt for the truth behind the murder takes her back to a cruel high school trick she’s desperate to forget. And when another body turns up, Maggie realizes she too may be the target of a sinister plot creeping toward its final act.

Maggie needs emotional distance to do her job, but she’s so close to this case that she can’t even breathe. Will Maggie be able to uncover the truth of who wanted Rita dead? Or will her past mistakes catch up with her first?

©2019 by Keith William Houghton. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Loved

I have read this book a few times. It is intriguing. Each time I read it, it pulled me in.

Another great book

I look foward to reading more from this series amazing author a definate must read.

Great thriller!

Not just another whodunnit, but twists that were unexpected. Will read the next in the series for sure.

Entertainung Read

This is the first book I've read vy Keith Houghton. The story caught my attention very quickly in the beginning and held my it throughout the story. I wrongly guessed who the killer was and was pleasantly surprised when the author revealed the full story.

I recommend this book.

No. Just no.

Disappointing. Judging from the author’s other work I was expecting much more. The story dragged from bump to a great big hole where it lost me forever.

There was far too much telling and not near enough showing. Plus Maggie was too dim witted to be a homicide detective. It took her far too long to get to the witness protection answer. All her internal thoughts and theories were scooby dooish.

Another thing that irritated was her instantly knowing whose body that was burned by looking at The ID when it had been 20 years since she’d see this person.

At first it was all love and warm fussy feelings when Maggie thought of her friend. Tinged by grief of course. Then out of blue, matter of factly, there’s another friend who was rather awkwardly brought into the story by her father (who hadn’t been in the story prior) and that Maggie has bullied Rita.

My mind wandered at that point. Suddenly the teenaged boy was back in focus, there was an altercation, dad kidnapping, homophobia and oh yeah her friend still may or may not be dead.

I had to keep rewinding til I finally gave up.

Pretty good and enjoyable.

I liked this book and it kept me a guessing. Nothing too ridiculous or unbelievable. I enjoyed the police perspective, but then again, I do like crime novels. Not so much a psychological thriller as much a mystery and crime thriller. I liked how the story progressed and how the evidence lead to new leads. It was believable and engaging. I would highly recommend.

Good story, phenomenal narration

A really intriguing listen. About halfway through I had figured out the plot twist at the end, but still didn’t want to stop listening. A very engaging, interesting story.
The true standout of this was the narrator. To date, this is the best, most cohesive, well read audible book I’ve come across and I can only hope Audible continues to use this standout, phenomenal narrator.

Great book

Overall this was a great book. the story was easy to follow and characters were likable.

Tired premise

This book features a trope I despise in detective fiction : the investigator herself becomes the target of the perpetrator. (Not a spoiler - her intimate involvement with the case is obvious from the book's second scene.) C'mon - just solve a mystery!

Gripe #2 Lazy ending - the whole mystery is revealed in a recounting of a character's interview/confession to the police, rather than through action of the plot. Perhaps the author was on deadline and needed to wrap it up.

On principal, I give any book I can bring myself to finish a minimum of three stars. That seems about right here.

Great read!

Couldn’t wait to listen to this each day! LOVE Karen Peakes as a narrator! The story started and ended with my full attention. You’ve gotta read it!