Downfall + Random Acts

A Brady Novel of Suspense

By: J. A. Jance

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Downfall

It's late August, and Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady has never been busier. Her daughter, Jenny, is heading off to college, her rambunctious five-year-old son is about to start kindergarten, and a new baby is on the way. Joanna is also coping with the emotional aftermath of sudden and unexpected deaths in the family. To keep her job as the top law officer in this beautiful town in the Arizona desert, she's also got to mount a successful campaign for the upcoming election - a battle that won't be easy thanks to a tenacious local newspaper reporter who enjoys stirring up trouble.

The sheriff's life is about to get even more complicated when a puzzling new case hits her department. The bodies of two women have been found at the base of a nearby peak - two vastly different women with seemingly no connections to link them. As Joanna and her team methodically hunt down answers, they begin to uncover a knotty web of sordid secrets and evil lies - clues that take the valiant sheriff down a winding and dangerous road that leads shockingly close to home...and close to a desperate and determined killer.

Random Acts

From New York Times best-selling author comes an all-new novella in which Sheriff Joanna Brady and investigator Ali Reynolds join forces to solve a crime that has hit dangerously close to home.

Sheriff Joanna Brady has a lot on her plate - she is up for reelection as sheriff, she's pregnant with her third child, and her eldest is packing up to leave for college. Then Joanna is woken in the middle of the night by a call reporting a motor vehicle accident. Her mother and stepfather's RV ran off the road at high speed and hit the pillar of an overpass.

Something about the accident seems suspicious, though, and when Joanna gets a call from Ali Reynolds, a journalist turned investigator, she accepts her offer to help. They come up with a plan to find out who was responsible...even if that person is not the villain they'd expected.

©2016 J. A. Jance (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Out of Order!

This was the normal excellent J A Jance writing but I thought the presentation was a little strange. I actually already had Downfall in my library when I purchased this duo. I do not believe the fact that it was already in my library showed up when I made the purchase. At least If it did, I missed it. Jance is always good for a second read so that wasn't a huge problem. What I can't understand is the order they were put in since the action in Random Acts precedes Downfall. I also question its promotion as a combined Joanna Brady/Ali Reynolds novel since Ali Reynolds was mentioned only about three times and was nowhere near a main character. Still great Jance!!!

Downfall & Random Acts

These are very good reads and listens. However, Random Acts should be read first or the reader knows the plot before it's read.

warning the story should be read AFTER the novel

Review I was very happy when I bought this audiobook because it included the novel as well as the novella for the price of one credit. And then ...

This is the best novel in the series in my opinion. Sheriff Brady must face a tremendous loss and some resulting guilt. She has to solve the crime that preceded the loss, and is doing all of this in the same year that she sent her daughter off to college for the first time. (That is an event that causes most moms some grief too, as I can attest.) She has Butch with her form much of the book which is a good thing because she is away from home and the rest of her support system. All of it is handled with more depth than I have seen in any of the previous books. I found it very real and beautiful.

My biggest complaint is this. The novella is after the novel on the recording (was it published after the book? I need to check on that) but it occurs before the book. These books are chronological up until now and this really bugged me.

However, maybe I am wrong, because I will say that I kind of liked the abruptness of learning about the tragedy right up front in the novel as it felt real and appropriate. It is how we would actually experience it. The call or knock on the door that changes our life.

Great story

The only criticism I have is that Random Acts should be read before Downfall. Both stories are great.

2 very personal stories for Joanna Brady

I enjoyed these 2 stories as they are well developed and complex, but I agree with another reviewer who said Random Acts should be heard before Downfall. If you go to the end of chapter 47 (which shows up as 48) at 2 hours and 11 minutes, you can listen to Random Acts first.
It’s ok out of order but I leave it to you. These are both much more likely to bring tears to your eyes. Enjoy.

Good but chronologically in the wrong order

The only issue I had with with the 2 books is that they were in the wrong order.

Titles should have been reversed!

The first book, Downfall, occurs after the novella, Random Acts. They are both good but should be sold and listened to in order.

Start with chapter 49 for Random Acts.

books are great but in wrong chronological order. start with chapter 49 for Random Acts. Then go back to Chapter 1 for Downfall. This will make the most sense.

Another great book

I love the narrator and again she does a great job of reflecting the Joanna Brady and I have come to admire

Story is out of sync

This is a package of tow stories. First one details the funeral of Joanne Brady’s mother. The second one details her mother’s murder. Doesn’t this appear backwards.