Every Silent Thing

The Claire Deveraux Series, Book 1

By: Alan Brenham

Narrated by: Molly Secours

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Shy and deaf, 23-year-old Claire Deveraux has worked hard to land her dream job as a foreign service officer at the US Embassy in Paris. Yet her idyllic life is shattered when she finds a woman lying on the restroom floor dying from a gunshot wound. The dying woman utters three words to Claire and conceals a thumb drive in Claire’s pocket. The items are keys to the location of proceeds from a bank robbery. The killer, certain Claire now has sole possession of those items, must find her, recover the code words and the drive, then kill her before she can solve the puzzle and recover the money. Knowing he is determined to find and kill her, Claire must do whatever she can to keep her heart beating.

©2023 Alan Behr (P)2023 Alan Behr

Three French words, a flash drive, and a dead woman.

Three French words, a flash drive, and a dead woman. That’s more than Claire expected out of her day photographic the Louvre, but it’s the strong kick off to author Alan Brenham’s book “Every Silent Thing.” And yet, that’s not even the most exciting part of this read. It’s the family dynamics and messes her family members find themselves in that make this such a speedy read.

Claire Deveraux works for the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France. Originally from Texas, she has an identical twin sister and twin brother, a family of adopted triplets. Claire though, lives a life of silence. Deaf, with the ability to lip read and sign, she lives every day extra aware in her silent surroundings. Being hunted by the Louvre killer is enough for any single woman in a foreign country, but add to that the trouble her sister, Megan, finds herself in and Claire is increasingly in danger.

From the other side of the world Megan watches her boyfriend get shot to death, stealing the heisted diamonds, and running from the murderers. With nowhere else to turn, Megan buys a one-way ticket to France. Dragging her identical twin into her decisions can prove to be a fatal flaw as she tries to outrun her mistakes.

I love a strong female lead. Add in a disability and representation for those that are deaf or hard of hearing and “Every Silent Thing” was an instant draw. Author Alan Brenham does a fantastic job opening readers’ eyes to the world Claire navigates, her communication frustrations and even the loneliness she feels being unable to communicate outside of text or pen to paper. Furthermore, I loved Brenham’s back and forth, chapter by chapter, from hunter to hunted. This rotating point of view added to the intrigue, suspense, and thrill of the chase.

As Claire tries to escape with her own life from the Louvre killer, Megan is in her own cat and mouse chase, while their brother Boyd works to keep the family together, all while their adopted father back in Texas fights his own battles with cancer. The finale of this hunted thrill ride comes together in a way readers will never see coming. Brenham weaves so many important, realistic, challenging, and eye-opening dynamics into this first book of The Claire Deveraux Series, brace yourself as the series continues