Hard Rain

Rogue, Book 1

By: Irma Venter, Elsa Silke - translator

Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman, Steve West

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Chaos, murder, and a hint of sizzling romance descend on East Africa in this electrifying thriller of a mystery.

Journalist Alex Derksen's new assignment in Tanzania should be easy, but he soon finds himself on the wrong side of the news. It starts when he meets Ranna, a beautiful photographer with something to hide. Alex stopped believing in love a long time ago, yet here in the middle of East Africa, it's found him again.

Alex knows a thing or two about chaos - wherever he goes, it follows. When an IT billionaire washes up onshore after seasonal flooding, he finds himself at the center of an investigation with Ranna as the main suspect. It turns out she may have a good reason for hiding her past.

Wherever she goes, murder follows.

Alex should be used to these cat-and-mouse games, but this time it's different. Should he listen to his heart and help Ranna hide the bloody trail leading to her? Or should he use his head and run for his life?

©2012 Irma Venter (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2020 by Elsa Silke.

Enjoyable

Hard Rain at first confused me with the title. But as i listen the meaning became clear. The story i love it. I will listen again one day and read it also

GREAT❗

The story was excellent. The narrators were fantastic. I can't wait to be able to get the rest of Irma Venter's Alex series.

EXCELLENT LISTENING LOVED EVERYTHING

great story... performance. I'm ready to read the sequel now. good thriller. give it a try

Not your average love story

I enjoyed this book. Lots of things unknown, and it ends in a way that invites a sequel. Although I guessed the villain way before it was revealed, there were plenty of other mysteries that I didn’t guess beforehand. The characters are complex. I learned a little about Tanzania and South Africa. The narrators’ accents were varied and enjoyable. Overall, an enjoyable book.

mystery drama African style, sort of

Full of colonial characters who are working at journalism, policing and looking for trust. Pity the South African Afrikaans speakers were North American and the local color was bleached out of the performance. it wouldn't have been hard to get this right, so I wonder why it didn't matter?

Sequel Please

The ultimate bad guy was a bit easy to figure out, and I would have like more character background. Overall, it was good.

Good story

Took a few chapters to grab my interest but glad that I did. Good romantic suspense. Worth the listen. Ends in somewhat of a cliff hanger so now on to the next book.

Prnouciation

The ladies pronunciation of South African words are atrocious. Otherwise the story has some small gaps that may be overlooked as a whole it’s a well written book.

Nine Hours of Strange Intrigue

I was looking forward to an atmospheric mystery that included a lot about Africa. I was disappointed. The mystery kept me going until the end, but frankly, it was a let down. Too much drama and not enough real mystery to make me want to listen to the next book. I think the author wants to bait the listeners into a deep tale of intrigue, but really never delivers. Not many details about the country or customs, just a lot of needless sex and a woman who seems to mesmerize every man she comes into contact with. Ugh.

Abrupt ending

it was ok. I preferred the male narration over the female narration but in general love books that speak from multiple characters perspectives. the plot was interesting. I watch a lot of crime / murder mystery type stuff, and it was unique enough for me to pique my interest. the love at first sight and on again off again relationship was a bit hard to believe, but at least you wanted to try to believe it. voices used for narration could be significantly improved. I think it was just 2 voices for many characters, which was at times confusing.

Okay

Narration was irritating.
Storyline was okay but not as good as Deon Meyer which came up as a suggested alternative read
Might read the sequel instead.