Human After All

By: Chris Wendel

Narrated by: Matthew Berry

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Every day for Becker Gray is a struggle to keep himself from collapse, and the best way he's discovered to do that is to hide from his past, his guilt, and his pain. He's been known to overthink, overdrink, and under-sleep. His job as a detective in the major crimes division affords him the luxury of keeping his mind off his tragic personal life, being too busy to drink, and making good use of the time he's not sleeping. And this kidnapping case is another great opportunity to avoid his life.

That is, until he identifies too much with the victim.

Valerie Hardy was terrorized as a child. As a result, her protective parents forced her into an existence of isolation and detachment - just as Gray had framed his own life. When the man returns after 10 years to terrorize Valerie again by abducting her, Gray must figure out what's happened before the kidnapper fulfills his promise to kill her. Yet, in the process, Gray collapses, losing control of himself and, briefly, even reality. Worse, during his lapse of self-control, the sadistic kidnapper turns his wicked attention to Gray.

©2017 Chris Wendel / Holden Publishing, Inc. (P)2017 Chris Wendel / Holden Publishing, Inc.

Excellent

This is a fantastic gritty detective novel
The idea and motives of the kidnappers was very original
Matthews narration was great
Can’t wait for the next Becker gray audiobook highly recommended
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Reels you in and hooks you!

This book was really good. Well written. It had me guessing. I was not sure about the storyline but the twists and turns made it well worth the read. The narrator did an excellent job with the different characters voices! Well done all around. I would listen to another Becker Gray story.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Human After All, audio book review

I enjoyed Chris Wendel's book. It only took me a week to finish the audio version it which is amazing for me being a mom of four. The author builds a good story and keeps your interest all the way through untill the very end, I could not wait to finish the book. The narrator Matthew Berry does an excellent job. He is easy to listen to and helps draw you into the story. He has a good range of character voices that helps the book flow from one character to the next making it easy to listen to the story and forget about your surroundings.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

this book was given to me at my request for review

loved this book couldn't stop listening to it. enjoyed hearing about the way the young girl took charge of her life and called out the guy who had her imprisoned in her parents home all her life

I dare you to put it down once you start.

First, I have to start off by stating that I got this book free of charge in exchange for a review, but as I always state, this does not in any way impact my review. My reviews are always honest and my own.

I’m a huge fan of mystery and suspense and I read them all the time. Unfortunately, after a while, many of them start to feel the same, like many authors (especially new ones) are using the same recycled plot over and over again. But I like trying out new authors and thought the premise of “Human After All” sounded interesting enough, and I immediately liked Wendel’s writing style. But while I fully admit I didn’t have the highest expectations going in…well, consider me blown away! I read “Big Flies” in a few short nights, quite a feat considering I have no free time! Chris Wendel is a natural thriller/suspense writer I think, and I was hooked in by the way he weaved so many interesting characters and twisted individual plotlines together to create a wholly addicting story that I couldn’t put down until the final, surprising conclusion. It was really fast-paced with snappy dialogue and super short chapters that were free from many clichés that riddle this genre (except for just a forgiven few…). I was curious to see how this would all work out in the end, and I wasn’t at all disappointed, even though it’s not really how you expect it to end – but it works for the spirit of the story. Felt professionally executed (great editing!!). Recommend for fans of mystery/suspense/drama.

All it would take is some WD40.

Five young girls, aged about eight years and !living in different parts of the country, each received a white envelope containing a note which seemed to threaten their lives. Shocked and afraid, the parents of the children moved or hid their families away. The author of the notes was not found. After ten years, one of the girls who had once loved to roam the countryside taking photographs, felt trapped under the close parental supervision, as if her life had ended with the arrival of the letter. Then Valerie disappeared.

This original mystery thriller is securely grounded in the characters encountered, rather than in the crime itself. Primarily, the search for Valerie is conducted by two detectives, Parker and Gray, and it is as much their story, and their relationship with the past, and the press, and their expectations of what might be happening as it is a police procedural a tracking of an abductor, of Valerie and her family and of the concept of safety itself. Quite brutal on occasion, this whole is a remarkable in depth picture of a segment of people, place and time. Quite brilliant. There are also numerous numerous situations.
Narration by Matthew Berry is clear, well articulated and with good intonation, but calmly presented, no vocal fireworks to add thrills to the reading, making the impact of the text that much more dramatic. There is a truthful feel to the whole story, the characters individually growing in personality and reality as the book progresses and the impact each makes on the reader will not quickly be forgotten.

My thanks to the rights holder of Human After All, who, at my request via Audiobook Boom, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy. It was a delight and I look forward to further books by author Chris Wendell. Recommended to all who enjoy intelligent mystery thrillers.