Hunted

By: Karen Robards

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, Cassandra Campbell

Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

'Twas the night before Christmas…and dozens of rich, influential hostages are trapped inside a sprawling lakefront mansion in New Orleans. The perp? Detective Reed Ware, model cop turned outlaw. After receiving a panicked call from Hollis "Holly" Bayard, a teenage street tough with a penchant for amateur sleuthing who stumbles upon the scene of a drug-deal-turned-murder, Ware finds his and his friend's lives in dire danger. The crime Holly witnessed could be the biggest police cover-up this side of New Orleans - and no one's talking.

Driven to desperate measures to uncover the truth, Ware stages a coup at a Christmas party for the New Orleans elite, including the mayor, the council chairman, the sheriff, and the superintendent of police, who just happens to be hostage negotiator Caroline Wallace's estranged father. Cool, calm, controlled. That's Caroline's reputation.

But when she's brought in to talk Ware off the proverbial ledge, she realizes no amount of false promises is going to placate this man, who looks even hotter than he did years ago when 17-year-old Caroline tried to seduce him. It was his duty to protect her family then. Now it's her turn…if she can think fast enough over the pounding of her heart. When Caroline becomes wrapped up in the drama, it's clear the sizzling tension she shared with Ware never let up. And the harder she tries to defuse the situation, the more she begins to wonder whose side she's really on.

©2013 Karen Robards (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Robards is back, minus the paranormal. Yay!

After "The Last Victim," I was afraid Karen Robards had left behind the formula that's worked so well for her: contemporary romantic suspense, not erotic but nicely spicy; a sort of Sandra Brown Lite. (I mean this as a compliment. I've long relied on both authors for fun, sexy reads with hot alpha heroes; if Robards doesn't delve as deeply as Brown into her characters' angst and the conflicts between them, that's not necessarily a bad thing when I'm looking for escapist fiction.

In "Hunted," an implausible but ultimately enjoyable premise sets the stage for the couple-on-the-run storyline: a "rogue" New Orleans cop takes the mayor and other bigwigs hostage, and winds up kidnapping the pretty hostage negotiator who had a crush on him when she was a teenager. There's chemistry between them, a bayou to hide in, a fishing shack with a single narrow bed, and one appealing side character who is conveniently moved aside by the plot just in time for things to heat up between H/h.

In other words, this is the Karen Robards I've relied on for fast, sexy suspense tales like Paradise County, Bait, etc. No fan of the paranormal, I was more than pleased to spend a credit on this enjoyable return to the genre Robards writes so well.

Nicely performed by male and female narrators, who alternate chapters as the book alternates between male and female points-of-view. The actress is quite good (she also narrates the audiobook of Gillian Flynn's brilliant noir novel, "Gone Girl." The actor is good as well, although I wasn't crazy about the way he voiced the female character. Both narrators do pretty well with hero Reed's N'awlins cajun accent. In contrast to the previous Robards' audiobook, "The Last Victim," these narrators sound like grown-ups. A huge relief.

More like this one, please, Ms. Robards. It's this kind of book, not a flirtation with paranormal romance, that will keep you on my auto-buy list!

it was okay....

I listened to this book - and it was okay.. I was not too happy that the girl cop who was kidnapped acted so stupid. -- I understand we were seeing things from her point of view but still.. f she made it to being a cop she could have been less whimpy.

all and all I liked it.

Good Robards, Fans!

If you could sum up Hunted in three words, what would they be?

Sexy, testy, determined. This is a simple story, nothing too deep. If deep is what you want, this is not it. This is a romance!

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

For those readers who are not familiar with this long time good author, she is a core romance writer who will give you a good story. Now if you want a true mystery, then this genre is not for you. There will be some stories that may give you more of a mystery than heat, but do not be disappointed if there is not as it is still a romance catagory.

Have you listened to any of MacLeod Andrews and Cassandra Campbell ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love MacLeod Andrews and this is my first CC listen. I own hundreds of audios and she is an AKA of another listen...she is good in this one. She could have read faster in the first 4 chapters, but that is because listeners want the mystery to unfold faster. This story is not about a mystery but the connection between two people who have an unfinished history. I have a couple of other listens to hear from each of these readers and I look forward to them. I will have to figure out what AKA name CC goes under as her male voice is familar.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did as it was good and I am a long time fan of KR. Try One Summer if you like this one, that is a classic of KR and is recorded by the late great Anna Fields.

Any additional comments?

I was happily surprised at this book.

Enough Already

The plot line was a good one and I enjoyed the characters. There were some good twist at the end.
However, way to much time was spent on the sexual and relationship angst. It was almost like authorbused it as a filler to make the story longer. I was starting to roll my eyes over Reid and Caroline's going on and on about how they wanted each other but just couldn't have a relationship.

steamy

this book is so hot it will set you on fire! Intense from start to finish, with great romance peppered in.

Hard to get through

I really enjoyed the storyline of this book, for the most part. I felt like the author droned on and on about the characters sexual tension. It went on so much that I started skipping through those parts. In a couple of spots, I could fast forward a full minute and a half while she still droned on and on about the topic. I get it. They are attracted to each other. You could probably shave two hours off this book if we took out those parts. The narrators voices and performances were good and I didn’t mind that part of it at all.

Dull

This was not Ms Robards' best. Not enough suspense. I kept wanting to say, just get it on. It took her forever for them to mate (smile). But I will keep reading/listening to her books because I know there are better ones out there.

Need more suspense along with the romance.

Great book

Another great book by Karen Robards. I love the suspense she has in her books. I loved the narrators. Just a great read.

Entertaining

Performers were really good, but male should have read the male parts and female should have read female parts. Every other chapter having the characters voices change was a bit irritating and confusing if you weren't paying close attention.

Not the best but not the worst either

Would you try another book from Karen Robards and/or MacLeod Andrews and Cassandra Campbell ?

Yes. Karen Robards has written a couple of my favorite books. She is definitely a goto author for me. And as for the MacLeod Andrews and Cassandra Campbell team go, I would listen to other books narrated by them. They did a good job with the characters. I'm pretty picky about narrators too. So, that means they were definitely better than most.

If you’ve listened to books by Karen Robards before, how does this one compare?

This one was good but not great. The story reminded me a lot of Walking After Midnight which is a favorite of mine. She wrote that one a long time ago and the audio is only available on cassettes. Which is too bad too because I would love to have that one in my library. That book was also about a cop that was being chased by the bad guys and bad cops and he had a kidnapped hostage along for the journey but it had much better story depth to it. I did feel like this one was as well written. I wouldn't mind the same basic plot so much except this story just seem to fall flat. Like it was rushed or something.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes. They did a good job

What would have made this romance irresistible?

I'm not sure. But if there had been more to the main character's relationship, that would have helped. I get that they already knew each other but she had been a teenager and it was a long time ago. There could have been a much better build up to saying "I love you" than simply going from 0-60 in 2 seconds.