In the Barren Ground

By: Loreth Anne White

Narrated by: Cara Gee

Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the Barrens, a vast wilderness in northern Canada bordering the Arctic Circle, night consumes every hour of the winter. Humans are scarce; ferocious predators roam freely. Locals say spirits do, too.

Rookie cop Tana Larsson doesn't mind the dark and quiet. Five months pregnant and hoping to escape the mistakes of her past, she takes a post in Twin Rivers, population 320. Maybe here she can find peace and community for her child.

But with her superior out of commission, Tana becomes the sole police officer in 17,500 square miles. One bitter night, she gets a call about the fatal wolf mauling of two students, and the only way to reach the remote scene is to enlist the help of the arrogant, irritatingly handsome Cameron "Crash" O'Halloran, a local bush pilot with a shady reputation for smuggling and a past cloaked in shadow.

When the macabre scene they uncover suggests violence much more sinister than animal, Tana must trust Crash if she wants to protect the town - and herself - from the evil that lurks in the frozen dark.

©2016 Loreth Beswetherick (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Strong beginning, OK ending , rough middle

I almost gave up on this book ,The beginning was decent and set up the mystery fairly well but it takes time to get used to the narrator because for the first half of the book she makes every character sound pissed off. Im not a fan of romance and this had a little too much for me also the storyline in general just gets too neatly intertwined in ways that seem implausible . The best parts and most action of the story happens at just about the last 2 1/2 hours. However, the author spent the last 15 minutes trying to wrap everything up too neatly ad then it got irritating again. The setting for the story was interesting. I think there may have been a setup for a sequel or spinoff but I will not read or listen to it. The narrator improves toward the end of the book when she doesn't make everyone sound so angry.

7 people found this helpful

Good plot, not sure about main character though

In the Barren Ground had a good plot, lots of suspense, but to be honest I had a hard time making it through to the end, mostly due to how the main character, Tana Larsson, was read. She’s a 24 year old constable who is the sole law enforcement for thousands of miles in northernmost Canada, is 5 months pregnant, and is called to the site of what is believed to be a horrific animal mauling of two scientists. The book follows her investigation into the deaths and of course further danger ensues. I had a really hard time discerning the different voices in dialogue. They all seemed to sound the same. Tana sounded like a 80 year old deep voiced chain smoker instead of a 24 year old young woman and I wonder if I was reading the book instead of listening if I would have the same impression. I don’t know but I may read it to see. In fact, although the narrator read well, the way she read the characters didn’t work for me. Any time the narrator read dialogue from Tana it came off as angry, bitchy, and way older than a 24 year old would sound. Oh well, could be just me. For the story alone it’s worth the read.

5 people found this helpful

Can't Stop Thinking About This Book

Any additional comments?

An amazing sense of place. So fully entrenched in Northern Canada. The characters, the weather, the land, the relationships, the backstories, the language, the plot. This is not a story put in the north, it is a story grown out of the north.

Perfect to listen to while I'm sweltering though my Texas summer walks. Even though I finished it 3 books ago, I keep thinking about it.

11 people found this helpful

Horrible narration..

As of this writing there are 89 4 and 5 star reviews and I have no idea how that came to be. Raj (a man) and Selena (a woman) sound just exactly alike, and there's no emotions, no nothing from Cara Gee. I can see this happening years ago when the narrator simply read the book, BUT this is 2016, time for narrators to know they have to sound like men and women both or they're not really narrators. I can't listen to this woman, it's no wonder she has only 2 books to her credit and the other book only has 1 review and she gave the narrator 3 stars, she's terrible. It doesn't matter if this is a free listen and free read if you can't stand the narration. If you want to listen to a great book by Loreth Anne White get The Slow Burn of Silence or In The Waning Light. You won't be disappointed with the narration. I left 3 stars for Overall and Story because I know it was probably a good book and I wanted to be fair to the author. Sorry, Ms. White.

20 people found this helpful

I almost gave up after the creepy opening scene,..

...but I'm glad I did not. This is my third suspense thriller by romance novel author Loreth Anne White with the others being in In The Waning Light which includes multiple extremely explicit sex scenes and The Dark Lure which is as much romance as suspense. In The Barren Ground shows maturity as it is a pure suspense thriller with some romance incidental to the story. It is a strong suspense thriller. Narration by actor Cara Gee comes as a surprise because this is the first book that I have listened to her narrate. My decision was between 3 and 4 stars.

26 people found this helpful

Great book under $8

Good listen. It's basically a murder mystery which turns out to be a serial murder mystery. The cop is a young cop, a Mountie really. She has had her problems and its looking for a fresh start in a remote community when 2 people are killed in an animal attack, or was it? She goes on to develop a love interest without really trying which complicates her life and solving the murders. It's a fun ride. I liked the geographic and cultural feel of the far north of Canada and the character of the young Mountie was appealing.

Cara Gee was good with the delivery of the story

12 people found this helpful

Terrible narrator-too annoying to even listen

Maybe I should have read the book but I enjoy a good book with a good narrator- this fell far short of that. Could not finish, had to give up after a few chapters because the voice of the narrator just drove me crazy. Too many great books out there with talented narrators to listen to should a poor performance

3 people found this helpful

Ho Hum.... Yawn

This was boring. Sad because it had potential. I made it about half way and then I just couldn't take anymore. The problem is that Loreth forces the story. The conflict does flow along natural lines, it feels forced. For a mystery to work it has to have finess, an aurora of believability, a sense of realism. The story started out OK, but lost it.

3 people found this helpful

excellent

This book was totally engrossing right from the start. I was annoyed with the performers voice at first then realized later on in the book that hers was the best voice for this character. I loved the storyline and the transformation of each character.

13 people found this helpful

Couldn't hold my interest.

I would have liked to have had a little more action and suspense but this one just couldn't hold my interest. Too many loose ends at the end as well. Part of the problem was, I think, the reader. Not enough difference between the characters made it more difficult to develope any real flow. Maybe it was just not what I was expecting but I cannot recommend this book.

2 people found this helpful