Malevolent

Shaye Archer Series, Book 1

De: Jana DeLeon

Narrado por: Julie McKay

Emma Frederick bolts upright in bed, pulse racing. It must be a bad dream.

Except it’s not.

Crrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaakkkkkkk.

The sound of the loose step sends her body into overdrive, and she rushes for the secret room behind the wall. The screech of old hinges echoes through the house as he enters her bedroom.

He starts whistling.

Three blind mice. Three blind mice.

She slaps a hand over her mouth, stifling her scream.

He’s coming for her, but that can’t be.

She killed him last month.

©2015 Jana DeLeon (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Somewhat entertaining

The storyline wasn’t too bad, narration somewhat lacking. The constant overuse of two phrases became quite annoying. She nodded/he nodded and she blew out a breath/he blew out a breath.

Surprised!

I love Jana DeLeon’s writing. Her previous books were so entertaining, I loved the humor and the way she developed her characters, but these books are another level. I’m currently on book 4 and I am in for the ride. And being from Louisiana I am enjoying the local names and feel of the books.

Gripping and Suspenseful!

This was a riveting mystery. I have read all of Jana DeLeon cozy Miss Fortune series. There is nothing cozy about this mystery.

From the summary you know the back story for Shaye Archer. She shows compassion, determination, intelligence and a few times stupidity, which I excused. The plot centers around the inability of the police to deter a crime without proof of any wrong doing.

Emma Frederick, killed her husband David. Now she is being stalked by him. Since she cannot prove it is him, or that someone broke in her home, the police cannot do anything. In addition, her case is handled by a lazy detective who does not want to pursue the case.

Shaye had a traumatic experience. She was fortunate in receiving all the psychological help and love to flourish in her life. From her experience she becomes a private investor determined to find answers for victims. What she did not expect for her first case, is a stalker case of this magnitude. Unlike many stories where the protagonist’s trauma is wrapped into the case, this does not happen here. Her experience with evil made her supportive of others.

The mystery is compounded because the husband seemly does not have a past. The psychopathic stalker increases his harassment to Emma and adds Shaye to the list to isolate Emma. His actions make Shaye more determine to find evidence for the police to take the case.

David had an obscure background; no siblings, parents, or friends. With relentless searching, Shaye pieced together his past. His abused childhood was fertile for him to become a deranged adult. But there was also the question of what happen when he returned from Iraq to turn him into a killer.

There are gruesome acts of violence and suspense which will keep you riveted to the story. There were a few procedure errors that made me scream. *** spoiler ***
• The security guard, who was a former police officer, walks Emma to her car. When they arrived, there were 3 blind mice near her car. That was the perfect time to call the police. He hurriedly forced Emma into her car and took pictures of the mice. He did not call the police!
• When Emma had a chance to leave town, she returns home to get here passport and her mother’s jewelry. How stupid! Shaye would have done that for her. This is that classic cliché story line when the survivor run back into the haunted house.

DeLeon does an excellent job of providing twist and turns to mislead us. Her ending came so far out of left field, there was no way I could have be predicted. I read the Kindle edition. I am glad the complete series will be available on audible.

Outstanding!

Everything I've read by Jana DeLeon has been laugh-out-loud funny, but this series starter is totally different! The thought and effort that went into planning this novel is above and beyond. The characters were very well defined and believable. The last minute twist to the plot took me completely by surprise! I can't wait for the next novel in this series. I'm hooked!

*sigh*

This is book 1 of the Shaye Archer series.

Ok....This was not a bad book. This was not a great book. This was just an ok book. But......I see potential. There are a lot of people that seem to really love this series so I'm hopeful that it gets better. There were some roll your eyes cliches, but it ended up being a fairly good story. I'll be honest, i was VERY surprised at who the bad guy was. Very surprised. I am going to continue to book #2 with my fingers crossed that it gets better. I just have a feeling that's what i need to do.

Narrator: Since this is book #1 of a 7 book series that has the same narrator throughout, it's not going to do me a bit of good complaining about the narrator. She wasn't awful. Well....she was actually pretty good except for one VERY ANNOYING thing....She had a whiny lilt to her voice at the end of EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE. but other than that, she was great. Her different character voices were spot on.