Mother Dear

A Thriller

By: Nova Lee Maier, Jozef van der Voort - translator

Narrated by: Karen Peakes

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

There’s only one thing worse than doing the unthinkable: what you’re willing to do to hide it.

Helen lives a decent, uncomplicated life. Satisfied in her career, she’s raising three happy teenagers, and her family has the most envied house on the street. Admittedly, she’s growing just a little disenchanted with her marriage to her workaholic husband, Werner. But that’s nothing she can’t fix. Then one day Helen comes home to something completely unexpected that threatens to shatter her carefully cultivated world. 

For disaffected, young petty criminals Ralf and Brian, it was a scheme to make some cash: a quick home invasion. The targets they’ve chosen are Helen and Werner. Just as planned, Brian disappears into Helen and Werner’s house. And he never comes out again.

But Helen’s nightmare is just beginning. She can’t possibly imagine how much worse it can get or just how far she’ll need to go to protect her family.

©2015 Nova Lee Maier; 2018 translation copyright Jozef van der Voort (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

The summary of this book sounded good

Too bad that was the only thing good about this book. This story could have been told in 2 hours but instead it drags on for 9. There is nothing important that you need to know that would take an extra 7 hours. There was zero suspense and it was very predictable. You basically figure out what happens about half way through the book and then spend the last half of the book waiting for something else to happen just to find out that you didn’t need to finish it because you already new the ending. It’s a very basic plot… something bad happens. Instead of doing what any normal person would do, the characters do the opposite and spend the majority of the book kicking themselves for not doing what they wanted to do in the first place. Meanwhile, all that time spent listening to them freaking out was useless b/c it doesn’t add to the plot in any way. I hate to be so harsh. I think I am just shocked at the reviews. I know it has not been reviewed by a ton of people but the majority of the reviews were really good. Some reviews mention that it was “gory” or “not for the faint of heart”. Did I listen to the same book? I didn’t find anything in the book to be that intense at all or maybe I just need a break from this genre

Great story albeit far fetched

I really enjoyed this audio book. The performance was one of the best I’ve heard in a long time. If you can put past the fact that some of it is a stretch to far to believe then you will enjoy it too. Had me interested from the start a real sit in you vehicle and drove a little slower just to hear more book. I must say at times I was yelling out loud “don’t do it!” “What are you thinking” and certainly I couldn’t believe anyone would get away with any of it. Nor would I of made many of the decisions myself!! A must read in my opinion

Dear Oh Dear.....

DEAR Oh DEAR......I would have loved to have given MOTHER DEAR a 5-star review.

WHY? The book's storyline was very, very compelling and the narration was superb.

I am giving this book 4 stars, however, because the beginning of the book was very confusing and I initially had a difficult time following what was going on and who was saying what. The book shifts between two sets of characters and although everything became clear as the book progressed, I did find the beginning of the book very challenging to follow.

Spoiler alert: The corpse disposal method was definitely not for the faint of heart.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it! It is not your "typical" thriller book and that, too, was why I really wanted to give this book a 5-star review.

Just Horrible!

The characters are all pathetic and annoying. So many times I started to just stop listening because this is just how unbearable it felt. It's easy to figure out the entire story early on. The constant references to Tupac was unnecessary and added nothing to this story. Time and a credit was wasted!

Mother Dear indeed

Not at all what I expected but a pleasant surprise. The characters were well drawn although I must say I did get a vibe About a quarter of the way through the book that Werner Was a little shady. All in all, I would recommend this book whole heartedly . The writing was excellent and the way the chapters unfolded you were on the edge of your seat from the beginning of the book until the end.
Nova Lee Miller (Esther Verboef) shall be added to my “gotta read more” list.
The audio version of this book was superb.

WOW...JUST WOW!!!!

This is probably the best mystery story I ever read!! Numerous times throughout I thought we were nearing the end and wondered why there were so many chapters left. More mysteries just kept coming! I listened to this book in two sittings because unfortunately I had to sleep a few hours in between. I don't feel there were twists in the story just more and more mysterious layers that were slowly pulled back and revealed. I highly recommend this book! The narrator also gave a great performance.

Gory

If you enjoy gory details, it would be ok. No depth in character s..if you like a thriller this has twists and turns.

I tried, but couldn't continue listening

The narration is terrible. Sounds like a cross between a robot and a person. I couldn't continue listening, because the narration was just too bad. The story itself seems like it would have been good. May be better to actually read this one.

Predictable

Weak development of character. Plot line unfolds well but without mystery or challenge to the reader. The idea of Mother Dear also lacks a firm foundation in the story but is a crucial turning point for lead character. It’s not a horrible read; it’s just not an amazing one either.

awesome book

Wasnt sure where this book was going to go! Everything nicely weaved together, believable to some extent but not totally.

Occasionally confusing.

I spend a lot of time driving, and listening to thrillers on audio books are perfect for long journeys. But at times this was quite confusing.

The story is set in Holland, includes a couple of people from German descent, and yet is read throughout by someone with a strong American accent. And this always felt wrong.

The plot is excellent, and the story is well put together. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but overall an enjoyable listen.