Abducted: Lizzy Gardner, Book 1

This book is definitely an edge of your seat "what happens next" page turner kind of listen. I thought the characters were well developed and I liked the way the past was tied to the present. I was not prepared for the finale when the antagonist's identity is finally revealed and why he did what he did. I think Kate Rudd's voice although whiney at times suited the part she was reading since the main character does complain about memory loss and nightmares having to do with her abduction. I hesitated purchasing because of the low price but am happy I finally purchased it. I will read the rest of the series.

Enjoyable story, easy to listen to. Hold your attention to the end BUT the torture scenes are quite disturbing.

I did like this book BUT, the narrator was almost robotic at times, a couple of times sounding like she was reading a Dick and Jane book, so simplistic were the words/sentences. I got past it but it would creep up again in the next chapter so it never completely went away. Sometimes it did feel like you may have missed something and I didn't really find the reasoning of the killer that enthralling. There wasn't much depth there. And everything seemed a little too convienient with certain things. I felt at a point that it started to loose direction and things got a little more convienient and not told real well. I also didn't care too much for the ending. Anti climatic. Overall tho, I didn't shut it off, the story kept my interest, even with all this other stuff I didn't care for. I gave it a borderline 3.

I've listened to much better in this genre...it was on sale so I tried it. I probably will not continue on with the series. I still have a hard time listening to Kate Rudd, I am trying to like her style but just can't get there.

If you like the TV show “Criminal Minds” then I think you’ll enjoy this book.

I got fed up with the show after a few seasons because the stories and the violence were getting too over-the-top for evening TV.

Gratuitous gore isn’t entertaining in my opinion, so needless to say I didn’t love this book. I would have preferred more suspense and fewer gruesome scenes that exist simply to shock the reader.

The basic plot was just ok and if the rest of the series is like this, I won’t bother.

I just couldn't get in to this book. The author seems to be cramming info in your brain so fast, as to get all the info out there. Kinda like an outline put on paper with no fillers. All the characters have dysfunctional families and she keeps piling one fact on top of the other about them. I just couldn't get attached to any of her characters. Lizzy is just plainly stupid sometimes and Ragan makes the FBI out to be bumbling idiots.The whole story just doesn't flow well. I kept wanting to give up on the book, then kept giving it another chance. Made it through this one, but wasn't happy that I bought the other 2 in the series. I'll go back to John Sandford, Michael Connelly, and James Lee Burke for a good crime mystery. Now, those guys know how to write a good book.

The developed characters with a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

It had the twists and turns of a Patterson or Grisham book.

This is a great book that I would recommend to anyone who is looking to get into a good book. It definitely keeps your attention from start to finish.

Once again a promising start of an audible selection fades into an uneven; sometimes excellent piece of literature. But at other times her dialogue is often reminiscent of a predictable network crime show. Ragan's third person writing is the strength of this work and is at times very good. Unfortunately all too often she falls back on cliches; particularly in regards to her dialogue. This is a selection that I recommend with reservations. There are enough positive aspects in this book that i'm willing to purchase her next work. Ms. Ragan is a talented writer and hopefully her future works will reflect the natural growth of most writers.

Abducted has an unusually high amount of suspense that makes up for a less than great story line. Worthwhile listen! Narration is excellent, but not outstanding

It's almost impossible to listen to. I got just over five hours in -- about two of which were spent backtracking -- before finally giving up. But because this is a local author for me, and because the series is getting great reviews, I bought the book again for my iPad. Reading from my iPad, it's an excellent book, really good -- it's just not suitable for audio format, at least by this narrator.

Two issues: first, there are about a dozen young women who enter into the story, with roles of varying importance. And that's in addition to protagonist Lizzy, her sister Cathy and her assistant Jessica. Maybe because there are so very many young female players, the narrator makes no distinction whatever in their voices -- how could she, after all? It would range on impossible to create differing voices for each and keep them all straight. So she just reads straight through.

But second, that plays into another issue: Each chapter is divided into a great many sub-parts. In the print version, some are set off by bold day/time headers, some are divided by three little dots, some only by extra spacing between one and the next. These separations are critical -- usually they mean we're switching from one person's story to another's. But again, the narrator reads straight through, with no significant pause between them.

The result is an incomprehensible mess. Whose story is being told at any given time is up for grabs -- Who's talking, now, anyway? How do you know it's not just a continuation of whatever story came just before?

This doesn't work for me at all -- almost always, I listen to audio books when I'm doing something else. Maybe if I had the time to just sit and listen, concentrate, and maybe take a few notes, I could keep up with it, but as an audio book? This book just isn't suited to the genre.

Having said all that, this really is a good book -- I'm looking forward to all the other Lizzie Gardner book, but only for my iPad.

I wonder if the time will ever come when authors will structure their stories with audio book performances in mind? I look forward to that day!