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Before You Leap  By  cover art

Before You Leap

By: Keith Houghton
Narrated by: Scott Merriman
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Publisher's summary

Peace of mind is all Greg Cole has wanted since the murder of his twin sister, Scarlett.

In his new sun-soaked Florida life, he thought he had found it. But when Scarlett's killer is released early from prison with a cast-iron alibi, Greg realizes that his past is about to explode into his present, with terrifying consequences.

To expose the truth he must open up old wounds. As a talk therapist, Greg knows all about dark secrets, but when a childhood friendship comes to the fore and the police turn their spotlight on him, the thought of analyzing his own psyche is a disturbing prospect. How far can he trust his own memories?

With his life coming apart at the seams, and his grip on reality beginning to unravel, Greg must face the ghosts of his past if he hopes to prove his innocence and live to see another day.

©2016 Keith Houghton. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

What listeners say about Before You Leap

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    328
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    69
  • 1 Stars
    25
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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    95
  • 2 Stars
    27
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    297
  • 4 Stars
    260
  • 3 Stars
    169
  • 2 Stars
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    30

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Riveting start that fizzled out

I'll be completely honest here (and why wouldn't I be?) - I listened to over half (not sure how far into it I was) of the book and then I switched and finished on my Kindle. Why? Blah, blah, blah, I'm going to drone on about something,blah, blah, blah, I'm whiny. Now I'm going to introduce something so ridiculous that the listener's mouth will flop open like a fish out of water. I was really enjoying the book, and then, BLAM!, I wasn't. The story went back-and-forth between present and the storyteller's foggy past. It kept me interested and then I realized I mostly didn't care about the outcome. This is when I switched to my Kindle. I skimmed to the (not unexpected) ending. Is he? Isn't he? Did he? Didn't he? Didn't really care and don't after finishing. Plot contrivance that just didn't work for me. I think more than anything, I'm upset because I really enjoyed the initial part of the book; this may have been due to Scott Merriman. He was an excellent first person narrator and I will give him the credit for me (perhaps) enjoying the first half of the book more than I should have. I couldn't get beyond the big "twist" in the book and that seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the story. It was ill-fitting, didn't make sense, dumb, irritating, and, well, you get the idea. If I had been holding an actual paper book, I would have been flipping back-and-forth through the pages thinking "Huh? What? How?" Since I had an audio book and a Kindle I have to rely on my memory and say, "I didn't miss anything." It was a twist introduced to be a twist and it stunk up the book and all of the various plot tendrils that it connected to - and the plot holes resulting from it.

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72 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

held my attention

After Greg's twin sister Scarlett was murdered ten years ago, Greg had built himself a new life in Florida working successfully as a psychotherapist. But now the person accused of Scarlett's murder is released from prison on account of a new alibi that has been verified. As the murder case is re-opened and Greg is attracting the attention of a detective and the formerly accused, Greg's life is starting to fall to pieces.

To sum up my feelings about this one, I'd have to say it's a tale with one twist too many. The first 75% were reasonably entertaining, but then the author suddenly seemed to change his mind about how this was going to go. It's difficult to explain what didn't work here without giving the key elements of the plot away. But there is a twist towards the end, which in my opinion caused a lot of what had happened previous to this revelation to become far-fetched and it made the entire plot implausible. Add to the revelation the fact that our protagonist is a psychotherapist of all things, and it makes it even more ludicrous. Following "No Coming Back", this was the second book I've listened to by this author. There were certain similarities with regards to the character of the protagonist and combined with the little clues dropped throughout, it made predicting the final twist in the epilogue too easy. I don't think the prologue helped the story either, as it provided too much foreshadowing. A simple linear timeframe would have been preferable in this case, and I'm not sure the first-person perspective was the best choice for this particular tale either.

This sounds perhaps a bit more negative than it was overall. I think the sound narration provided by Scott Merriman helped a lot to get me through this. This was definitely a case where if I had to sit still and physically read this book, I would have become much more impatient with it. Listening to it, it held my attention and was easy to follow. The narrator did a great job with the material he had. There were no issues with the production quality.

I think this may appeal more to listeners who don't mind suspending disbelief at some of the revelations made and who just want to follow a reasonably fast-paced psychological thriller without dissecting the plausibility of the content.

Audiobook was purchased for review by the ABR.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

There is so much wrong about this novel!

The first part of the novel is painfully slow and boring. The main characters are more than a bit crazy. The narration is monotone. Before You Leap screws around with the reader's/listener's mind. I recommend it only to those who like freaky psychological thrillers and who have the patience to let the story slowly develop.

There is so much right with Before You Leap. The first part is boring and it lulls the listener into believing there is nothing there when there really is. Maybe everyone is a bit crazy. The monotone narration is perfect for the story.

The protagonist Greg Cole is a talk therapist with more than his share of issues and dark secrets. When I started thinking about writing a review my intent was to award Before You Leap three stars, but as I thought further that changed to 4 stars and then to 5. The novel is weird not necessarily in a good or bad way.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • NL
  • 04-13-17

to the end

The ending is very unexpected and I usually know before I get there. not this one!

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and gripping

Kept me engaged and interested throughout the story. Wish my drive to/from work was longer so I had more time to listen. Thoroughly enjoyable!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • E
  • 02-26-17

didn't see it coming

great book. cool twist. really recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers. thought there would be more to do with therapy and that kind of stuff

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

This was a wonderful story

This was a tough story to hear. but very well written and narrated. would recommend

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Never read a book that took place where I lived

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was entertaining

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

I had it figured out long before the end. Just needed confirmation that I was right.

Was Before You Leap worth the listening time?

I thought it was worth the time. It wasn't that long.

Any additional comments?

The story wasn't bad. It was entertaining and kind of interesting reading about places that you have been to and lived.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Decent read...

It picked up speed toward the end. It was a little bit of a struggle at the beginning as it seemed to sort of stall at certain points...

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this audible book

Had me interested to the end of the book. Highly recommend. Am looking forward to listening to it again. reader was excellent .

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6 people found this helpful