Child's Play: The Elle Harrison Series

By: Merry Jones

Narrated by: Karen Rose Richter

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Since her husband's murder two years earlier, life hasn't been easy for Elle Harrison. Now, at the start of a new school year, the second grade teacher is determined to move on. She's selling her house and delving into new experiences, like learning trapeze.

Just before the first day of school, Elle learns that a former student, Ty Evans, has been released from juvenile detention where he served time for killing his abusive father. Within days of his release, Elle's school principal, who'd tormented Ty as a child, is brutally murdered. So is a teacher at the school. And Ty's former girlfriend. All the victims have links to Ty.

Ty's younger brother, Seth, is in Elle's class. When Seth shows up at school beaten and bruised, Elle reports the abuse, and authorities remove Seth and his older sister, Katie, from their home. Is Ty the abuser?

Ty seeks Elle out, confiding that she's the only adult he's ever trusted. She tries to be open-minded, even wonders if he's been wrongly condemned. But when she's assaulted in the night, she suspects that Ty is her attacker. Is he a serial killer? Is she his next intended victim?

Before Elle discovers the truth, she's caught in a deadly trap that challenges her deepest convictions about guilt and innocence, childhood and family. Pushed to her limits, she's forced to face her fears and apply new skills in a deadly fight to survive.

©2017 Merry Jones (P)2017 Merry Jones

Great story

This the first time I read anything from this author and it will not be my last. The story was believable and fast moving never a dull moment. Beautifully written and will bring tears to your eyes at the end.
I received this free for an honest review from the author or narrator.

Surprising mystery

I like a story that takes me by surprise. I thought at first that this was a horror book, probably because the title threw me off, so going into it without a clue was a good thing for me.

The main character Ella was a strong character, and I like strong women in books. There were a few times when I had to hit rewind to keep up and make sure I didn't miss anything, but that was probably because bad drivers distracted me from the book while I was on the road, not because of any fault of the book.

Narrator Karen Rose Richter did a terrific job with the reading, and her ability to do both male and female voices is amazing. That's not always the case with female narrators, but Karen's narration was a home run.

Be patient with this story and allow it to draw you in. It's worth it in the end. I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Psychological thriller

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

Yes, I enjoyed the overall story, but much of the book is spent in the head of Elle and in my opinion too much time. A lot of the in her head conversations were meaningless and became too much at times

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The overall story and the mystery

Would you listen to another book narrated by Karen Rose Richter?

The narrator did a good job and I had a mental image of the scenes for much of the book. I would listen to another book narrated by Richter.

Was Child's Play: The Elle Harrison Series worth the listening time?

I did enjoy the book and it was a quick listen, but too much time is spent with the internal struggle in Elle's head so it's unlikely I will listen to any more books in this series.

Any additional comments?

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Love love love

Any additional comments?

I heart this book a lot. I don't usually listen to mysteries so I was dubious but gave it a chance anyway and was pleasantly surprised. It was quick, complicated enough to keep my interest (but not so complicated that it was difficult to listen to), and the voice of the narrator was perfect. In other words, it was the perfect audiobook.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I won't go into too much detail but it had me until the end.

Please note that I received this title for free in exchange for an unbiased review

Really good!

This was a fantastic mystery that had me hooked from the beginning! Narration was very well done! I really enjoyed this thriller and can't wait to check out more by this author!

**I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review**

Thrilling Rollercoaster

Any additional comments?

I thoroughly enjoyed 'Child's Play' but then again, I am a sucker for a good mystery/thriller that stars several awesome female protagonists. This story revolves around Elle, a teacher who has the tendency to slip away into her mind, and who seems to be surrounded by murder. I thought this tale had a great mix of gruesome horror elements, horrifying realities such as child abuse, a spooky stalker (or two), love between friends, and the desperate need to survive. A well rounded story, 'Child's Play,' was one that I had a really hard time putting down. Karen Rose Richter does a phenomenal job of narration. I would recommend this book to any of my friends, really! 10/10

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Child's Play

I don't recommend this book unless you read the book that were first in the series. I was not caught up in this book and it was hard to get into, for me. I was about 55% through the book and still was not really excited about it. The for me was very slow. I was not scared by this book and I was hoping it would be a great book. It was ok but I wish I had more things to say than that. The characters were a bunch of great life long friends which I admire but that is about all I can say about them. None of them really stood out to me. I was disappointed in this book. "This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

Good Story...Decent Narration

The story was good. However, I was able to decipher who the killer was about halfway through the book. There were a couple of unnecessary chapters that didn't really move the plot along, but overall it was a well written book with a little suspense thrown in.

The narrator did a decent job at portraying the different female character voices, however, all of her male voices sounded similar making it difficult to determine who was talking when there was more than one male character in the scene.

I was given this book by the author/narrator for free for an unbiased review of the book.

I was drawn in almost immediately!

I have loved these characters since "Trouble with Charlie", they are a fun bunch who have developed nicely. And I like that there is a connection with the Zoe Hayes series. Maybe a melding of the stories is in the future?

Holy Angst and Murders, Batman!

Holy angst and murders, batman!! This book was intense! It was suspenseful and it was holy wow! I could not get enough of this book and I didn't want to quit reading until I knew what was going on. I don't read a lot of stories like this anymore, so it was a nice change of pace.

There were a few times I thought we could be moving faster, but not enough I wanted to quit. I had different theories all through out the story and they kept changing. Interesting read for sure!

Narration was perfect, as well! I could tell the characters apart and it brought the story to life. Sometimes a little too much to life and I was creeped out. haha. Great job though.

Get it here: http://amzn.to/2xcGvhj