Malevolent

Shaye Archer Series, Book 1

By: Jana DeLeon

Narrated by: Julie McKay

Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Malevolent: might not be strong enough

There are some truly wicked characters in this book. Even the heroine, Shaye, has a very abusive past which is only hinted at. I just can’t believe the world is this full of truly wicked sociopaths - at least not at the population density required for this novel. The plot was interesting - but beyond believable and very difficult to follow. The main characters were very interesting and well developed. It seemed all minor characters were just there to provide bodies and there were a lot of those. I liked Shaye, her family, and officer Jackson and feel there is plenty of opportunity to continue them in a long series - but I doubt I will listen to any more. I liked the author’s writing and the narrator was great but I don’t want to spend anymore of my time in books with so many psychopaths.

The narrator drove me crazy!

I was really interested in the premise of the book, but the narrator's voice made me so crazy that I could not get past chapter 2. Her diction and voice were clear, but everything was horribly over-pronounced and overacted :(

not bad at all

got this because of title and cover as an audible freebee and it was really good.
glad I listened to it.
mystery
sespense
crime

Twist on the plot that I did not see coming

If you could sum up Malevolent in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing, dark, addictive

What did you like best about this story?

The turns and twists of the plot which kept me on the edge of my seat. The writer was very descriptive and detailed about the characters backgrounds.

What three words best describe Julie McKay’s voice?

did not like

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The sins of the mother.........................................

Very impressive first entry.

This is the first time I’ve read this author, and for someone who usually writes a completely different type of book, that she nailed the darkness and horrifying elements of this story is very impressive. Any women reading this book will be deeply unnerved as I think a lot of women will relate to some or all of the elements in this story, and does serve as a stark reminder that I should probably be a lot more careful than I am – it’s easy to ignore the news but there really are people this crazy or worse out there. I recently had such an experience myself where a friend of several years suddenly revealed he’d been hiding a large part of his personality from me, because he was worried he’d ‘scare me off’ and yes, I admit to being extremely unnerved by what he’s ‘into’ as it bears no resemblance to who I thought he was. A reminder that what we see in most people is only the civilised mask, with the more extreme parts of their personalities hidden away.

The characters are strong and 3-dimensional, each being distinct and believable. I can see this very easily as the start to a series as the characters are obviously going to be recurring in the later books. Shaye, in particular, stands out as both a very well fleshed out character, but also as a down-to-earth and sympathetic heroine. I look forward to finding out more about her incredibly dark back story.

The reader has a very slight tick in her voice sometimes which is very noticeable when you first start listening but her accents and emotional reading are so good that you get used to it very quickly. She really made this book for me and I’m very happy to see she reads the rest of the series too.

There are enough twists to keep you guessing and even if the final twist is a little over the top, I still thought it was well enough written to be semi plausible, and it certainly was very entertaining.

Overall, a very impressive first novel of the series and I will absolutely be buying the rest.

Quick, suspensful tale!

Found it hard to quit listening and had me not sure where it was going until near the end!

Kept me guessing until the end.

Great storyline, believable characters. Not great distinction between male vs female voices but did not deter from page turning excitement.

Seriously Good!

This was so intense and so interesting!! I love murder mystery/ detective series and this was one of the best!! I didn't want to stop because I couldn't figure it out. I read and listened to it at same time except I got so into it they weren't reading fast enough for me .. so I had to pause the audio until I was on the next chapter. I love when you lose yourself in the book, that's when you know that this is an author you want to read more of!!

Well Thought Out Story

Often times when I read a who done it kind of a book, I see the it coming. This time, did not happen. The author kept me guessing right up to the end. Narration was excellent and the story moved right along with no “filler”. Overall, well done.

So many twists and turns!

I only thought I knew who did it! The suspence was intense! Great Read- not to be missed!!