Shaken

By: J. A. Konrath

Narrated by: Angela Dawe, Dick Hill

Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

Chicago cop Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels has chased and caught dozens of dangerous criminals over the course of her career. But she's about to meet her match.

When Jack wakes up in a storage locker, bound and gagged, she knows with chilling certainty who her abductor is.

He's called "Mr. K," and more than two hundred homicides have been attributed to him. His victims have died in the most horrible ways imaginable: he is the essence of evil. Some think he's just an urban legend, but he's very, very real. Jack has tangled with him twice in the past, and both times he managed to slip away.

Now Jack will finally have the chance to confront the maniac she's been hunting for over twenty-five years. Unfortunately, it won't be on her terms. In less than two hours, Mr. K is going to do to Jack what he's done to countless others. And Jack is going to learn that sometimes the good guys don't win...

Crack another case with Jack.

©2011 J.A. Konrath (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Sadistic Story

Although some of the other Jack Daniels books have a humorous tinge to them, this book left me feeling yucky! It was horribly gruesome and sexually sadistic. I have enjoyed other books in this series more. The plot did not flow well either. It seemed that the horrific tortures to people were weighted more than the actual plot. Not a very good read for relaxation.

11 of 13 people found this review helpful

Jumps Around

I love to listen to the Jack Daniels series when I'm driving. Light enough approach, some humor, likeable characters, and a pretty good plot line. While I enjoyed Shaken it was a little hard to follow because it jumps between time periods (15 years ago, a few years ago, and current day). You can follow along but it is distracting to be reminder at the beginning of each chapter what time period you are in. Not Konrath's best.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Great book! Nonstop suspense

I read where the author said this is a good book to start with, because it is in the present but has flashbacks of Jack's life throughout. It was my first read on JA Konrath, and certainly sparked my interest to get the full background of Jack Daniels. She seems to be an intriguing character with lots of colorful colleagues, that I want to hear more about. So, I'm going back to Whiskey Sour and read my way through the series. This book is the prequel to Stirred, which puts Jack up against Blake Crouch's Luther Kite character, introduced in Desert Places. Should be interesting.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Jumps back and forth

The order of story, jumping between three different time periods, was not enjoyable. I think J A Konrath has done this in previous books, but not to this extent. I listen to audio books while driving, in about 45 minute segments. It might take me 8-10 time periods to get through an audio book. I kept getting confused with where I was in the story. (The Jack Daniels character is one I know well as I have listened to all previous books, so I had a solid grasp of Jack's life. This still didn't help.)

I think I saw an option to listen to the book in chronological order. I would recommend that.

I still gave it 4 stars as I like the characters; they make me chuckle.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sliding Timeline

This is the seventh in the Jack Daniels series and my first by J.A. Conrath, the combination of good characters and intrigue was absolutely what kept it interesting for me. Even though I jumped into the middle of the series this book gave me a good sence of the characters personalities and evolution. The story has a sliding timeline that covers the progression of Jack/Jackie Daniels life as first a policewoman and eventually matures onto her background and success as a detective. In this addition Jack starts out by trying to catch a seriel killer who brutally tortures and murders his victims with a very distinct MO. As the case progresses and the years go by, Jack comes to the realization that there are more than one of these sadistic killers out there and that they are in some way connected. This definitely has some guesome parts so it may not be for everyone. A good crime thriller that has an ending that leads you right into the next book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Small doses over time

Would you try another book from J. A. Konrath and/or Angela Dawe and Dick Hill ?

I read Konrath's first few books then started to listen and enjoyed the timing and humour. I still enjoy the characters but this book turned dark fast.The Narrators are great. Dick Hill deserves all the accolades he has received over the years. Angela Dawe is a new narrator to the series - replacing Dick's wife Suzie Breck - not sure the reason behind that move. She does a good job but I do miss Suzie's characterization of Jack.

Would you be willing to try another book from J. A. Konrath? Why or why not?

Yes because I like to complete things and will continue reading in the series as Konrath slowly kills most of Chicago.

What does Angela Dawe and Dick Hill bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Both are excellent voice actors - Dick Hill is an experienced and award winning narrator who is a master of all the characters he does. This is the first time I've listened to Angela Dawe and she does a good job with Jack. I'm not sure why they changed from Suzie Breck who use to do all the female voices and really had made Jack's character so I do miss her interpretation.

Was Shaken worth the listening time?

It took a while to get through - I had to start and stop this book a number of times as I just couldn't deal with the violence for a full week of commuting - I had to break it up with vampires or something a little less terrifying.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Jackie... what can I say.

I love the this series. This one jumped around alot at times it was a little to much but, it was still a great listen. This book seemed out of order. What happen did JA change his mind? As always Jackie is her everyday if its going to happen kind of self. Great Listen worth the money.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

too gruesome - don't waste your money

What disappointed you about Shaken?

too gory. very sick. jack is usually funny not nauseating.

What was most disappointing about J. A. Konrath’s story?

torture descriptions. way too detailed. way too frequent. way unnecessary to plot.

Would you be willing to try another one of Angela Dawe and Dick Hill ’s performances?

no

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

some sparks,of humor. great, familiar characters.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Too much violence

There is so much to like in these books in the Jack Daniels series yet the violence always seems to me to be much greater than it need be. The descriptions of the violent acts are unnecessary and detract from the book, Taking away the stars that I would like to give it.

Still Enjoying & Rocommend this Detective Series

I highly recommend this detective series. I am looking forward to reading the extra books you can get based on the characters in this series. After reading a lot of reviews there were a lot of complaints concerning the amount of violence. I actually think it makes for a more exciting book in this series but I don't always think that way. I do like that the books are not based around sex or sex scenes. Although they all have some romance and personal relationships and friendships. I really like that all the characters stay true to their intended personalities throughout the series of books. I highly recommend reading in order although it is not necessary but I feel it does make for faster paced, more exhilarating experience.