The Fourth Descendant

By: Allison Maruska

Narrated by: Donald R. Emero

Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

When Michelle receives a call from a Richmond historian, she sees the chance for a much-needed adventure. All she has to do is find a century-old key.

Three others - a guitarist, an engineer, and a retiree - receive similar calls. Each family possesses a key to a four-lock safe found buried in a Virginia courthouse, though their connection is as mysterious as the safe itself. Their ancestors should not have interacted, had no apparent reason to bury the safe, and should not have disappeared thereafter.

Bearing their keys, Michelle and the other descendants converge in the courthouse basement and open the safe, revealing the truth about their ancestors - a truth stranger, more deadly, and potentially more world-changing than any of them could have imagined. Now it's up to them to keep their discovery out of the wrong hands.

©2015 Allison Maruska (P)2015 Allison Maruska

Critic reviews

"I rarely read a story that I can't wait to get back to, and this was one. It's full of drama and suspense. It's fresh and new, something very much needed, and it's totally unpredictable." (John Darryl Winston, author of IA: Initiate)

Needs a Different Narrator

Would have been better with a different narrator. The gentleman's inflections were completely off to the point that sometimes I wasn't sure if the sentence was over until it actually became a new chapter. The story was okay, the one character was completely unsympathetic on my eyes and I honestly kept rolling them at their constant ridiculous actions to "protect their family". It seemed very forced to make this character the bad guy.

Overall, it wasn't a bad plot but it wasn't as riviting as I thought based on other reviews. If you don't have anything else pressing to read this one only took me 2 days to listen to, but mostly because I've never not finished a book and not because I enjoyed it so much I could tell stop.

Good book. Poor production

I enjoyed the story line. The pauses between chapters was distracting and the narrator did not have any variance in his voice. There was no change from exciting parts to plane parts.

An Unexpected Treat

What did you love best about The Fourth Descendant?

This wasn't an edge of your seat thriller, it was a just one more chapter, can't get out of the car quite yet journey. There were so many unexpected twists and turns. There were lots of surprises and they kept me hooked. Ms. Maruska has a gift for dialogue and the character development was great. I not only came to care about the main characters, but I had really strong feelings about secondary characters some of whom I only knew through the eyes of the main characters.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Fourth Descendant?

The cabin in the woods was completely unexpected.

Would you be willing to try another one of Donald R. Emero’s performances?

No, I thought Mr. Emero's performance detracted and distracted from a great story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I enjoyed mulling the story over between listening sessions. It provoked a lot of thought about what I would do in each of the character's places, however I struggled to find stopping spots because it flowed so well.

Any additional comments?

The story started out a little slow, but stick with it because it is so very worth it.

$1.99 was NOT a bargain for this one!

After logging hundreds of pleasurable hours listening to audio books I knew it would someday happen. I would come across the combination of a mediocre story and a terrible narrator. I have made note of his name so I can avoid any other book he narrates. I had 6th grade students who could read far more expressively. He rushed his speech so much that I had to set my play speed to the lowest setting to be able to tolerate him. I checked the book out from the Kindle lending library & bought the audio for $1.99. Thank goodness I didn't waste an Audio credit on this one!

Poorly written and narrated

To be honest, I'm not sure if the poorly developed plot and characters contributed to the poor narration or if they were equally to blame. The only good thing about this book was that it was only 6 1/2 hours long (although it seemed like 10).

Yuck

A mediocre story made worse by the poor narration. This must be this narrator's first time reading. Please, no sequels.

Excellent Story. Well-written with a Great Cast

What made the experience of listening to The Fourth Descendant the most enjoyable?

The plot twists were the best part. The story kept me guessing. I can't say more without giving things away. I'd like to talk about the ending, but it would spoil it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jonah. At the start you think he'll be just your stereotypical dread-locked musician, but he turns out to be much deeper.

Which character – as performed by Donald R. Emero – was your favorite?

He didn't perform any of the characters better or worse than the others. I was impressed with the narration; he has a nice, resonant voice. In a few places, perhaps, he overdoes the difference in voices between the different characters, but it's not a problem. He doesn't overact. His voice sounded a little deeper in later chapters.

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

Four ordinary lives, brought together by one extraordinary discovery.

Any additional comments?

I was puzzled by some of the other reviews. This is well-crafted and satisfying fiction. I enjoyed it all the way through. Concerning the storyline, be sure to check out the many positive reviews of the written version of this book on Amazon.com (which has, of course, the same storyline).

Terrible Book

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I think someone who has not read many books MIGHT enjoy this book. The story idea was decent, but the writing style was very basic and the reader was horrible.

Would you recommend The Fourth Descendant to your friends? Why or why not?

I would be ashamed to recommend this book to my friends.

How could the performance have been better?

The reader over dramatized every passage as though he were reading to young children.

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

I can think of no aspect of this book that would make it worth reading.

awful

just bad. the narrator was a little off. felt like it was written by a grade schooler.

good but not great

narrator was almost monotone. story didn't really draw me in. took me several chapters to even get interested enough to care about finishing the book.