The Widow File

A Dani Britton Novel

By: S. G. Redling

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

From S. G. Redling, the author of the bestselling Flowertown, Dani a data analyst with an elite security firm, possesses the unnerving ability to read people by the trash they leave behind. Receipts, parking tickets, the detritus of daily life — if you leave it behind, she will figure you out.

Her latest case involves high-tech industrial espionage at a corporation with ties to the military. But when a team of assassins sweeps through the firm, stealing all files and killing her coworkers, Dani narrowly escapes. Whoever ordered the strike thinks Dani has vital information and they put a hit man named Booker on her trail.

Armed with only her wits and a bag of random investigation materials, Dani must figure out who the enemy really is while playing a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the cunning hit man who has an agenda of his own.

©2013 S.G. Redling (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Thrilling!

After a quick introduction, the pace of SG Redling’s _The Widow File_ takes off at a dead run and doesn’t slow down for any of the many twists and turns. It’s an exciting and unpredictable story, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Interesting

This novel started out kinda slow and then kept my attention. The lead character is smart, witty, and very appealing. I would definitely recommend this book. Wish there were follow up books with her.

An unexpected pleasure

I was not sure what to expect from this novel. I often grow impatient with "getting to the story." The beginning held a lot of good exposition that was helpful later.

This is not high art. However, it was fun. I really liked that, [SPOILER ALERT?] "man wrongly accused" is threatened early on in the book that the author does not take us down that well-worn path of laziness.

I found that the book had a good pace, decent character development, and the ending did not leave me unhappy in the least. It was a conclusion, a reasonable one with regard to the "inherent truth" of the story.

I recommend it.

Chick version of 6 days of the condor

What did you like best about The Widow File? What did you like least?

I liked the story plot. It was very reminiscent of the Condor but with a girl lead.

Would you recommend The Widow File to your friends? Why or why not?

probably not

What three words best describe Tanya Eby’s performance?

The narrator was very good, though I thought her male voices were a little off. She made them sound dumb.

Could you see The Widow File being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I could easily see it as a tv movie. With some serious story rework, maybe a feature film.

Any additional comments?

I gave the book 3 stars, because it was ok. It wasn't horrible and it wasn't great. The idea was derivative but what isn't. I actually liked the idea of the girl being the lead character, though the story was quite predictable. It was ok for light entertainment. Don't look for more than that.

entertaining thriller but forgettable

Exciting fast-paced thriller with a smart but damaged young female protagonist. Dani is a "data analyst" with a talent for reading body language, tells, and information gleaned form receipts, behavior patterns, and the detritus left in people's pockets. Dani is likeable and clever. When she finds out that the company she works for is not what she thought and that they are out to kill her makes the stakes very high and she has to be very smart and resourceful to survive. The writing is mostly good, though clunky at some points and over-detailed at other times. I liked the main characters (despite the ridiculous name of one of them!), but the ending of the book disappointed me. The ending was abrupt and seemed incomplete. I wasn't sure exactly what happened and who was behind the bad guys' actions. Enjoyable (if mostly forgettable) thriller. The narration by Eby was solid and well-edited.

Attention 3 Days of The Condor Fans

If you could sum up The Widow File in three words, what would they be?

Fast, Clever, and Tender! Starts out like Robert Redfords' 3 days of the Condor so if you like that premise, this will not disappoint. If you are a die hard mystery fan this may not be enough for you. However, it was entertaining and kept you tuned into the story.

What other book might you compare The Widow File to and why?

Our hit man had a tender side i.e. Julie Garwoods Romance Sizzle. This is a cross between a mystery and romance or Angie Jolie's Salt character.

What does Tanya Eby bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ms Eby has gotten so much richer in her male voices and she does not disappoint in this 2 book series. Catch her as A.K.A. Tatiana Sokolov

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

yes, I did listen in one sitting as the pace was so fast. This was pure entertainment and a quick course on always planning ahead. Had some good ideas

Any additional comments?

This is not worth a full credit, but catch it on sale and you will have a good fast listen. There is a book #2 so I don't know how much the author plans on taking this character. Let's hope #2 is as entertaining as this was. Hint: if you saw "Salt", then you are prepared for this listen.

Not that thrilling

The premise was good, but it lacks substance, wanted more to the story. Plenty of details on eluding but not much on the what and why of the file. For the most part it was easy to figure out what was going to happen next. I was disappointed, story could have been so much better.
The narrator did the characters well, with an easy to listen to voice.

Very entertaining. Both the book and the narration

The first 40% of this book was spent on Dani escaping the killing of her co-workers and hiding, hiding, hiding while she constantly had hundreds of inner thoughts or talked out loud to herself. Then there was the escape onto the rooftop and finding one of her co-workers that made it out then escaping the rest of the way with Choo-Choo (a stupid name for a grown man.)

This reminded me of the old movie with Robert Redford “Sneakers.” He goes out and when he gets back everyone is dead and he goes on the run. She goes home to pick up something and when she returns everyone is dead or being killed AND has to hide then goes on the run.

Overall, it turned out to be a good story, I can tell because I never skimmed a single page. The killer after them took a liking to Dani and ended up helping her BUT she still had to die. He seemed like a nice guy one minute and talked to her like an evil killer the next. Booker was a little crazy. And there were some things a little unbelievable but it’s a book so I don’t have as much trouble with that like a lot of readers do. And there were a couple of unanswered questions but it didn’t subtract from the story all that much.

There was absolutely no romance and the F-bomb was used 14 times.

As to the narration: I’m a big Tanya Eby fan so I can say she did a great job on the voices BUT there should have been a whole lot of whispering going on, especially in all the public places they went to, and there wasn’t. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

This was a free read and free listen and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A keeper

I've started so many mystery/thrillers from new/obscure authors(to me) lately that have wound up in the return bin after a few chapters, i was kinda discouraged. Whether a crappy narrator or silly story, the pickin's where slim. What a refreshing fun, book! Everything came together, a great narrator, good writing, fun story with humor and friendship thrown in. Starting "Redemption Key" now

A fast ride

Great plot. Likable characters. The fast moving action makes this one you want to listen to from start to finish in one sitting.