Where's My Son?

Det. Jason Strong #1 CLEAN SUSPENSE

By: John C. Dalglish

Narrated by: Rich McVicar

Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

What would you do if your son went missing? How far would you go to get him back?

Michael Barton comes home to find his infant son gone. There is no trace of the kidnappers, and the police have no leads. Michael is driven by a promise and he will not stop. Detective Jason Strong led the task force to find Michael's son and has become his friend. But as Michael's darkness grows, Jason fears he may be the only one who can stop him. It is a race against time, as the detective tries to stop the events that will change everyone, before it's too late.

©2012 John C. Dalglish (P)2014 John C. Dalglish

A violent thriller, if you're into that.

Any additional comments?

Generally, I'm not into thriller mysteries, but this book was actually pretty good. Unlike other thrillers, it's hard to guess at the ending and I honestly did not see the character developments coming. And that's not necessarily a good thing. Michael's transformation into such a violent person took me by complete surprise and took me out of the moment and the rest of the book. The detective (who is suppose to be the main character?) hardly shows up at all and only impacts the plot at the very end. But I must say that the story was really good.

I found the narrator to be very good. He wasn't intrusive like some authors, pulling you out of the story by odd character choices. His inflections mimicked what I would have heard in my own head if I had read the book. His voice wasn't too low and his speed was relatively fast. A very good job.

A violent thriller, if you're into that sort of thing.

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

Great start to a new series!

The story of Where's My Son starts and ends with with a bang! Seriously sad and really pulls on the heart strings as a mother. This book is a series about Detective Jason Strong, but is written and follows the victim and bad guy, not through the eyes of the great Detective Strong. I loved that aspect of the book, following the people involved in the case instead of vice versa.

The book starts with Michael and Tammy Barton having a baby. Baby Christian is taking a nap in his crib while mom Tammy follows suite with a nap on the sofa, while Michael is at work. When Michael returns home from work, he finds Tammy napping on the sofa and goes to check on Christian...he's gone! Wake up Tammy! Where is my son?! Meanwhile Wade and Katie Duncan are expecting their first child. Katie goes into labor at 6 months into her pregnancy. The baby doesn't make it. This was their third child lost, what do they do now?

Let me just start by saying WOW! I have mixed emotions about the story. I loved the writing style, and the characters, but I'm not sure about how the case went down. It is believable, that's not it. I even felt the rage and owned my feelings on revenge! I just didn't feel like Michael got what he deserved...justice. He was a tad overboard with his methods, but can you blame the man! He went through a lot since his son was kidnapped, and he needed closure, hell I needed closure! I was so involved in the story that I wanted to punch Wade in the face for being a lying sack of poop about what he really knew! Wade also withheld a lot of details from not only the police but from his wife! I think this book is a great start to a new series, and I can't wait to dig into the next one! If you love Detective stories Det. Jason Strong is one for your TBR list!

Narrator Review

Rich McVicar narrates the first book in a new series, Where's My Son. I enjoyed Rich's voice as a narrator, but when it came to unloading intense emotional dialogue I feel like he fell short. If you are going to narrate a book, there are two ways: 1) Just straight up read it! and 2) Act it out. The narration to me sounded like Rich didn't know which to do, and tried both. I have a saying for this but I will refrain from using it... Rich would have fared a better review from me if he would have just read the book. Like I said, I did enjoy his tone of voice, and how he delivered most of the story. I'm giving Rich 3 stars, and crossing my fingers his performance improves in the future.

What Would YOU do? Great Thriller! !

Where does Where's My Son? rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

'Where's My Son?' ranks in at one of the good audiobooks I've listened to. It was a well thought out story with some really good unexpected plot twists.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Where's My Son??

One of my most memorable moments in 'Where's My Son?' is when Kate and Wade finally get the child they've always wanted. But how? And at what cost? And whose child?

Have you listened to any of Rich McVicar’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first performance by Rich McVicar that I've listened to but will listen to more of his performances in the future. I like his voice in this story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I had a reaction of surprise in this story. It went in a completely different direction that I thought it would.

Any additional comments?

This was a great stay up late, exciting book.. I would love to see a series come out of it possibly built up around Detective Strong. This was a good thriller.I received this audiobook free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

A Heart Stopping Nail Biter

Where does Where's My Son? rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is my first experience with audiobooks, and I'm quite surprised and excited. Listening to the story as opposed to reading it really puts you in the scenes. This may be my first audiobook but it will not be my last. I feel like I've discovered a whole new dimension. From hardback to paperback to kindle to audio - this is pretty fantastic.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character has to be Det. Jason Strong - I've read other books featuring the detective and I like him a lot.

What about Rich McVicar’s performance did you like?

I thought Rich McVicar did a great job with his voice inflections to make the story more listenable. He really made me feel like I was in the moment with the cast of characters. He's a great story teller.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was so afraid at the end that Michael was going to succeed. I didn't want Jack to find out the truth since he had such a wonderfully loving family.

Missing child story with twists and turns

Would you try another book from John C. Dalglish and/or Rich McVicar?

Sure!

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I think i would have made the characters less sappy and the storyline a little more realistic.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Author John Dalglish did a fine job of weaving an interesting and gripping storyline. Narrator Rich McVicor was a great narrator for this story, with a clear strong voice and appropriate voice changes for different characters. I did not like the oversimplicfication and stereotyping of the characters,; grieving dad, dying wife, scared victims, etc.

Was Where's My Son? worth the listening time?

Wheres my son was a gripping short story, worth the listening time.

Short, but an entertaining read.

this is the first book in a series starting this strong Detective. it was a little bit slow at times but mostly the page kept up. It was an enjoyable story. it seems the guy overreact, but I've never been placed in that situation and with mental illness he may have snapped. It was an uncomfortable situation because you had two good families involved. I guess by making the biological father so bad it allowed us as readers to root for the adoptive family. I think the narrator did an excellent job and I would listen to another narration by him.

Fast Paced

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes, fast paced, can be finished in one sitting (or a long drive listen).

What was one of the most memorable moments of Where's My Son??

The most memorable for me was the ending, and not wanting to give too much away, when Det. Strong decided it was best to let sleeping dogs lie and did the right thing.

Did Rich McVicar do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes, he did a very good job. His voice is clear and strong. He changed the pitch for the females, sometimes just using slight accents in other cases. He managed to do this without being over the top. I think his overall style of narrating this book was a little sing songy, given the gravity of the situation. His did not make me feel the panic or urgency a parent would feel when their child was misssing.

Could you see Where's My Son? being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

Just a couple of things. The narrator (and author) had the good fortune (or misfortune, depending on how you want to look at it) of having a NICU nurse (me) reviewing this book.People say NICU (pronunciation nick u) long u with the accent on the first word. No one says NICU pronouncing the letters. Some may say "he's in neonatal intensive care" but rarely is unit tacked on to the end. The neonatologist would be the one to a tell parent their child had died, never the OB. EVER. The OB may be present, but he would never break that type of news to the parent.That being said, I guess this is not something the average person would know.Good listen overall.

Suspense about a man driven crazy by kidnapping.

Any additional comments?

Where’s My Son is a solid suspense that starts off introducing us to a nice couple that adopt a baby after three tragic miscarriages. They have a blissful life for 10 years until someone starts harassing the father claiming he stole the man's son. That someone is Michael who was a happily married and loving father until his three-month old son was kidnapped. When Michael's wife dies of cancer three years after the kidnapping, he promises her on her deathbed that he will find their son. The kidnapping changes Michael’s life and that of Detective Jason Strong who stay dedicated, even obsessed, with the case for 10 years.

The writer does a good job demonstrating Michael’s devastation and slow decline into madness. The pain of losing his son, and then his wife, is so heavy that you want him to take action and find out what happened to his son. However, on the other hand, you see how happy his son is with a loving family who has no idea that their son’s adoption was not “real” and that they were the victims of a baby scam.

Rich McVicar's narration really brought the characters to life, completely drawing me into the story. He seamlessly switches between genders and characters with ease. Simply put Where’s My Son was a great listen and I definitely recommend it.

Good story with unexpected twist

I liked the balance between different storylines. It keeps you engaged and wanting to hear all at once

Where's my son was suspenseful

If you could sum up Where's My Son? in three words, what would they be?

Suspenseful, exciting, enjoyable

What other book might you compare Where's My Son? to and why?

I like Jason Strong in John Dalglish' s books. Him using some of the same characters in his books makes me feel like I know the character.

What about Rich McVicar’s performance did you like?

I likes Rich McVicar's narrating. He was an excited reader and enjoyed listening to him.

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

I did listen to this book from beginning to end all at once. I couldn't stop it at any point. Very suspenseful.

Any additional comments?

I couldn't wait to hear how this story was going to end. The ending was not at all how I thought it would end.This was a very good story. I plan on following this authors books.