Nate & Clare: 3 Book Series

By: Kwen Griffeth

Narrated by: Paul J. McSorley

Length: 32 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Nate, an Albuquerque, NM, homicide detective struggles to balance his professional life with his personal life. Clare, his smart, intelligent, and pretty wife struggles to put up with him.

©2018 Kwen D Griffeth (P)2019 Kwen D Griffeth

Excellent!!

A wonderful detective series! The author develops a world of intrigue, with relatable characters. Each book leads right into the next for a fully entertaining story. I really enjoyed the human aspect, drawing you in, pushing and pulling your emotions with the story. I highly recommend this series. Each book stands on its own, with enough backstory to fill you in, but not so much to be redundant. The narration is well done, keeping you wrapped up in the story.

I have received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

32 hrs of Detective Stories, Well told and read

I have enjoyed many hours of Kwen D. Griffeth's story telling in this series and others. Very well written and narrated.
This is not my normal genre but very much enjoyed this series. Nate is a good detective but certainly not a perfect one - much more real that way.
Paul J. McSorley does an excellent job narrating this series. The voice fits the characters and the mood of the story.
Will look for more by both Kwen and Paul.

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Excellent Story!

This crime series is like no other that I've ever experienced. Both the writing and narration are flawless. The ending was both a surprise and a disappointment. The disappointing part was the fact that it was over. I'll leave it to you to discover the surprising part.

Stunningly brilliant!

Wonderfully written and produced, excellent story line and marvellous narration. Awaiting the next book in this great series. Thank you.

Fantastic

Usually I dont like detective books. This one pleasant surprised me. It seemed like reAl conversations that people have unlike other books I have read like this. Looking forward to see more from this Author.


I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Some of Griffeth's Best work

I was so glad to have the three books in a collection. You just have to keep the story going! Although a mystery series, Griffeth does such a good job bring the main characters to life you look forward to following their story as much as seeing the murderer's captured.
In the Tenth Nail I fell in love with Nate and Claire. Somewhere in the middle, I totally lossed respect for him as a person but still liked the way he approached his job. By the end (totally unexpected) i found a renewed sense of loyalty toward him.
In the second book, Dead men Walking, you will get to know him a little more completley and find yourself forgiving his personal flaws and his unorthodox approach in his job is better tolerated. I found myself looking forward to he and Claire's relationship being solved than the murder. The conclusion of this book could have satisfied a conclusion of the series, but... wait, it gets even better.
The third book in the series takes off in a direction you wont expect. As Nate is pulled in and begins the investigation, I found myself dreading his possible decline as a husband and I disliked his flirty new partner immediately! You will find the fast pace of the action the real reason for not wanting to put it down but I almost did for the sole reason that I had fallen back in love with this character and truly didnt want to see him falter again! the story will have you in tears and I found myself feeling a little like vigilante saluting.
All three are great books with fast pace action and characters you cheer for.
All three books are superbly narrated by Paul McSorley who not only does a wonderful job at giving each character distinction, his clear and deep voice is perfect for this type of fast pace mystery action. I look forward to any stories that he narrates!
I really loved these stories and hope this is not the end of this series.

character driven

This was difficult to finish. I will say straight up that Paul McSorley's narration saved this trilogy.

I understand this was character-driven and Kwen D. Griffeth knocked it out of the park with his novel Shadow of the Moon. But this trilogy fell a bit flat for me. I thought the main character an ass during the first part of The Tenth Nail but halfway through the novel, his character took a nose dive if that was possible. Later on, I think Griffeth was trying to redeem Nate but in my opinion, he didn't succeed. His writing was well done, I just don't think he kept the reader (me) drawn in. But mainly, there were very few likable characters. I promised someone that I would finish this trilogy and that is the reason I did.

I will insert a caveat here: I wasn't sure what I thought of character-driven novels vs plot-driven before this trilogy and now I'm pretty sure I'm all about the plot. Being an introvert, I probably should have already known that. I would also like to say that if you're a fan of human behavior then you will love this trilogy and really like Kwen D. Griffeth's writing. I spent a LOT of time in college analyzing novels and can't seem to get away from that. I have to try and figure out what the author was trying to convey then whether or not they succeeded. However, after reading other reviewers, I seem to be in the minority where this trilogy is concerned.

Now the books:
The Tenth Nail was heavy on the characters and light on the mystery. Nate is a jerk through and through. His partner was the only likable character. Clare was nice enough but she seemed to have a supporting role and didn't seem all that fleshed out to me.

Dead Man Walking sees Nate in therapy and the mystery/plot is a bit more prominent. I like how Griffeth doesn't tie everything up nice and neat (much like real life) but keeps things a bit realistic. Not every case is going to get solved. The ending is a bit eye-opening. I was hoping to see the shrink again in the third book as I thought he was an interesting character.

Dances with the Devil was probably the best of the three. There was even more focus on the mystery in this book. I did figure out the motivation of the killer early on but that didn't take away from the enjoyment. There was a female partner that was truly annoying. People who don't take no for an answer and continue to sexually harass someone need to be reined in. I don't care what your gender is. It's unacceptable.

Paul J. McSorley did an outstanding job with this trilogy. His narration style makes you forget he's there. Your focus is completely on the characters and the story he's acting out. He does an excellent woman's voice without the falsetto that some male narrators resort to. He definitely made this trilogy easier to get through.

Compiled in wrong order

Disgusting to begin 2nd book and find out it is really Book#1.Quality assurance lacking.

Narrator disappointing

I liked the stories, would of enjoyed more had the narration been better. He narrated the book as if he were talking to 6 yr olds. Will not listen to another by this narrator.