Now You See Him

Roy Ballard, Book 4

By: Ben Rehder

Narrated by: Johnny Peppers

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jeremy Sawyer was having a great time on a party barge on Lake Travis, and then he was suddenly nowhere to be found. Had he jumped? Fallen off? Been pushed? Roy Ballard - an expert in catching insurance cheats - intends to find out. After all, Jeremy Sawyer was the nephew of one of his biggest clients, and she can't shake the suspicion that it wasn't an accident. It isn't long before Roy and his partner Mia Madison begin to draw the same conclusion.

©2017 Ben Rehder (P)2017 Ben Rehder

come on Roy. You knw better thsn that.

i enjoy Roy Ballard mysteries, and this one is pretty typical. But ol'e Roy gets a tad over the top with the "this is a really really bad idea so I think I'll go for it" routine. Mia is a fool to stay with that boy. He could do with a dose of common sense in this story.

Excellent novel in an offbeat series!

NOW YOU SEE HIM is the 4th novel in the Roy Ballard series. I have previously listened to and reviewed the first three series novels. Ballard and his partner Eve have a video business working for insurance companies to document people with faked injuries. They are not licensed to be private investigators and they are not cops, but in each novel they manage to get involved in and solving criminal cases. I seldom complain that a publisher's summary does not set up a novel adequately, but that is true with NOW YOU SEE HIM. Unless the listener is familiar with earlier books in the series the summary provides no useful information. The novels in the Roy Ballard series are set in Austin, Texas. Johnny Peppers' narration is first rate.

Another 5 Star Roy Ballard... Great Series!!!!

This is the forth book in the Roy Ballard series. I've listened to the other three as well and they are equally as good. I had been hesitant about purchasing another book from this author because I had originally purchased a book from his "Blanco County" series and I couldn't even finish the book. This series is written so differently if I didn't know better I would swear it was written by a different author.
Anyway, in this book a young man goes overboard off of a party barge in a very large lake. After that all of the party goers claim no knowledge and no one sees him again. Later that night another man who was at the party is assaulted in his home. Little is stolen but his cell phone is one of the items.
Roy Ballard is a videographer who films people committing insurance fraud. That is not the case here but a relative of the missing man is one of Ballard's clients and she doesn't believe it was an accident.
Ballard picks up clues a little bit at a time, each clue points his investigation in a different direction giving the reader multiple plausible scenarios throughout the book. It's not until almost the end when he gets the final clue pointing to what really happened on the barge that night and whether or not a crime was committed.
Johnny Peppers narrates this and the other Roy Ballard books. He does an excellent job.
This book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Thank You.

Roy & Mia

Now You See Him by Ben Rehder pulled me in immediately. I have recently started this series and enjoy the author's writing style and the characters of Roy and Mia. I find the twists are excellent. Johnny Peppers is wonderful bringing the characters to life with his voice. He adds the right emotions.

Mia humanizes

I liked that Mia advocated for Dennis and his needs. Mia is having blind spots and rose colored glasses where Garland is concerned AGAIN!!! FIinally a reason to like Mia when she starts adding up the clues to where's Roy at!!! lol. What an abrupt shocking ending!!! Kudos. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a great job with voices and expressions.

Another great Ballard story

This is a completely solid entry in the Ballard series. I think the sub-case in this story, one focused around a medical problem related to a vaccine, is both timely and the real highlight here. One note - eventually, I'd like to see something of a focus again on the subplot from the first two novels about Roy's strained relationship with his daughter and ex-wife. I think there's some potential there for a strong plot. Maybe that's addressed in other novels, but it does feel out of place that it was such a central focus in the first two books and then doesn't get much of a focus again.

That said, the meat of the novel is superb, as always. Looking forward to starting the next one.

A book with a big splash

I enjoyed this book. The reason being with two very different cases going on it never got boring. The main case (Roy's) was interesting as every step he took he got beaten up or threatened, I couldn't help but wonder if they hadn't have gone in so heavy handed would be have just written it off as a accident? Either way I liked how it played out and eventually got solved, good job he has a tough partner in Mia. The side story (Mia's case) was my favourite I just couldn't help but like Dennis. The story was also backed up with Roy's wit and humour and of course the complicated relationship between the two main characters. Look forward to seeing where the author takes the characters to next.
When there main client Heidi's nephew dies while on a party boat, she asks Roy and Mia to take a look and see. Roy was ready to write it off as a drunken teenager accident but another boy from the party boat gets attacked in his own home and his phone stolen. Is someone trying to cover something up? Roy gets a visit from a thug who tries to kill him and it seems somebody doesn't like him asking questions but can be fine the right one? At the same time Mia is investing a case where a tetanus shot causes some strange side effects but with a shy patient and protective family members it proves hard to find out if he is faking it or he really does have a medical condition. Can the pair wrap up both cases? Or will Roy get distracted with Mia's ex back in town?
I like the narrator. Roy's sense of humour and banter comes across nicely with this narrator timing.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Now you see him

Roy really gets himself in a mess with this case. And it’s sad that if he was not involved this case would have been ruled an accident. Another fun listen in this series! And another great Roy narration!

Great listen

Another good book from Ben Rehder
A thriller that gets the characters involved & gets you thinking.
A passenger goes missing from the boat, pushed, fell?
But it’s not just as straight forward as it sounds.
Narrator is very good in this book as well.

enjoyed

I enjoyed listening to Johnny Peppers


I do love these books. You have great characters and plots. Roy and Mai have another mystery to find the answer to. Love the humour and twists and turns in the plot.

Loved it

I'm totally invested in this series now and have a special place in my heart for Roy and Mia. So when Heidi's nephew drowns, I was heartbroken for her. She's Roy's main source of income and she gives as good as she gets when it comes to Roy's witty one-liners. There was a lot more danger in this book and shades of some very dark goings on. But you can never feel too down with Roy on the scene, he's so funny and contrary. I must see if he and Mia are free to come to dinner. Yes, they are so well drawn they feel like real people to me. All credit to Ben Rehder for creating such great characters and to Johnny Peppers for bringing them to life. I think this series is top notch.

Roy Ballard book 4

Once again this was a very good story or should I say stories as there were two cases being solved, the unfortunate death of a teenager and the case of a tetanus shot gone wrong....Really? I like how the ever so witty Roy handles his investigations together with his lovely partner Mia.

Witty, and a little gritty. Great listening.

This latest investigation is a little different. Their best client asks Roy to look into the death of her nephew. As he does so he finds himself having to deal with assault and cover-up and a whole lot of trouble. Meanwhile Mia's ex returns and things get chaotic and messy.
Another witty, fast paced and fun listen with excellent narration from Johnny Peppers, whose style replicates the classic noir seamlessly with the witty repartee.
Listen to the series in order so there are no spoilers as there is an overarching story arc.

Book 4 does not disappoint

After an apparent accident on a party cruise Roy is asked by one of his clients to look into what happened as the victim is her nephew. She is convinced it was not an accident and needs to know the truth before she can rest easy. As Roy and Mia get themselves into even more trouble whilst trying to find out the truth Mia is also distracted as her ex is back on the screen just as Roy believes he finally has a chance with her. My two old friend are yet again putting their lives on the line to find out the truth as well as skirting around each other when it comes to matters of the heart. Never disappoints and I actually cheered at the end.

Entertaining

I’m now 4 books in to this series and the entertainment factor does not diminish. The narrator does a great job with the sarcastic and witty Roy.
Roy Ballard is not one to not see a case through to its conclusion even at the risk of his life. A couple of very near misses for our videographer in this one!
Plenty going on her to more than keep the listener/reader invested in the outcome and as for the ending ...... I didn’t see that coming.

Great mystery

Another great whodunnit that wraps you up until the very end.

Narrator is a great fit for the book and keeps it going throughout with good pacing and intonations.

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for a review