Olive Park

The Park Trilogy: Volume 1

De: C. J. Booth

Narrado por: James Romick

A picture in a small black frame...

A knotted rope...

An abandoned carnival...

The Olive Park Murders. Some say the most horrific unsolved case in California history.

1997 - Olive Park, California - the bodies of three children are found buried in shallow graves, brutally murdered. One of the most intensive investigations in California history fails to find any trace of the killer and the case goes cold.

Fifteen years later - the newly formed Ongoing Investigation Division, charged with closing cold cases, is handed as its very first case - the Olive Park Murders. Detectives Stan Wyld and Jake Steiner, together with assistant Mallory Dimante, reopen the Olive Park case and find nothing new, until their examination of the original burial site turns up one chilling piece of evidence that proves Olive Park is no longer just a cold case about three dead children.

The truth is much worse. For the twisted killer of Olive Park has never stopped and has already chosen its next victim. And no one will be able to protect her. No one.

©2011 C. J. Booth (P)2019 C.J. Booth

Someone Has A Favorite Word

Any guesses? I have one guess as to what the author's favorite word is... shit!

Couldn't stop listening-suprise ending

Loved the book. Lots of interesting characters and twists and turns in the story. Loved narrator's performance. I was so surprised at the ending and the way everything worked together. It was hard to stop listening from about Chapter 25 on. I stayed up way too late many nights listening. .

Tight, suspenseful police procedural.

One of the best things about this gritty hard-boiled, cold case tale is the fact that for much of the book, it is telling two tales concurrently - both interesting - cutting back and forth from one to the other at just the right times to keep you in suspense. The fact that the two tales seem to be entirely unrelated to one another just adds to that suspense, as your mind tries to deduce how they fit together.
I will say that as the story unfolded, there were a couple times where I had a hunch about something that ended up being revealed further on. However, this did not diminish the story for me at all, and in fact added to the suspense as I waited to find out if I was right or not. And that to me is a sign of a good mystery - when you, as reader or listener, want to be part of the investigation.
Other than some occasional references to modern technology, there is a definite retro pulp quality to the narrative and the dialog. The choice of narrator adds to this aspect, as his voice has a good, authoritative tone (in an “Unsolved Mysteries” sort of way).
Another reviewer got hung up on the narrator mispronouncing “Placerville”. And while sure, it’s mispronounced, it’s also a completely logical mispronunciation for a non-local, and doesn’t diminish the story one bit.
In the climax of the book, as the two plot lines come together, the author’s skill with suspense, and the narrator’s talent at verbally conveying that suspense, make for one heck of a final act.
I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. And I was impressed enough to want to continue on, to the next book in the author’s Park Trilogy, on my own dime,
Good stuff!

DNF

I liked this book - the first few chapters were well written, with fascinating characters - well enough until the introduction of Mallory Dimante, and then my interest fizzled out completely. Pointless, annoying side characters tend to turn me off audiobooks because it's harder to skip the parts where they appear, so this book goes on the DNF pile.

5

This is a tightly written detective
story. Although it unfolds
slowly the author carefully builds an undercurrent of dark, very dark forces circling. Just an excellent book.