Out of the Shadows

A Detective Amy Sadler Mystery, Book 1

By: Michelle Arnold

Narrated by: Lisa L Wiley

Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

A woman who has been missing for three months is found dead with over 200 tally marks carved into her skin. For Detective Amy Sadler, who is still recovering mentally from a past undercover operation gone wrong, the case is as unsettling as it is frustrating. 

As more bodies appear with the same tally marks, Amy's only solace from the seemingly unsolvable case is the romance blooming between herself and forensic pathologist Dr. Lira Ward, a beautiful soul with a past even she doesn't understand. But that solace is shattered when the case collides with their personal lives in a way no one sees coming, and Amy is left wondering if she can salvage what they once had.

©2017 Michelle Arnold (P)2018 Michelle Arnold

Brilliant story

ok so this is my second time listening to the book. the audio was well dont and she did a great job expressing the emotions of the Characters the way the author intended.
this book as well as the kindle books are highly recommended.

Hard to put down once you start this book.

A fast paced story which I really enjoyed. Read as an e-book, But was great story to Listen to, the narrator Lisa L. Wiley really made the story come to life. The main characters were well written, the combination of the story and the story teller made the story hard to put down and made the characters really come to life. Well worth a read or listen to.

Story predictable but enjoyed it anyway

Road trips mean audible books. Thought I’d try this author. There’s potential here but yeah - the conversation between the main characters are from fairyland. “I love you, no I love you more..” If you accept these books for what they are, six hours in a car flies by! If not, find another book.
I do recommend the author find another narrator, sterile.

enjoyed it!

"I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator”.
 

Really great story

This was a very engaging story and the use of multiple story arcs was really fantastic.

Out of the Shadows

This was a good story.There is a serial killer and the two principal characters are a cop and a coroner.They are also a couple.I wish there had been more solving a mystery and less sex.It seemed to overwhelm the story to me.I'm not a big romance or porn fan. Lisa L Wiley did a fine job narrating. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.' 

Too much & too little

Maybe it’s just me, but I expected a book on murder and investigation to be more about that and less about the romance of the characters. I like the romance, but it took over the story.

Trigger warning for some...

The book had an interesting concept... this was more a suspense/drama/crime novel that had a bitbof romance blended in. It was a good mix but I felt like the crime story aspects of the novel were more fleshed out. I will admit I had a hard time getting through the book because of the details of the crimes in it. witjout spoilers, there are brutal rape scenes described in the book... more about the aftermath and such... just not what I want to read about. I feel like the love story between Lira and Amy could have used more development. It's like we got a little backstory on their friendship and then bam, they were in a relationship. Because Lira is very much described as a Bones (tv show) character- she is very literal and the sex scenes were all very clinical. I stuck it out because I wanted to see the end but I don't think I can read the other in the series. I think the story could just use a little more fleshing out and polishing, but if not for the subject matter I would continue the series otherwise.
And the narration was pretty good, but she did one thing that bugged me. She started out pronouncing the main characters name correctly as Leer-ah, but then a bit down the line she kept changing it between that and Lee-rah, with a hard emphasis on Lee. Since I share the same name, Lira... pronounced Leer-ah, it really really bugged me.

Great!

The story was very intriguing. Chose to listen to it without checking reviews, was pleasantly surprised by the entire plot line. Some very cheesy moments that made me say Ugh but definitely a satisfying ending. Looking forward to the next in the series. Excellent narration!

Very entertaining first book

An investigation series with a detective and pathologist partnership that focuses on the characters and their relationships. A mash-up of a Bones/Rizzoli and Isles relationship that develops into more as the story progresses with a backdrop of a sadistic killer causing mayhem. The book is at it's strongest when focusing on the character moments which is the majority of the book, but sometimes doesn't quite meld the investigation and character-driven storyline together perfectly. I am sure the next books will balance everything a little better and it will be as enjoyable as this book was.

The narration by Lisa L Wiley was great throughout, and really kept me engaged and entertained the entire time. I really felt like I was listening to these characters interacting together and thought Lisa captured the characters perfectly. I hope to hear more of her work in the future. The book is a solid and entertaining first book to a promising series.

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

Amazing book

I Enjoyed this audio book very much
Hopefully they will be more audio books
Must read on your list

Room for improvement

To begin with: There were several things I did not like about this book. Nevertheless, the story was good enough to also listen to the next book in the series.
The narrator - Lisa L Wiley - did a decent job narrating it.

Why only 3 stars?

- The romance between the two main characters is dealt with extremely quickly at the beginning of the book, as if this must be "done" before the main part begins. That was a little too hasty for my taste.

- The genre of the book is Mystery. But even this part is over at about half of the book. From then on, it's all about how the couple deals with the consequences of the crime. Of course that's also an important part, but it's just not in the right proportion for me.

- The Characters are all a little to naive for my liking. First the two protagonists, who actually already know that they could (at least potentially) also get targetet by the criminal they are chasing and still take no precautions.
But especially the culprit ... he has everything so well thought out and is supposedly so clever. And yet, as soon as you meet him, he makes one stupid mistake after the next, so that you as a reader (despite his incredibly bad deeds) can not really take him seriously.

As I said, I also listened to Book 2, which also was not perfect but much better. The characters were all very likable and the plot idea was really good but the implementation (in my opinion) not perfect.

Not Quite Bad Enough To Be Good

So sorry to say that whilst I gave this a chance, it fast became a personal challenge and test of endurance to reach the end.

The characters lacked in all areas, it was emotionless and so cheesy in parts I actually guffawed. I’m pretty sure the writer wasn’t intending this book to be comedic? I mean, who in their right writers mind uses the words vulva and labia in all seriousness within a sexual piece of text.

Not even the narrator could land an emotion for this work with pitching/tone that felt really out of context at times and often just irritating.

It felt juvenile, un-researched, mechanical and wholly amateurish.

I feel a personal accomplishment in reaching the conclusion of this book however I’m neither more enlightened nor better for it.

I would not recommend this book, unless you want a masterclass in how not to write a book or have it narrated.