Paradise Valley

A Cassie Dewell Novel

By: C. J. Box

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

"Christina Delaine delivers a thrilling performance of this high-stakes hunt for a killer...Notably, Delaine's sensitive portrayal of a young man with a speech impediment adds emotional depth, while her depiction of the elusive Lizard King generates chills." — AudioFile Magazine

She almost caught him once. Now, he's back.

For three years, Investigator Cassie Dewell has been on a hunt for a serial killer known as the Lizard King whose hunting grounds are the highways and truck stops where runaways and prostitutes are most likely to vanish. Cassie almost caught him...once. Working for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff's department, Cassie has set what she believes is the perfect trap, and she has lured him and his truck to a depot. But the plan goes horribly wrong, and the blame falls on Cassie. Disgraced, she loses her job, and investigation into her role is put into motion.

At the same time, Kyle Westergaard, a troubled kid whom Cassie has taken under her wing, has disappeared after telling people that he's going off on a long-planned adventure. Kyle's grandmother begs Cassie to find him, and, with nothing else to do, Cassie agrees - all the while hunting the truck driver. Now Cassie is a lone wolf. And in the same way that two streams converge into a river, Kyle's disappearance may have a more sinister meaning than anyone realizes. With no allies, no support, and only her own wits to rely on, Cassie must take down a killer who is as ruthless as he is cunning. But can she do it alone, without losing her own humanity or her own life?

©2017 C. J. Box (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Did Box really write this book?

Would you try another book from C. J. Box and/or Christina Delaine?

I have read all Box's books. Huge fan of his stories. But this was awful. Story was so contrived. Maybe the Delaine narration made it worse. Her character voices were terrible. Wasted a credit. Hard to believe Box wrote this book.

Another great story but terrible performance!

The performance of this novel made me wish I had read the book instead of listening to it. I had to increase the speed to 1.25 in order to make it bearable. The characterization Of the male characters was really bad. If felt like many of them were shouting. Female characters were much better. Not the usual experience with a CJ Box story!!

Excellent

This was a fantastic book! So well written! Loved Cassie and hope to see her in another book or series!
I now have listened to all of CJ. Box's book! Five star everyone! Thank you
Joe, Nate and Cassie

CJ Box is fantastic!

I have listened to every single book written by him...this book was my all time favorite! Usually I limit listening to when I am walking. I listened to Paradise Valley when cooking, driving and anything else I did...Kyle & Cassie are fantastic characters!

Narrators, don't do voices when you can't

The story itself is a pedestrian "beleaguered cop seeks exoneration by pursuing the bad guy on her own" story. It was far from Box's best. That being said, the narration made it virtually unendurable to finish, which I did only because of the author. The narrator, a women, felt compelled for some reason to affect male voices. Unable to produce a passable baritone, she resorted to what can only be described as making every man sound as though he was suffering from severe intestinal distress. Not fun to listen to, at all.

Paradise Valley

Story was excellent. The narrator is brutal though. I agree with other comments, I had to change the speed to 1.25 to make is bearable. She does a really bad a loud job narrating the male parts. It’s really bad. Story is good though. I would seriously consider passing on anything else Christina Delaine narrates.

Narrator takes away from this story

Reading through reviews to see if anyone was distracted by the narration and find that many of the readers like Miss Delaine's work. I thought the story was great. I've become a big fan of CJ Box. But just thought the characterization was overdone. I liked January Lavoy's choices much better. Also, I don't understand why all these people from Montana have southern accents.

Awesome

As always CJ Box has written an exciting mystery. ,filled with surprise twists and turns. He goes about the evil things very well, but keeps the good shown in his protagonist Cassie Dual and some of the law enforcement that assist her in tracking down killer's. The evil one Lizard King has been around too long, in his previous books, so I'm glad this is the last of him. The narration by Christina Delaine was excellent, she does male and female interpretations beautifully. I look forward to hear more of her narration. Looking forward to more CJ Boxes's novels. I'm a fan. Janice

Nice! A female protagonist!

I liked the cast of characters in this story. I liked the plot--mostly. It was a little bit too coincidental, but that's C. J. Box. You buckle up and go along for the ride.

I'd like to give it more than 4 stars, but I can't quite get to 5. I'd definitely read more about Cassie, but there's something lacking in the character development. I came away with a better sense of Bull than I did Cassie. Of course, Bull hits right in that sweet spot that Mr. Box does so well.

Cassie is a departure for him. For a first effort, it wasn't bad. Solid B+. He still has a ways to go to effortlessly describe a female character. I think he could benefit from reading some female authors (oh, the horror!) like Karin Slaughter. She absolutely nails that female, career cop character with Amanda.

Good story, so-so narration

I enjoyed the story, liked the ending. However, the narrator was hard to listen to, especially when voicing the male characters. Most of them seemed to have southern drawls which is odd in a book set in ND and MT. Most female voices were whiny and shrill. I hate shrill! And the pacing was slow as molasses. I sped it up to 1.25.