Pretend You're Here

A. R. Shaw's Novella Collection

An FBI agent is investigating an elusive kidnapper. What she doesn't count on is becoming his next victim.

From USA Today best-selling author A. R. Shaw.

©2022 Annette Shaw (P)2022 Annette Shaw

Good as a preamble

I assume this is a preamble to a longer story. It’s short, almost like a teaser hinting at a much fuller story. At first I was not sure about the story or the narrator to be honest. However the story developed. I expected more from the author. I grew to absolutely love the narrator’s performance and by the end wanted more so I guess mission accomplished. The narrator is very straightforward. The differentiation of characters was clear and the tone fit. I would like to see what comes next.

Are we the sum of our experiences?

Are we the sum of our experiences? If they are gone is there a do over?
Pretend You’re Here is billed as a dystopian crime thriller and after listening to the audiobook version narrated by Vanial Ciric Patel and pondering the defemination of dystopian I can certainly say the billing is correct. While it isn’t like any dystopia stories I’ve ever read before due to a lack of any kind of apocalyptic catastrophe, I think this type of dystopia may even be worse. I would love to see this story line become a series, there must be more to come from Stephanie and Ben. Along with this being an excellent novella, Vanial’s narration brought each character to life.