Rock Paper Scissors

By: Matty Dalrymple

Narrated by: Victoria Matlock

Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

She was born with an extraordinary ability….

…and while she tries to hide it, others seek to control it. 

Who will win this deadly zero-sum game? 

Rock breaks scissors. Scissors cut paper. Paper covers rock. The rules are simple - except when it's people's lives at stake.  

When Lizzy’s parents discover the damage she can do with her mind, they hide her away, trying to save her from life as a human lab rat...and trying to save others from her power.

But they can't hide her forever. 

Little do they know that professed friends are actually enemies who will eliminate anyone who gets in the way of their goal of turning Lizzy’s power to their own ends.  

As her protectors are picked off one by one, will Lizzy be able to escape from this deadly zero-sum game?  

Find out now in this first installment of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers Trilogy! 

©2017 William Kingsfield Publishers (P)2017 William Kingsfield Publishers

start to a very promising series

This is an edge-of-your-seat thriller with some very well developed characters, made all the more believable by the superb narration of Victoria Matlock. There's no explanation of how Lizzy got her ability, but it's easy enough to suspend disbelief and just accept it.

Thankfully, this story does not end in a cliffhanger, although it's obviously set up for the next book in the series. I hope to eventually have the opportunity to review that one -- the series seems that promising.

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

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Gripping Thriller

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.

This is the first book in the Lizzie Ballard Thriller series. It is a standalone story with no cliffhanger ending but it does have a setup for the next book in the series.

Here, Patrick and Charlotte Ballard are trying to start a family but experiencing fertility issues. Upon the recommendation of a friend, they visit a fertility clinic. Soon, the Ballards have a daughter, Lizzie. However, Charlotte begins to experience headaches every time Lizzie gets angry. The headaches get more and more intense until Charlotte is diagnosed with having had several mini-strokes. They hire a housekeeper, who unbeknownst to the Ballards is being paid by the fertility clinic to watch and report on Lizzie. Charlotte figures out that Lizzie has a gift which has caused Charlotte's health problems - so the Ballards determine they must keep Lizzie and society safe by isolating her and trying to teach her how to control her powers but it's not that simple as there are those who want to use Lizzie's powers and others who want to harm her.

This is a well-written gripping thriller, which slowly unfolds and reveals Lizzie's true powers. The characters are well-developed and likeable. While Lizzie is incredibly bright, she is also very naive and innocent - which was a great dichotomy as Lizzie was trying to figure out her way in the world and who she could trust. Overall, an engaging and very entertaining story.

The narrator did a very good job - she did voices for the various characters so you could easily differentiate them during conversations. I also liked as the suspense would increase in the story, the narrator's voice would rachet up the tension and pace of her narration.

Absolutely Intruiging

The author takes us on a suspenseful and original story that had me totally captivated throughout. I was incredibly impressed by this story and all the twists throughout. Very well written and I really like Lizzy as a character, and her ability is interesting and she seems smart, which I like in a main character. I like that this story caught me off guard and that I wasn't able to predict where the author was taking us.

Fabulous narration that fit this story perfectly. I was equally impressed with the performance and look forward to more by this narrator.

I received a review copy at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

Great story line

I enjoyed the story line of this book although I feel like it could have gone in to more detail and mystery, it had the feel of teenager detail (let’s not get to gory). Growing up in seclusion to protect the people around you and never being able to get angry until you know how to harness your power. Than to learn that you are not alone that there are more “manufactured” children like yourself. Glad the author left it open to a second book.
I received this free for an honest review from the author or narrator.

Great Story Idea

I really think this story could have been more effective if the content was more direct instead of having so much exposition. I really like the plot and the story—girl gets angry, causes others brains to bleed (very Carrie-esq). However, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a story like this so I wanted Rock, Paper, Scissors to be more exciting and original. I was pumped when they got to the explanation of why the book is called Rock, Paper, Scissors—it’s the mental game Lizzy was playing with Gerard, but then it fell flat when it ended up being a regular ole’ cat/mouse game—nothing new and exciting.

As for the narration, Victoria Matlock has this breathy quality to her voice that was slightly distracting. The production value was not 100%. I also don’t know if she loved the book as much as she should have, because I felt no emotion from her during the reading. However, I respected the choices she made for each voice.

Recommend

This is a great story! My first audio book and my first Matty Dalrymple book. I'm looking forward to the next Lizzy volume.