The Botanist

By: L. K. Hill

Narrated by: Larry Oblander

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

In the heat of the desert, Detective Cody Oliver makes an alarming and inadvertent discovery - a strange garden, adorned with various exotic flowers, is a showy cover for the scores of bodies buried below. Soon, the small town of Mt. Dessicate plunges into chaos as journalists, reporters, and cameramen from across the nation clamor to get a piece of the action.

Along with the media, a mysterious woman appears who may be the only person who has come face to face with the killer, known as the Botanist. If Detective Cody can’t piece together the crime scene, decipher how the woman’s mysterious past is connected to the killer, and bring the Botanist to justice, he may lose the people he values most.

©2017 Liesel Hill (P)2019 Liesel Hill

I think the narrator saved the story

don't get me wrong the story was interesting enough it was a great kind of story but come on but characters Kent behave so ‏comply wife the story in the world to come to believe the situation i don't want to make and folders bubble it wasn't a bad story it was actually quite good if everything would be a bit differently I would say the story was absolutely perfect I did enjoyed a lot of the book I didn't enjoy the characters Behavior the history of the town was quite fascinating ended the story was very very solid yet again the story wasn't bad but it wasn't perfect and it's okay if I would say this story is the movie I would change some things but this story is actually a very solid plot for a good Hollywood movie

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

Dark and Twisted Thriller

So many twists and turns. I felt as if every sentence of this audiobook was laced with suspense and tension. I absolutely adored it.

Alex, on a personal journey down a dark road, runs across the path of a man who’s she’s sure has no business in a police car. After her close encounter, Alex reports the incident, and goes about her life…until four years later when mass graves are uncovered near the spot of her encounter. Desperate to catch a killer and unlock the truth of her personal nightmares, Alex puts herself directly in the center of a murder investigation, one she’s much more involved in than she knows.

The characters in this book, Alex and Cody, were very well written. They had such drastic personalities that they made the story as profound as it was. For all the thriller/murder mystery books that I’ve read, I’ve never come across one with such an amazingly complicated plot.

This is a must read for all fans of psychological thrillers.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Great suspenseful listen!

This story is a well-written, creepy, suspenseful thriller by L. K. Hill. There are twists and turns throughout the book. At one point, I almost missed an appointment because something unexpected happened RIGHT when I pulled into the parking lot and I REALLY wanted to know the outcome. I thought I knew where it was going early on, and I was close, and yet so far! There is the beginning of a romance, but this is not a romantic story.

I really liked that the heroine, Alex, was strong physically and mentally. To endure what happened to her, yet have that ending, shows just how strong a person she is. Although the ending was satisfactory, I do wish we knew more about some of the other characters in the story, especially the killer, but most were very well rounded, full characters - the killer was as well, I just wanted to know more about his motivations and how he picked his "flowers".

There were some problems with the story - I didn't think some logical paths were checked by the police, for instance. That is back-seat driving though, and after watching real-life police stories on TV, I've found the police can do a lot less than I initially thought. So, I can forgive this in the story.

The narrator Larry Oblander is excellent - one of the best narrators I've listen to! I look forward to listening to more from both this author and this narrator.

A Great Listen

A dark night on a dark road and you're pulled over by police cruiser, can your night get worse? Maybe, especially if the officer is just "off" and your instincts are telling you to run. The experience stays with you for years and then one day you see a newscast from that town about a mass grave that's been found. Now you know why you've never forgotten that night. Interesting characters, suspense and action will keep you listen until the very end. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review.

Wow!

I just finished this and I have to say I was very impressed. The storyline held me captive, the characters were believable, and the man doing the narration did an excellent job!

A well narrated serial killer tale

I have never read any of Ms Hill's work but I love audiobooks and serial killers so when I was given the chance to get a free copy of this book I jumped at the chance. The title says it is A Small Town Romantic Suspense Thriller with Cute Detectives Serial Killers Murder and Heart Stopping Twists and Turns. Well, there is some romance but not too much. I guess Cody the lead detective was cute, there definitely was a serial killer and there were twists and turns. Mt Dessicate is a small town in the desert in far western Utah near St George, an area I am familiar with so I could relate to it. The book has a fairly strong but not perfect heroine but she is pretty much the only female character of any consequence besides the victims. Driving down a back road in the desert late at night on her way home Alex is stopped by a policeman with a raspy voice. He ends up letting her go but she feels like there is something weird so she stops at the next town's police station to report it. A very young policeman takes the report but doesn't seem too interested. Several years later Alex hears about a serial killer case in the town with a mass grave with blue tulips (hence the title) very near where she was stopped. She returns to the area to remind the police of her report and stays to help the police. The detective in charge is the same officer to whom she made her report so her doesn't just write her off. The police work seemed realistic for a small town that has little crime. There were twists and turns involving some history of the town which gave me an idea of who the killer might be but there was still plenty of suspense and some twists I didn't see coming. The book was wrapped up well and didn't leave the reader hanging. The narrator Larry Oblander did an excellent job. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of Ms Hill's work.

A serial killer or not

I listened as an ARC reviewer and fell in love with a new author to me. The story kept me up listening from start to finish. A killer is loose and now a girl has been seen being dragged into a vehicle kicking and screaming. Bodies have been discovered in the desert. A toddler was found wandering alone on a highway. What is happening in this town? You will love this story and the narrator is perfect for this audiobook. I can't praise this story enough. I highly recommend it.

Crimes across decades, Hints, twists upon twists

Stories across years can be intriguing, and this book is no exception. Immediately we are placed in a situation that breathes threatening evil - and yet we are left free to move on. Why me? Then to learn that more have been there but not "walked away".
What happened to them? Is anyone looking into these dusty files that have so much in common with what you just experienced? Who is this unknown who gives us glimpses? Glimpses hinting at what?
Yes, I was hooked quickly and found it difficult to put the story down for the night. Brilliance and malevolence bought together in a captivating story any gritty mystery lover will relish.

The Botanist

Wow!What a ride.'The Botanist' seems to be after one woman.He has her in his grasp a few times.What she stumbles into will change her life forever.It looses cohesion near the end,but is a really great read. Larry Oblander was a very good narrator. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

Epic!!

Incredibly suspenseful mystery novel. Highly exciting and such a well written book. I really enjoyed this story and will definitely listen to more from the author. Narration was very well done as well.