The Broken Doll

Justice Is a Moving Target

By: Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Christina Traister

Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

A sociopath cuts a path of destruction across the rural Midwest. In pursuit: a vigilante detective and a prosecutor, one bent on revenge, the other on virtue. And in the wrong place at the wrong time: a doctor in a life-and-death moral struggle. Barreling toward justice, their fates converge in these four interlocking short stories of cunning misdirection by internationally bestselling author Jeffery Deaver.

The Pain Hunter

A violent jailbreak bleeds into a street fair in Wisconsin. In the wake of the carnage, a getaway van barrels down a rural highway. Inside are two men with a tenuous bond: an obsession with pain.

Dodge

Nothing can stop an avenging vigilante from channeling her rage—or pursuing her prey. Not the relentless cops in her rearview. Not the cunning and elusive sociopath she’s closing in on.

Execution Day

When justice is on the line, the courtroom becomes a battleground for a prosecutor obsessed with victory, a defense attorney hired to thwart it and a wily defendant making a bid for freedom.

Sixty-One Seconds

The hunter has captured her prey, and a sociopathic crime boss faces justice at last. But it’s not the end of the story. On a crowded street, gunfire and death are waiting to explode.

©2022 Gunner Publications, LLC. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Christina Traister's talented narration is the perfect match for these four interconnected stories, each one packed with plenty of Deaveresque surprises. Listeners follow a developing cat-and-mouse game between Paul Offenbach, a twisted sociopath, and Special Agent Constant Marlowe, who is set on avenging the brutal murder of her friend by Offenbach. Traister creates highly believable characters, and her portrayals of the men in the stories are particularly strong. Her careful timing allows listeners to immerse themselves in the adventure and helps to build tension as each new plot twist is revealed.”—AudioFile Magazine

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it's not for everyone

These stories are interlocking and require more thought by the reader than the average story. If you are looking for the end to be tied up with the bow, this is not your story. I'm going to look around for more stories like this.

Once you get used to the order of the stories

Once you get used to the order of the stories, it is very enjoyable to try and put each of the four different stories together matching up the timelines and the characters. Once you do, it is worth it.

Good Story, Not Good Audio

Deaver is a complicated writer, and while I understand the complexity of his sentence structure, listening to this performance was painful. It was robotic and oddly halted, with weirdly timed breaks and incorrect pronunciations. A little better by the end of the book. Would have preferred to read it myself. Not sure I can finish the series if the reader is the same.

misdirection only works when others are willing

Very easy finished in a day. Enjoyed the ability to see from more than one perspective. Is any one above the law or impermeable to capture?

Another Deaver story

A different kind of story, which was fun to listen. Story starts at the ending and jumps back to the main story. So you need to pay attention, but that is easy to do.

Introducing a heroine

The young lady investigator, who is also a champion boxer, is a great protagonist. The bad guy, a drug dealer and human trafficker is ready to hate. A grew loose ends - the murder accomplice found innocent and the final apprehension of the bad guy. His capture and elimination seem imminent.

Disappointing

I usually love Deaver’s books. But this one was a real disappointment. The plot was all over the place, going forward and back in time but not logically at all. It seemed like it had been written for several installments or something because so much was repeated. The editor / publisher should never have let this book go out the way it is.

Also , the narrator was terrible. But I listened to the end— only it wasn’t the end. I guess there will be a sequel. I won’t be listening to that one.

Had to return

He is my favorite author, but I couldn’t listen to the reader. I tried because he is a great writer.
If the narrator isn’t good, it is hard for me to get into the story. I guess I’ll just buy the book.