The Broken Places

A Novel

De: Mia Sheridan

Narrado por: Nicol Zanzarella, Will Damron, Leon Nixon

In this twisted journey into the shadows of the Golden Gate, an inspector and an FBI agent must track down the source of an unknown drug, but their attraction and their own secrets keep getting in the way.

The streets of San Francisco aren’t as sunny as the city pretends they are. Inspector Lennon Gray has learned this the hard way, and it’s starting to wear on her. When a new case plunges her into the depths of the transient community, Lennon must once again face ugly truths about humanity.

Her new partner makes things a little easier, though.

Agent Ambrose Mars is charming—innocent, somehow, despite his own hard years in the field. The combination leaves Lennon fascinated and disturbed at the same time, and she’s even more drawn to him for it.

As they investigate the hallucinogenic drug that’s forcing homeless citizens into bizarre and dangerous role-plays, Lennon and Ambrose find their relationship intensified with every new twist. But when these revelations begin to uncover secrets she wasn’t prepared to know, Lennon will have to decide how much more she can take…before something important is taken from her.

©2024 Mia Sheridan (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Very good gritty detective mystery!

My tags for this thriller: realistic / original / page-turner / unpredictable / entertaining

Overall: 4 stars!
Story: 4.5 stars!
This detective novel had a very good gritty mystery with strong characters. I was on the wrong track for who the killer was, doh!

Learning about issues facing San Francisco's vulnerable members, the impact on the community, the special project that inspired the killer, and the sincere efforts of many sincere community members to help some of those hurt individuals heal was interesting.

Performance by 3 narrators:
Will Damron - 5 stars! He was very good at representing both male and female characters.
Nicol Zanzarella - 4 stars! Her acting was good overall, and I liked her style of doing both female and male characters. However, I found the rhythm of her delivery dragged oddly to my ears and that even listening on 1.5x didn't change that much. I'm not sure how she could fix this on future books, but I hope that she does somehow.
Leon Nixon - 5 stars! I really enjoyed his cameo style addition to the voice cast. It was a really cool decision to have a different actor play his part, bravo!

Final verdict: I highly recommend this one if you're looking for a good thriller to read.

Thrilling Story

4 ⭐ 1 🌶️ 4 🎧

I absolutely love Mia's romance stories, so when I saw she wrote a thriller with a touch of romance I basically ran 🏃‍♀️ This was so good. Twisty, suspenseful, with a touch of spice and some really thought provoking plot lines.

It took me a minute to get into the story with the third person narrative and there were moments I found myself backing up thinking I'd missed something, which is why I gave it 4 stars, but ultimately this was still very very enjoyable and an exciting read. I really enjoyed the whodunit aspect and had fun making my guesses along the way, only to have my jaw falling to the floor in the end.

The audio was great. Nikol Zanzarella, Will Damron and Leon Nixon all did wonderful jobs with these characters and this story and I'd highly recommend a listen.

love Mia sheridan

love Mia sheridan, but this was hard to get into the I did enjoy the middle part and then at the end it was difficult to listen to. It's got a lot of sadness and it's kind of brutal too. Or it's totally brutal. I have had a lot of experience with the people that are described in the book so maybe that's why it impacted me more deeply. either way, I guess it's good for people who haven't seen this side of life to understand it so in that respect it's positive. But it was a challenging book though the message was important.

Great story!

It started a little slow but once it grabs you, it's got you hooked! The narrator did a great job and Mia Sheridan wrote a great story!

Broken places

I didn’t dislike anything about this book it was narrated perfectly and the story actually gave me food for thought. It’s not my usual type of story but I stumbled upon this story and it was pleasantly different.

Check your triggers.

I one-click Mia Sheridan's books blindly and let her take me where she will. Either with her contemporary romances or her darker books and The Broken Places was no different. Just be warned that the content and subject matter in this book is dark and even a little relevant which makes it more troubling.

Lennon is part of the SFPD and is involved in multiple cases that may or may not be linked. There are murders taking place that all have some sort of new drug involved. Could a serial killer be on the loose? Or is this something else completely?
After her most recent partner leaves to live a more quiet life with their spouse, Lennon is set up with Ambrose as a partner. He's from the FBI and it looks like she may even be training him a bit when it comes to murder cases. They have an immediate connection and seem to work the cases quite well together. They go beyond what is right in front of them. Connecting the cases on a more emotional base.

The Broken Places is told in dual POV as well as dual timelines going back in time with a patient that is experiencing a debilitating trauma. With a cast combining the police force, family, victims, a podcaster, a patient, unhoused people, sex workers and addicts, this story combines a little bit of everything that all has to do with the present predicament Lennon and the SFPD finds themselves in. The past and present collides along with the secrets that Ambrose is keeping from Lennon until everything comes to an explosive head connecting everything in a very unsettling way.

Right from the beginning, I was immersed into this gripping and dark world. I loved Lennon's character and the fact that she wasn't your typical detective. She gave more of a personal and tangible feel to her character and the job she had to do. I almost felt the same way about Ambrose, but knowing he was hiding something troubled me a bit, especially when these two characters connected on a deeper level. I didn't want Lennon to get hurt as I was invested in her. So, it was nice that the author told the story from both Lennon's and Ambrose's POVs.

As I listened to the audiobook, I felt even closer to these characters and the steps they had to take to solve the connection of the murder and drugs. From the side characters to even the extra little background sounds, the production added to the overall darker feeling of the story.

With all this said, I appreciated the way Sheridan built this world and slowly gave us crumbs to put everything together along with Lennon and Ambrose. The past trauma, addiction, secrets, and betrayal of this dark "underworld" followed by love, healing and forgiveness all worked together with the overall story. It may be dark and disturbing, but it was real. And at the end of the day, there was also hope underneath it all.

Another winner

Very likable characters and the story is told well. Great story with lots of twists and I couldn't wait to find out what happens next. Another winner. Mia Sheridan is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors.

Wish I looked up triggers before starting

Wish I looked up triggers before starting, but read the book for a book club.. would not pick up again

Boring

Slow. Boring. Do not recommend. I typically like Mia Sheridan. I did not like this at all.

Author deviated from the actual plot and got caught up with sexually explicit content.

Disliked detailed sexual content that popped into the story and derailed the plot that was starting to unfold.