The Drowned Girls

An Angie Pallorino Novel, Book 1

By: Loreth Anne White

Narrated by: Julie McKay

Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

He surfaced two years ago. Then he disappeared. 

But Detective Angie Pallorino hasn't forgotten the violent rapist who left a distinctive calling card - crosses etched into the flesh of his victim's foreheads. When a comatose Jane Doe is found in a local cemetery, sexually assaulted, mutilated, and nearly drowned, Angie is struck by the eerie similarities to her earlier unsolved rapes. Could he be back? 

Then the body of a drowned young woman, also bearing the marks of the serial rapist, floats up in the Gorge, and the hunt for a predator becomes a hunt for a killer. Assigned to the joint investigative task force, Angie is more than ready to prove that she has what it takes to break into the all-male homicide division. But her private life collides with her professional ambitions when she's introduced to her temporary partner, James Maddocks - a man she'd met just the night before in an intense, anonymous encounter. 

Together, Angie and Maddocks agree to put that night behind them. But as their search for the killer intensifies, so does their mutual desire. And Angie's forays into the mind of a monster shake loose some unsettling secrets about her own past. How can she fight for the truth when it turns out her whole life is a lie? 

©2017 Loreth Beswetherick (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Excellent New Series

Holy, holy, holy cow! What an intense, edgy, sitting-on-the-seat-of-my-pants novel. About 25% of the way into the book I was wondering if I could keep reading it. Detective Angie Pallorino might be too broken to tolerate as a heroine. Then along comes James Maddocks -- a strong, caring, tough homicide detective brand new to Victoria, B.C. Maybe he is too good and is this going to be an angst-driven romance? Big sigh -- just keep reading. The plot is spectacular, hints and red herrings galore, police procedural spot on (as much as I know of Canada law - which is not much), and more than one bad guy and different levels of bad guys. Pretty soon, I was sighing again -- big gulps of air filled with tension and out loud exclamations about what I was listening to. I was hooked completely. This was not my first Loreth Anne White book. I like her writing and I am so glad I read and trusted the reviews. Super book. A new great mystery/crime/detective writer for me to read.

Julie McKay was outstanding with the delivery of the story

Seriously couldn't get through the first hour

All I can say is seriously? Sounded like it had a great great story and plot and I was really looking forward to this listen, but right up front the narration was super annoying, which I thought I could deal with. Then... the hotel scene. It seemed like the author's agent said "you know, this is pretty good, but you know what it needs? Some really unrealistic pornography-style sex, right at the beginning". I couldn't deal hearing the narrator say "cock" or talk about his wonderful, gigantic cock one more time. If I wanted to read mommy bed time stories, there's a whole genre made for that. I am by no means a prude, but it was so forced and so out of the scope of the story that I thought I was reading. I chose this b/c it was a suspense/thriller. Total turn off. If you're not into gratuitous sex scenes, skip this one. I couldn't even finish.

Narrator lacking

Would you try another book from Loreth Anne White and/or Julie McKay?

Something bout this narrator's voice is so irritating. The way she ends her words is obnoxious. I will never buy another book narrated by her, she is detracting from the story with her voice. It is hard to enjoy a story when the narrator is so weird.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Julie McKay?

Susan Ericksen

Interesting plot/so so narration

I was really excited to start this book but oh boy was I disappointed in the narration. The plot and story were fine, but I couldn’t get into it as much as I wanted because of the narrator. All of the male characters sounded the same! I couldn’t tell any of them apart and the narrator made them all sound like they were from a B Italian mob movie! It was so irritating! Plus every sentence sounded like it was a question . “ She walked down the hall?” UGH it was awful. I think I would have liked this book better if I had read a paper copy of it. The plot was interesting, the main character was a little flawed with hopes of redemption and a romantic story line that could turn into more in future installments. Three things I like to see in books.
Hopefully if this series continues to a 3rd book (the second is already out with this narrator) they will get someone else to voice it.

Good Plot Lost Amid Too Many Cliched Threads

The basic premise, a serial killer stalking 'sinful' girls in Victoria B.C., is good but gets lost in an avalanche of plot threads and story arcs built out of TV police procedural cliches. The author seems to have decided that overwhelming the reader with dozens of superficially sketched side characters and stories fills up a story, but it just obscures it. The author should have cut the characters in half and spent time giving the ones remaining real full lives instead of relying on types and instead of writing as if antagonistic relationships equate to story tension. They don't. And if I read one more of these books where the cliched lead character has been profoundly damaged by some childhood event or a family murder and spends the entire story "coming to grips with it" or "seeking closure", I will type the review in UPPERCASE. Making your character an angry 'victim' isn't characterization. It's laziness.

Why shoot for porn?

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If she dropped all the bad writing about this guys wonderful cock I could have finished the book. I am not a prude, almost the opposite but it felt so forced I thought the editor made her put it in.

What was most disappointing about Loreth Anne White’s story?

It is an intriguing story of an interesting character chasing a fascinating serial killer. I just could not listen to all the crappy attempts at female porn enough to finish it.

What does Julie McKay bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I am highly dyslexic so audio is the only way to bring me the story. Her voice is interesting and easy to listen to.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It is a great story except for the crap inserted.

Unrealistic story combined with poor narrator

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

If you can suspend belief and get through the narration, then you might like this book. The book needed an editor. Someone to tell Loreth Anne White - that would NEVER happen in this situation - for example the motel scene. Nope. the ties. Yeah right. He would never allow that to happen, I don't care how "hard" up he was. Trying not to spoil it for those who read this.

Would you ever listen to anything by Loreth Anne White again?

I have read others but she is quickly losing favor with me.

Would you be willing to try another one of Julie McKay’s performances?

Absolutely not. Her voice makes her sound angry, and bitter even when she is not angry and bitter.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Drowned Girls?

Motel Scene. New first day job getting lead on case both unrealistic.

Overall, ok story

but they narrator had a distracting inflection that took me a long time to adjust to. Almost gave up, which I never do. Warning- explicit sex scenes.

Excellent Story

Any additional comments?

The story line is intense and kept me on the edge of my chair. Angie was a flawed and complex character. I look forward to reading more of this author. This is my first audible book in which the narration detracted from my overall enjoyment of listening to the book. Her voice inflections seem more appropriate to a newscast not telling a story. Her "voices" were also distracting for me. Given the choice, I would not listen to her again.

Intense suspense (and graphic sex)

Loreth Anne White writes wonderful suspense novels in which she always includes several extremely graphic sexual encounters. This is the 5th novel of hers I have read. The Drowned Girls crosses several genre lines. Audible classifies this book as modern detective mystery/thriller which is fair. It could also be classified as romance suspense, psychological thriller, police procedural, or suspense mystery/thriller. In any case it is a well written intense suspense novel with well defined characters. Author White includes an embarrassing (to the protagonist) opening scene in this novel that reminds me of an almost identical scene in the first show of the first season of the Grey's Anatomy ABC-TV show. Narration is superb.

Too mucky for me...

I found the sex text too much, they distract from the overall story and I couldn't listen to the whole book.

cannot decide what it wants to be

This book simply cannot decide what it wants to be - a crime thriller, erotica, horror... The sex scenes are cringingly bad not because they are bad in itself but because they are not written in a way that draws the reader in and thus just disturb the flow. The characters are flat and it all makes the story a little confusing and meh.