The Nightmare Thief

By: Meg Gardiner

Narrated by: Tara Ward

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

Autumn Reiniger wants something special for her 21st birthday. Daddy’s bought her the car and the apartment, but now she wants excitement. And what Autumn desires, she gets. Her father signs up Autumn and five friends for an ultimate urban reality game. Edge Adventures alert the SF police that a “crime situation” is underway, so the authorities will ignore any squealing tyres or desperate cries for help. Then - when working on a case nearby - Jo Beckett encounters a group of men carting six sullen college kids to the woods for a wilderness adventure. Suspicious, she takes a closer look. And winds up with an invite to a birthday party she may never leave….

©2011 Meg Gardiner (P)2011 Isis Publishing Ltd

Gripping story

Where does The Nightmare Thief rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was my first audio book, so it took a while to get used to, especially as there are a number of characters involved.

What other book might you compare The Nightmare Thief to and why?

Any good thriller.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the storyline and quickly became hooked.

A gripping tale of wrongdoing, revenge & nastiness

This is the fourth in Ms Gardiner's series featuring Jo Beckett, and, as with the other three, this is a gripping tale of wrongdoing and nastiness. There was a plot glitch (to my mind) mid way through when someone turns up somewhere they just don't have time to get to that pulled me out of the story, and given that most of the main storyline takes place at night in the wilderness, people seem to find each other with great ease, but other than those minor gripes, the plot runs tightly to an exciting finale. I groaned when the neighbour and his monkey who've been in every book so far reappeared, although he's no longer the slightly comic turn as he was initially, and there wasn't enough of the fine Amy Tan this time!
There's a touch too much casual death - there was one in particular that bothered me. I felt it needn't have happened - the victim could have been dealt with another way, and the final body count is quite high.
This is well read by the same narrator as the previous three, and she's settled into her characters well, even if she does tend to "do" men a touch gruffly. There's a conversation early on between Jo and the reporter Evan when I had no idea who was talking, or if one was mean to be a man. However, as I've found with the other books, my ear settled in and I stopped having any problems. It's possible that if I'd been reading that particular bit I'd have been going back to count the A said, B said, A said... to keep track.
So, worth the listen, well read, and a series I keep going with.