The Silent Dolls

Detective Ellie Reeves, Book 1

De: Rita Herron

Narrado por: Tanya Eby

Silent tears trickle down her cheeks as she curls inside the tiny cave-like space. She lies on her side, darkness all around her, rubbing her fingers over the little wooden doll he’d carved. He told her to be quiet, not to cry or scream. Not to be a baby. Her throat was raw, her eyes swollen shut. She wanted her mommy and daddy. She wanted to go home.

When Penny Matthews, a seven-year-old girl with blonde curls and a gap-toothed smile, goes missing in the Appalachian mountains, Detective Ellie Reeves is called straight to the scene. According to Penny’s parents, their daughter vanished after a picnic by the creek. All that’s left behind is a pink friendship bracelet etched with “Penny”.

Ellie knows all too well that the mountains’ endless miles of dark forest and winding rivers are the perfect place for a criminal to hide. Racing against the rapidly setting sun and a brutal winter storm on the horizon, she searches desperately for Penny.

Special Agent Derrick Fox is determined to join the hunt. His younger sister, Kim, disappeared in the same area 25 years ago - on the day he was meant to be watching her. He’s certain the cases are linked and that more than a dozen girls have vanished in the last decade. Ellie refuses to believe that their tight-knit mountain community could be home to a deadly criminal, but even she can’t deny the similarities in the cases. And when they discover the remains of a small body buried with a carved wooden doll, it’s clear they’re up against a deadly serial killer preying on innocent little girls.

As the temperature plunges, Penny’s life hangs in the balance. Most people who get lost in the woods never make it out alive. Can Ellie and Derrick defy the odds and find out the truth about all the stolen girls? Or will the mountain, and its twisted killer, claim another victim?

©2020 Rita Herron (P)2020 Bookouture

Great Thriller looking forward to next sequel.

Every chapter was exciting and kept me riveted to just keep on reading each chapter. The reader was excellant.

Terrible narrator

The narrator of this book sounds completely robotic! Can’t get past her voice to listen to the story!

So many twists and turns!

I liked that this book has so many twists and turns! As soon as you Think you have figured out who could possibly be the kidnapper/killer, you were proven to be wrong!!!!! I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series! If you are a huge fan of psychological suspense, mystery, and possibly unreliable narrator ‘s, this book is for you! That is all I will say Because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone!

The ending was horrible

It took me awhile to get into this book because the narrater was really bad and the story itself started out slow. The main character sounded unintelligent and the narrater made her sound even more like this. The book got ok in the middle but then end should have been called “to be concluded” because it was almost like the author didn’t know how to finish it and really didn’t give the reader that satisfaction feeling of wanting more. It should have been in the free library.

Suspense and horror

It’s not a horror genre, but Herron has some macabre images that will haunt the listener/reader after the book is finished.

The performance is excellent, and keeps us going.

We will find Detective Ellie again to see how she is doing after her harrowing adventures chasing a serial killer in the Georgian forests of Appalachia.

You will never guess the ending:)

I 9/10 can figure out the ending of the book. I love a good mystery, suspense, & all around interesting story. This was it. I had no idea of the ending & im looking forward to the next book. Really glad I read this. Kept me entertained the whole time.

Way too long

A little long with more twists than a bag full of pretzels.

It was enjoyable even though I had to stop and then go back quite a few times.

Looking forward to her next book…. If it’s not so long.

a very good suspenseful read

a great storyline of a serial killer and it looks like a Sheriff is covering up clues.Over a dozen girls missing. this book keeps you wanting to continue reading and not put the book down.

Narrator ruined it

I wanted to listen to this book, but I had to give up after 2.5 hours. The narrator weirdly enunciates words and the emphasis and rhythm of her reading is too distracting for me to focus on the story. The overall effect is as if she was reading a children's story for a room full of kindergarteners, which totally doesn't work for a book like this.

Better editing needed

I enjoyed the book, however I was disappointed with two parts of it that described how the one little girl fell off her bike, breaking her arm, which the author referred to as her femur. The femur is actually the largest bone in the leg. The upper arm bone is the humerus. Better editing needed next time.