The Wicked City

A Novel

By: Beatriz Williams

Narrated by: Julie McKay, Dara Rosenberg

Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best-selling author Beatriz Williams re-creates the New York City of A Certain Age in this deliciously spicy adventure that mixes past and present and centers on a Jazz Age love triangle involving a rugged Prohibition agent, a saucy redheaded flapper, and a debonair Princetonian from a wealthy family.

When she discovers her husband cheating, Ella Hawthorne impulsively moves out of their SoHo loft and into a small apartment in an old Greenwich Village building. Her surprisingly attractive new neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement at night. Tenants have reported strange noises after midnight - laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano - even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring '20s, the place hid a speakeasy.

In 1924, Geneva "Gin" Kelly, a smart-mouthed flapper from the hills of Western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway known as the Christopher Club. Caught up in a raid, Gin becomes entangled with Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather, Duke Kelly, one of Appalachia's most notorious bootleggers.

Headstrong and independent, Gin is no weak-kneed fool. So how can she be falling in love with the taciturn, straight-arrow revenue agent when she's got Princeton boy Billy Marshall, the dashing son of society doyenne Theresa Marshall, begging to make an honest woman of her? While anything goes in the Roaring '20s, Gin's adventures will shake proper Manhattan society to its foundations, exposing secrets that shock even this free-spirited redhead - secrets that will echo from Park Avenue to the hollers of her Southern hometown.

As Ella discovers more about the basement speakeasy, she becomes inspired by the spirit of her exuberant predecessor and decides to live with abandon in the wicked city, too.

©2017 Beatriz Williams (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

This is worth reading

Happily surprised by quality of this book. It is one of the best of its genre that I have read recently. Narration is excellent. Story is very good but the writing has to live up to the quality of the story. This one does!

Great..but

Any additional comments?

I felt that after such a long book the end seem too end to fast...like a funnel. Left me wanting more questions answered. Sequel?

Enjoyable read

This was an interesting book. I wish there were more to the end of the story.

No Ending

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

Someone who does not mind leaving all of the ends loose with no recognizable climax or resolution might enjoy this book just for the audio performance.

Has The Wicked City turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

Have you listened to any of Julie McKay and Dara Rosenberg ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

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

The narration and production was excellent. I would not have cut any scenes from the presentation.

Any additional comments?

This book was excellent. That is, until the ending. There was no ending and no resolution to any of the important factors in the book. It builds you up to a suspense and mystery with a touch of the supernatural. Unfortunately, just when you thought that the mystery would be revealed and you would know what happened to the lead character from the past,, you are presented with the epilogue. I have never been so disappointed in the time I invested in this book.

So engaging, amazing performances!

Absolutely loved this book! The 1920s characters and storyline is so much fun: Ginger is such an engaging POV character and Dara Rosenberg does an AMAZING job bringing her to life. The modern-day part of the story warms to you after a few chapters, too- especially once you meet Hector. I think we all could use a Hector in our lives!

Overly descriptive

Honestly the story itself is interesting but the author wastes so many words it’s painful! I ended up skimming a lot just to find out what happens without the characters random thoughts getting in the way of the story. Plus how she connects the two stories and two different time periods really isn’t well explained at all! Overall just not a very good read:(

So-so

The woman reading in the present has an annoying trail to her voice. The woman reading the past is good. However, the story in the past was too descriptive. You kept wanting her to get to the point. You don't find out some small questions either.

Least favorite Beatriz Williams book yet

I usually absolutely love novels by this author, but I just could not enjoy this one. The narrators voice, especially Ella’s, was just terrible. I think I would’ve enjoyed the whole book more if it weren’t for her whining voice and her pointless part of the story.
Ginger’s story was a little bit more entertaining, but it was hard to understand what was going on with so many moving pieces.
Ultimately this book was just OK. I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I just read it and didn’t listen to it and could’ve imagined all of the characters a different way.

Left wanting more of it connected.

The story left me wanting to see more of a connection with the stories and characters. It was ok but would not recommend

THE WICKED CITY

Saw this novel, realized it was written by one of my favorite authors, and I IMMEDIATELY DOWNLOADED IT! WOW WAS I DISAPPOINTED! The story dragged, and most important of all was the narrators! They were terrible! I think this is the first time I ever criticized a narrator, however, these two were horrible. One whined and the second, drowned on and on. SAVE YOUR CREDIT!