The Widow File

A Dani Britton Novel

By: S. G. Redling

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

From S. G. Redling, the author of the bestselling Flowertown, Dani a data analyst with an elite security firm, possesses the unnerving ability to read people by the trash they leave behind. Receipts, parking tickets, the detritus of daily life — if you leave it behind, she will figure you out.

Her latest case involves high-tech industrial espionage at a corporation with ties to the military. But when a team of assassins sweeps through the firm, stealing all files and killing her coworkers, Dani narrowly escapes. Whoever ordered the strike thinks Dani has vital information and they put a hit man named Booker on her trail.

Armed with only her wits and a bag of random investigation materials, Dani must figure out who the enemy really is while playing a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the cunning hit man who has an agenda of his own.

©2013 S.G. Redling (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Thrilling!

After a quick introduction, the pace of SG Redling’s _The Widow File_ takes off at a dead run and doesn’t slow down for any of the many twists and turns. It’s an exciting and unpredictable story, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

An unexpected pleasure

I was not sure what to expect from this novel. I often grow impatient with "getting to the story." The beginning held a lot of good exposition that was helpful later.

This is not high art. However, it was fun. I really liked that, [SPOILER ALERT?] "man wrongly accused" is threatened early on in the book that the author does not take us down that well-worn path of laziness.

I found that the book had a good pace, decent character development, and the ending did not leave me unhappy in the least. It was a conclusion, a reasonable one with regard to the "inherent truth" of the story.

I recommend it.

Interesting

This novel started out kinda slow and then kept my attention. The lead character is smart, witty, and very appealing. I would definitely recommend this book. Wish there were follow up books with her.

Chick version of 6 days of the condor

What did you like best about The Widow File? What did you like least?

I liked the story plot. It was very reminiscent of the Condor but with a girl lead.

Would you recommend The Widow File to your friends? Why or why not?

probably not

What three words best describe Tanya Eby’s performance?

The narrator was very good, though I thought her male voices were a little off. She made them sound dumb.

Could you see The Widow File being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I could easily see it as a tv movie. With some serious story rework, maybe a feature film.

Any additional comments?

I gave the book 3 stars, because it was ok. It wasn't horrible and it wasn't great. The idea was derivative but what isn't. I actually liked the idea of the girl being the lead character, though the story was quite predictable. It was ok for light entertainment. Don't look for more than that.

entertaining thriller but forgettable

Exciting fast-paced thriller with a smart but damaged young female protagonist. Dani is a "data analyst" with a talent for reading body language, tells, and information gleaned form receipts, behavior patterns, and the detritus left in people's pockets. Dani is likeable and clever. When she finds out that the company she works for is not what she thought and that they are out to kill her makes the stakes very high and she has to be very smart and resourceful to survive. The writing is mostly good, though clunky at some points and over-detailed at other times. I liked the main characters (despite the ridiculous name of one of them!), but the ending of the book disappointed me. The ending was abrupt and seemed incomplete. I wasn't sure exactly what happened and who was behind the bad guys' actions. Enjoyable (if mostly forgettable) thriller. The narration by Eby was solid and well-edited.