Thief River Falls

By: Brian Freeman

Narrated by: January LaVoy

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Harrowing loss, psychological trauma, and a deadly mystery test the human will to survive in this electrifying novel from award-winning author Brian Freeman.

Lisa Power is a tortured ghost of her former self. The author of a bestselling thriller called Thief River Falls, named after her rural Minnesota hometown, Lisa is secluded in her remote house as she struggles with the loss of her entire family: a series of tragedies she calls the “Dark Star.”

Then a nameless runaway boy shows up at her door with a terrifying story: he’s just escaped death after witnessing a brutal murder - a crime the police want to cover up. Obsessed with the boy’s safety, Lisa resolves to expose this crime, but powerful men in Thief River Falls are desperate to get the boy back, and now they want her too.

Lisa and her young visitor have nowhere to go as the trap closes around them. Still under the strange, unforgiving threat of the Dark Star, Lisa must find a way to save them both, or they’ll become the victims of another shocking tragedy she can’t foresee.

©2020 by Brian Freeman. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Save your money (or your credit)

Boring plot for the majority, tiresome protagonist, stupid people and then you’re served with a feel-bad ending.
I think the author was going for a “shocking”, “twisty” and “controversial”. But it simply was cheap, lifeless and foreseeable.

The narrator was great, as always, but she couldn’t save this book.

“The deep, deep snow” put this author on my read-whatever-he-publishes-next list. This book took him straight off it and into my maybe-if-free bucket.

For Ms LaVoy Fans

I pre ordered on members only sale. Great buy as I like the stories Ms LaVoy reads for this author. Ms LaVoy has a great range, and I love her kids,young adult ,and male voices. I hope author builds a series around a strong female character so Ms LaVoy can keep bringing the story to life. The publishers summery is spot on for this story so no need to add to it. If you saw the Bruce Willis film, The sixth sense and enjoyed it, then this book is for you. This was a fast paced book and kept my interest. This author is fairly new to me. If you enjoyed the author’s last book The Deep Deep Snow, which I recommend, then you may find this book a departure from that books style. I did try a Jonathan Stride book but did not care for the character as other reviewers seem to love.
I do use the 1.25x speed to match the mystery. Give it a try.
I have purchased this author’s Frost Easton books read by the great Joe Barrett and I enjoyed all those books. Do not miss Brian Haig series Mr Barrett reads, the best!
Were my comments of help?

A novel within a novel!

THIEF RIVER FALLS is a unique psychological thriller. Its was not until chapter 40 (of 43) that I began to understand what the novel was really about. If the listener likes the works of author Brian Freeman he/she will probably like this novel. January LaVoy does a great job of narration. Very, very highly recommended!

I'm a Freeman fan, but this was not for me.

I love Freeman's Stride novels (especially the early ones), but this is VERY different and I did not enjoy it at all. I mostly just endured it until it was over. I only paid $1.99 since I'm a Kindle Unlimited subscriber and I can't leave a Freeman novel unfinished or I would have bailed on this one early on. I sped up the narration quite a bit to help with that end goal. Please, more Stride and company and much, much less TRF. Hopefully it is a stand-alone, just like the novel within. The narration was very good.

sILLY

THIS BOOK STARTED OUT OK, BUT BY MIDWAY IT ALL FELL APART. TOO MANY STORIES IN ONE NONE OF THEM GOOD. IN THE ENF IT IS A BADLEY WRITTEN CONVOLUTED STORY OF A KIDNAP,

RECOMMENDATIOM: SKIP IT

Don’t give up! Hang in there until the last 1/4! It’s worth the wait!

Recommendation: LISTEN THROUGH UNTIL YOU’RE IN THE UPPER 30s OF THE CHAPTERS! I bet the authors of the lower starred reviews did not hang in there, and I can relate. I even changed the speed to 2X to move along because I really hated the main character and I was SO ready to just quit. But take a deep breath and give patience to Lisa. It all comes together in a climactic denouement that’s worth the wait! I was pouring tears at the end... Quite dangerous while driving in heavy traffic during my work commute! Ugh. Such a great story. And January Lavoie was a FANTASTIC narrator!

a whiny and boring listen

I thought this had possibilities, but it dragged on with a whiny tone that became unbearable. When I realized how may hours were left and it was clearly going nowhere, I bagged it. I was only mildly interested but may have continued rather than look for something else. Don't waste your time.

Ridiculous!

I was really into the story until the ending. While sometimes taking a complete 180 is good for a plot, this one is ridiculous! I stuck through the entire book because I hate leaving an unfinished book. Wish I hadn't wasn't my time.

Struggled to finish

I always try to finish a book I start because the author deserves that if you’re going to write a review, but I so totally struggled with this book because of the incredibly, unbelievably stupid things the main character does. The only reason I even gave it two stars is that in about the last 40 mins., there is a very good twist that partially justifies the stupidity of the character. However, the other 9 hours were just painful.

Don't waste your time.

no direction overly dramatic description of everything terrible i would have rather listen to the news

Great story

Initially I was annoyed at what I thought were holes in the plot but it all made sense in the end. Excellent narration and a really good story.

brilliant book

I really got caught up in this book.wonderful plot and story telling. could not stop listening to it.