Undaunted

A Stan Turner Mystery, Volume 1

By: William Manchee

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer, Arika Escalona

In this first episode of the Stan Turner Mysteries, it's the tail end of the Vietnam War, and Stan, forced into the United States Marine Corps by a vicious twist of fate, must leave his wife and family, and report for duty. On his first day of boot camp, he unwittingly befriends a serial killer and soon finds himself on trial for the murder of his drill sergeant. Aided by a pretty nurse who wants him, and a reporter who wants his story, Stan desperately searches for the actual killer to prove his innocence.

©1997 William Manchee (P)2010 William Manchee

Critic reviews

"Undaunted is a sensual thriller envolving white supremicist, a serial killer, and the Marines all rolled up into a startling package that will leave you clinging to every word. Undaunted proves to me that Manchee is a master at story telling. He has a way of spinning a tale that leaves you breathless every time." (Myshelf.com)

Couldn't put it down!

"Undaunted" is a real page-turner, or whatever the audio equivalent is. Manchee does a wonderful job of weaving a compelling story line. Escalona & Kafer are masterful in bringing the characters to life in just the way this listener would want - quickly I forgot I was listening to "narration" and was able to simply get lost in the story.

Story was okay, but the writing is sophomoric.

When I say sophomoric, I mean high school, not college. The dialogue is stilted, artificial, and trite. Even the narrative is awful. Stuff like this: "Deep down I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what she had to say." And this: "I wanted to ravish her body." A murder trial is central to the plot. I tried cases for 30 years. The defendant is represented by a lazy incompetent passed off as something better. The prosecutor ignores, apparently intentionally, obvious evidence that should materially affect his investigation. If this author has ever been in courtroom, I hope it was only as a spectator.