Vegas Lies

"Lies" Mystery Series, Book 3

By: Andrew Cunningham

Narrated by: Greg Hernandez

Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Five teenage girls from a small town in Oregon disappear without a trace.

Were they kidnapped, or have the five friends perpetrated a massive hoax? Nine hundred miles away, in Las Vegas, a woman with a dark secret vanishes on her way to meet friends for dinner.

Those friends are Del Honeycutt and best-selling mystery author Sabrina Spencer in Las Vegas for a book convention. As Del and Sabrina investigate their friend's disappearance, they are convinced that she has been abducted, and they begin to uncover the secrets that might have triggered her abduction - secrets that now put Del and Sabrina's lives in jeopardy.

When clues indicate that the five missing girls might also be in Las Vegas, the situation takes a new turn, directly into the unthinkable.

Once again, Del and Sabrina find themselves in deep trouble and marked for death, and they only have a few hours to solve the case, or their friend and the five young girls will be gone forever.

©2017 Andrew Cunningham (P)2019 Andrew Cunningham

Serious Subject with Humor

I love how you’re able to create a story with a serious and timely subject matter while still being able to interject humor.

Slow start but quickly picked up speed!

Glad I kept listening to this one, I listened to the first five or 10 mins and quickly lost interest so I paused it and moved to a different book. Eventually I came back to this one wanting to give it another go (I hate leaving books unfinished). Glad I did! It picked up the pace and I was hooked! It didn't slow down for a second and I couldn't stop listening, I needed to know what was next! Well written and I enjoyed the narrator.

I was given this free copy if this audiobook on my request and have voluntarily left this review

Loved it

The author did a really good job writing this book. A story about the abduction and selling of young girls was handled with compassion, not allowing the book to get really ugly. I've always enjoyed a book with strong female roles and this one had them in spades.

There narrator did an amazing job reading.
I look forward to more from the author and narrator

I was provided a free copy of this audible at my request. I'm thrilled to be able to provide my honest review.

Better than Book 2

Note: While this is Book 3 in the series, it works fine as a stand alone novel.

So far, this is the best of the series. The first 2 books I was luke warm on, though Book 2 was better than Book 1. The setting is Las Vegas, always a great location for a tale of villainy. Sabrina Spencer is there for a book event, even though she rather be home hammering out the next murder mystery. Alas, she’s having to deal with her fame in Vegas. But she has her trusty sidekick, Del.

My favorite part was the missing teenagers. They were realistic and brave. In fact, I felt their characters were better written than the main characters. However, I do recognize we only see them in small slices. Del and Sabrina get pulled into this mess because their friend Peep (Mo’s girlfriend) has been abducted.

The story starts off smart and sharp but quickly draws itself out diluting the tension. The plot got too big and wonky. Too many crimes were crushed into one tale. Drugs, human trafficking, murder, etc. Still, I love a desert setting. I especially liked the underground facility. It was a little tricky for Del to rush in and save the day but he soldiered on with the few clues he had.

All together, the tale was OK. There’s still plenty of lucky moments where clues are dropped, tripped over, or easily given up allowing our heroes to look a little smarter. Emma, one of the kidnapped Oregon girls, really shined, being brave and a key person in the ultimate rescue. Often the tale is told very plainly, like a news report. Ultimately, I felt it needed a bit of polishing. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Greg Hernandez is great as Del Honeycut. He captures Del’s humor and emotions well. Hernandez’s female voices are nearly non-existent. Hernandez does toss in a few regional accents which helped with keeping all the characters straight. For chunks of the book, the narration is a bit plain, like a news report, but I have to say sometimes the writing is that way too. The pacing is good & there were no technical issues with the recording. 3.5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Greg Hernandez. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

A Good Read

Vegas Lies. .
An easy and entertaining listen. Storyline is interesting and keeps you turning pages.
Characters are a little unbelievable but hey it is fiction.
Narration is clear and concise. The narrator certainly adds to the listening experience.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this audiobook to anyone who likes mysteries thrillers.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this honest review.

Vegas Lies

This was a good story.Five girls go missing snd after everyone blames everyone else,they still aren't found.It will take the team of Sabrina and her boyfriend to figure it out while they are searching for a friend.
I found the narration to be too darn fast!There was not a lot of feeling behind Mr Hernandez reading.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.' 

ABSO-FREAKIN’-AMAZING

VEGAS LIES is the third book in the Lies series. Though each mystery will stand on its own, the series is a continuing relationship between Sabrina and Del. I strongly recommend reading the series in the order of release.

This review could be written in one word: abso-flippin-amazing! (It is so a word!!)

There are two plot lines that seem to be running parallel to one another, with only a disturbingly twisted connection in the mind…. Until those two roads converge. Beautifully done!

The strength in this book lies in the characters, especially the very strong women. When I lived in South Carolina, my two best friends were both black belts; I was the “Del” when we went out. LOL (Don’t worry; I was training.) Though Del is continuously self-deprecating, I loved that by the end of this book he was showing his strength as well.

Narration: I am fully indoctrinated into the Greg Hernandez reading style. While he is not a “voice actor” in the manner to which my fiancé teaches, his method of reading is comfortable and enjoyable. I have one more book in this series to enjoy this week and truly wish I had more.

Note: While I received this book as a gifted audiobook copy via Audiobookworm Promotions Adopt-an-Audiobook, my opinions are my own and are given freely.

Title: VEGAS LIES
Series: Lies #3
Category /Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Listenability: NSFW
Received from: Andrew Cunningham (as an Audible gifted copy)

A series that just gets better and better

This was by far my favourite of the series, and Greg Hernandez does an amazing job bringing the suspenseful story to life. 

It seems Del and Sabrina are never very far away from a mystery, this time they head to Vegas for a book convention and plan to meet up with a friend for lunch. When she doesn't arrive, the twosome are concerned, and even more so when there appearhis is the story of five girls from a small town in Oregon who are returning home after a trip to the movies. Only they don't make it home, and instead are abducted with a clear intent to sell them on in due course. This topical subject matter gives a fascinating insight into how such a  situation might occur. The author ties it into Del & Sabrina's story with ease, and the journey through the desert is scary and tense. 

Del and Sabrina are well established as a couple now, and their closeness grows stronger as they face separate dangers. Del's witty retorts are still there, despite the dire circumstances -the narrator truly seems to have got into Del's head since he portrays him so effectively. 

Definitely a series I want to hear more about. 

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Greg Hernandez. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Ripped-from-the-headlines premise entices

Audio book review. Vegas Lies is the third book in the Lies series by Andrew Cunningham, and I’ve listened to the audios of all three of the books pretty much back-to-back. In Vegas Lies, as with all of the books so far, readers can count on getting a multi-layered mystery with unexpected plot twists and lots of action. Not only are the stories multi-layered, there are typically multiple plot lines that weave in and out of the books and each story that tie the books together. Vegas Lies stands alone, but I think it will be better enjoyed if read in sequence, as part of the series.

This third book has a ripped-from-the-headlines disturbing premise to grab the reader's attention. While I had a little trouble suspending my disbelief with some aspects, others are horribly feasible. Author Andrew Cunningham initially has this plot piece moving parallel to another, but of course, the two lines start veering towards each other and ultimately, there is a creative connection of the parts.

Readers see more growth from main character Sabrina, and in Vegas Lies, we learn more about an interesting side character from previous books, Mo, who could carry a story on her own. The women in this book take charge and provide the muscle and some of the cleverest problem-solving. Men are mostly depicted as base, crass, and piggish – and not the smartest of creatures. This bordered on being overdone even though logically, the men involved in the crimes would have at least half those characteristics. Main character Del is mostly the exception, but some of his choices and his self-deprecating humor cast him as the weak link in the relationship. I’d like to see more balance between Del and Sabrina if the series continues; right now, though the two clearly are deeply in love and passionate about each other, I am not sure they are an intellectual or physical match for the long term.

The strength of Vegas Lies is in its main characters and the menagerie of secondary characters to love or loathe. The weakness in this book is that the author relies too heavily on summarizing to tell readers who is doing what, where, and why. And the epilogue focuses too much on the characters who won’t likely be returning when readers will surely want more about those who likely would. Faults aside, if another book is forthcoming, I will definitely give it a listen as the promise of intricate and high-interest plots are enticing.

ABOUT THE NARRATION: Greg Hernandez is back to narrate this third book in the series, and he has become the voice of main character Del. He consistently voices all the characters and with each of these books, he is moving further from reading and more into performing. There is a subtle infusion of emotion in his narration, and it fits well with Del’s personality, but it's too subtle for some of the others. His even pacing and delivery allowed me to listen at regular speed, which is always a plus.

Thank you to Audiobookworm Promotions and Mr. Hernandez for providing me an audio download in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give. This full review and other special features on Hall Ways Blog.

Vegas Lies

Vegas Lies is the third installment from Andrew Cunningham’s Lies Mystery Thriller series. I have had the pleasure of listening to the audio versions of the first two books of this series and enjoyed them. This one does not disappoint. I believe this one is my favorite of the series so far. Del and Sabrina gets caught up into yet another mystery and led them on quite an adventure.
Greg Hernandez did a great job narrating Vegas Lies. He has great way of making the reader feel as though they are right there within the story.
Vegas Lies is getting a five plus stars from me. I look forward to reading more from the Lies Mystery Thriller series in the near future. I highly recommend it.
I received the audio version of this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.