Waking Up Dead

De: Margo Bond Collins

Narrado por: Angel Clark

When Callie Taylor died, she expected to go to heaven - or maybe hell. Instead, when she was murdered in Dallas by some jerk with a knife and a bad-mommy complex, she went to Alabama. Now she's seen another murder, and she can't just let it go; she must find a way to make sure the police figure out who really killed Molly McClatchy before an innocent man goes to prison, all the while trying to determine how and why she woke up dead in Alabama.

©2013 Margo Bond Collins (P)2016 Margo Bond Collins

Emotionally Poignant and Highly Entertaining

What made the experience of listening to Waking Up Dead the most enjoyable?

Plot twists, character attitude and I was entertained, which is what I seek in an audiobook.

What about Angel Clark’s performance did you like?

Outstanding job, getting the dialects & slang down perfectly

Any additional comments?

I received this book to review for free and I am eagerly awaiting the next volume so I can reward the author by purchasing it!

Clever new point of view

Loved the concept for this (I hope to be series ) book. I would have given this book 5 stars except the main character became too manipulative towards the end. HOWEVER, I will be buying the new book when it comes out.

The living don't know jack about the Dead

Callie Taylor died. She assumed she would go to heaven or hell but she woke up in Alabama.
I love all of the characters they are fun vibrant and funny!
"nope I'm stuck to you so I'm just sitting here waiting for you to die so you can drag my boney white ass up to heaven ."
I'm telling you they are FUNNY!!!!!

I had read some of the reviews and they said they didn't feel a connection with Callie. I did. they also didn't feel like she had a connection or was mad enough about her murder???? what book did you read? did you skip parts?

This kind of book is exactly why I read. I got lost in Alabama and lost in the characters and was on the edge of my seat during some scenes.

There is only one problem I had with this book and I will explain why.....

"Do you know what they do with black people they find breaking into stores? They put them in jail and they throw away the key and that's if they're lucky .If they're not lucky, the police shoot them on site and then claim that they were attacked."

^^^^^ there is soooo many reasons this rubs me wrong.
is the author just saying this because she believes that is something the character Ashara would say or is this her way of putting her personal opinions on this public matter into her work????
this line is UNNECESSARY

I will give the benefit of the doubt to the author and just think that she is saying it from the characters point of view. black women , head strong, living in the south with a bunch of racist people. I can see how this could be her view. still don't agree with it.

My brother is a police officer and I actually take great offense to this statement . I will always support my brother and what he stands for which is justice and not just "killing black people" . I will NOT support anyone who thinks differently on this no matter how much I may want to read their books.

like I said I will give the author the benefit of the doubt that this statement is not something she truly believes. but it do hope that she reads this review and thinks about removing this hateful and disgusting rumor filled opinion.

Great Story Line

I thought this book had a great story. Margo Bond Collins does a great job of story telling and character building. Angel does a great job of people, but some times it was hard to tell who was who. Some of the voices were the same. I really enjoyed laughing with the characters. I enjoy a book that is not only a thriller, suspense, but also makes me laugh. Callie is exciting, although there were parts in the book that I thought drug out. I guess I was anxious to get through those parts. This first book is very different from the other first books of Margo's that I have read. However, her development of each character that gives me a sense that I know them, is her unique trademark. I look forward to reading more of her works. Thanks for a great read.

Please note that I received this novel free of charge from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyable and unique "mystery"

I'm not really sure how to categorize this book. I guess mystery would be the closest I can use to describe it, though you know who the murderer is from the beginning since the ghost narrator witnesses the murder. The book is really about her (and her friends) figuring out the "why" and finding proof so they can bring it to the police and free the innocent man who was wrongly arrested for the crime. The book is written in first person from the view of Callie Taylor, a woman who is murdered in Dallas and then wakes up as a ghost in Alabama. Callie is smart, resourceful and, at times, funny, as revealed through her narration. The author nicely avoids any TSTL moments (for which I was supremely grateful, as there were several times when the characters could have fallen victim to that), hence my comment that Callie is "smart". The mystery is interesting and well-thought out and the characters are engaging. (I especially loved Mawmaw. She's a hoot.) The description of the murder she's investigating (and of Callie's own) is a bit detailed, gory and disturbing for my taste, however I don't think it's anything unusual compared to other books, and it's only a small part of the book. However, I just wanted to put it out there in case it might bother anyone. I wasn't expecting that level of detail and gruesome based on the sample of the book I had listened to which made it sound like it would be lighter and funnier. (There is humor, however the story is not what I'd term "light".)

I was delighted with this audio production. The reader was very good and had clearly distinguished voices for each character. The only small issue I had with her narration was that I wished she had used the same voice for when Callie narrated as when she spoke. Callie is from Dallas and when she speaks to other people, she has a southern accent. However, when she is speaking as the narrator, she doesn't. I wish she had been consistent (either with or without the accent). It felt a little bit unusual that Callie would speak differently when narrating than when speaking to other characters. However, other than that small choice, Angel Clark did a very nice job.

The end of the book hints that there will be more Callie Taylor adventures to come, but I couldn't find any published, as of yet, and this book is a few years old. It would be nice to read/listen to another, as I completely enjoyed my time listening to this book.

**Please note that this audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.* While I did not personally use a credit for this book, I would have been quite pleased with it if I had. It is definitely worth the credit!