The Girl from Blind River

By: Gale Massey

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

From a talented new name in crime fiction comes a gritty tale of how far we'll go to protect the ones we love.

Everyone says the Elders family are nothing but cheats, thieves, and convicts - a fact 19-year-old Jamie Elders has been trying desperately to escape. She may have the natural talent of a poker savant, but her dreams of going pro and getting the hell out of the tiny town of Blind River, New York, are going nowhere fast - especially when she lands in a huge pile of debt to her uncle Loyal.

At Loyal's beck and call until her debt is repaid, Jamie can't easily walk away - not with her younger brother Toby left at his mercy. So when Loyal demands Jamie's help cleaning up a mess late one night, she has no choice but to agree. But disposing of a dead man and covering up his connection to the town's most powerful judge goes beyond family duty. When it comes out that the victim was a beloved athlete and Loyal pins the murder on Toby, only Jamie can save him. But with a dogged detective on her trail and her own future at stake, she'll have to decide: Embrace her inner criminal, or defy it - and face the consequences.

©2018 Gale Massey (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Brilliant!!

I cannot believe that this is a debut novel! It's gritty and emotionally draining, but beautifully written. Here, a nineteen year old girl from a bad family in a small town just wants to get out. Her love of her younger brother - and her desire to keep him safe - keeps her tethered to a life of petty crime, drugs, booze, and, oh, yeah - poker. This girl isn't perfect, but she doesn't claim to be, and I rooted for her all the way. Small-town corruption, murder, and a Super Bowl ring worked nicely to keep me on the edge of my seat. Brittany Pressley is one of the best narrators in the business, and her voice is perfect for this narrative.

Corruption

This book is about small town corruption and the difficulty of getting away when you're poor and considered trash. I thought it very good the characters were very real to me

dark and gloomy noir

“The Girl From Blind River” is a freebee that’s included in my audible membership. It’s well narrated by Brittany Pressley. Much of the story involved poker, all the cards, moves, bluffs, etc. I’m not a poker player, but I found it interesting. It reminded me of listening to “The Queen’s Gambit” and not knowing anything about chess.

This is a dark and gloomy tale of 19 year-old girl who is working to escape her family past. Her mother was sent to prison for stealing drugs and her uncle was given custody. Her uncle….ick ick ick. Everything about the man is slimy, disgusting, and immoral. Her poor younger brother is falling victim to the seedy underbelly of her town and uncle. The only thing the girl has going for her is her uncanny ability to play poker. She’s made some money playing online poker, and her dream is to get enough money to go to Florida, where the gambling age is 18 at the Indian casinos.

Her mother is a card dealer. When she was young, her mother trained her to be a card shark and deal cards how she wants them. The story gets legs when her mother, now out of prison, is a dealer in a high stakes card game involving influential (yet creepy) men in her community. It’s an illegal game, and no one wants to be caught. During the game, there is a murder.

This is a slow burn of a story. The mystery is how this girl is going to get out of her troubles, get her brother out of his troubles, and not get her mother associated with the illegal gambling game which resulted in a murder. It’s also a story about desperation and how that can lead to criminal activity. In this story, there are truly evil characters who do bad things. There are also characters who, given their situation, resort to bad things as an only means to get out of a situation that is not of their doing. Not all criminals are bad here, some are desperate and in a different socioeconomic background would not be doing what they are doing.

It's an interesting crime/mystery in that it’s more of a story showing how situations can beget criminals in the best of people.

great book

This was a good story, good book, keeps you reading. I would recommend it.

Great story?

Interesting story, good narration. The story kept me hooked and had unexpected twists.
Pleasantly surprised!

Great story about the working class/impoverished

Loved it! So refreshing to hear a story that isn't about a bunch of elites encountering trouble for the first time in their lives.

Should be a Movie!

Loved this book. I can see it as a movie for sure. Looking for more to read from the author.

reviews were accurate

not a thriller but not a bad story! I enjoyed listening to this. the narrator was pretty good!!

worth the read

Beautifully narrated and well written by the Author. Jamie is definitely an underdog you want to come out on top.

Just Enough

This has just enough suspense and story line to keep me engaged. Good enough for me to look for other audiobooks by the author but this was her debut, so great and please write more! I was all for cheering on the main character.