Audiobook Review: The Guilty One by Kiersten Modglin
The Guilty One
Author: Kiersten Modglin
Narrators:
Mia Hutchinson-Shaw
Chad Ackerman
Evan Sibley
Melissa Kay Benson
Published on Audio: September 3, 2024
Audiobook: 6 hours 24 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: August 26-30, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Audiobook Description:
Your husband was involved in a fatal accident.
One horrific sentence, delivered in an impersonal phone call, changes Celine Thompson’s life in a second. But when she’s asked to identify his body, what she discovers sends everything she thought she knew about her life crashing down.
This man is not my husband.
But who was the man who died driving Tate’s car? How did he have Tate’s possessions and, more importantly, why do they sport identical tattoos?
We’re going to find him.
When Tate doesn’t answer his phone or arrive home after the accident, Celine fears the worst. Still holding on to hope her husband may be alive, Celine is desperate to track Tate down and figure out what’s going on before it’s too late. The only problem? There are dark truths waiting to come out that are so atrocious she won’t ever be able to look away from them.
As she begins to put together the pieces of the mysterious day her husband went missing, it paints a picture of a man she never really knew. Is it possible Tate is still alive, or is she wasting her time searching for someone who will never be found? And if he is alive, how will they ever survive all that she’s unearthed?
With time running out, Celine must push the limits of the law and her safety to shed light on the secrets that have been hiding in the dark corners of their life together. In doing so, she may just uncover the final missing piece to the puzzle surrounding her husband’s fate.
Someone is lying.
Someone is missing.
Someone is guilty.
Jessica’s Review:
This book and this author: Kristen Modglin is a must read/listen for me now! Of her books that I have listened to (I’ve only listened to her novels thus far), they are very quick and intense reads that are not super long! I can’t wait to listen to her backlog of novels and listen to/read her future ones!
The Guilty One begins with a phone call that every wife never wants to receive: A call from the local police department informing you that your husband was in a car accident and did not survive. Then when you go to identify the body: It’s not your husband! But then questions begin to comes up: Why did this person have your husband’s wallet, why was he in your husband’s car, and why do they have the same tattoo!?!?!
This is just the beginning of this fast-moving story. There was no way I would have figured out the way that this one went! You go on a journey with Celine to figure out just what is actually going on!
There are four narrators and they all did a great job with their narrations.
Many thanks to the publisher for granting me a copy to listen to and review!
An Advanced Listening Copy Review of You’ll Never Know I’m Here by Kiersten Modglin
You’ll Never Know I’m Here
Author: Kiersten Modglin
Narrator: Stacy Gonzalez
Published: Available now as a book or e-book: New on audiobook on February 27, 2024
Audiobook: 5 hours 49 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: February 13-16, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Audiobook Description:
They tell the world what mysteries to read.
Soon, they’ll be caught up in one of their own.
When six book influencers take a weekend getaway to connect with their fellow creators, it’s meant to be a chance to relax, collaborate, and discuss all of the books they love.
But from the start, something’s clearly amiss. From the host’s mysterious absence and an unexpected guest to an odd occurrence in town and the strange and worrisome behavior of the neighbors, what starts out as an innocent and lively vacation quickly becomes a weekend filled with terror. And when one of the group members believes they see something horrifying at the house next door, their carefully laid plans begin to unravel.
Drawn into a mystery that runs far deeper and is more sinister than they could’ve imagined—and surrounded by those who refute their story—the group struggles to unearth the truth about the house and the couple next door before it’s too late.
As new questions and shocking revelations surface, the group must decide if they can trust each other—not only with their safety in the house, but with their lives entirely.
Readers’ worst nightmares come to life in this terrifying new thriller that tests the limits of friendship, explores the power of social media influence, digs into the depths of trust, and examines the desperate and dangerous lengths of obsession from million-copy bestselling author, Kiersten Modglin.
Jessica’s Review:
Anyone who reads thrillers and who might be termed as an ‘influencer’ will want to read this book! The premise definitely intrigued me. And our group of ‘influencers’ are thriller readers! YES! The book has been out for a couple of months but will be new to audio next week.
We have our MC Lena and she and some of her fellow ‘book influencer’ friends decide to finally meet up for a weekend getaway. The rented home is in a small town away from just about everything, giving the reader a “We are in the middle of nowhere!” eerie feeling. And then things don’t go as they thought they would. One in our friend group sees something unpleasant happen in another house…. or did they????
It’s a bit of paranoia and who knows what is going to happen? Who can be trusted? This is another book that shows how social media is so mainstream: Everyone has to be an influencer and/or share everything that goes on in their life. No one has secrets anymore!
For me the characters came off as YA when they are in their 20s. There was just drama and an immaturity to them. I do read YA, it is one of my ‘go to’ genres, but I prepare myself for what may be in that type of book when I go to read it. And this one had it and that was a bit of a turnoff for me. I was invested in what was going to happen and KMod’s books are shorter, so I was in it through the ending! I also enjoyed Stacy Gonzalez’s narration.
I have seen other reviews that other readers did not like the twist ending. I actually did: I ‘got’ what KMod was trying to say and I liked it! I gave it an extra half star for that ending. You really can’t say much without giving anything away, and I’m not going to!
Many thanks for the publisher for granting me a copy to listen to and review!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
ALC Review: Do Not Open by Kiersten Modglin
Do Not Open
Author: Kiersten Modglin
Narrator: Mara Wilson
To Be Released on Audio: December 26, 2023
Audiobook: 5 hours 4 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: December 11-13, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
On the day author Mari Montgomery receives the email, she has little left to live for.
The message—simple yet utterly life-changing—offers a glimmer of hope to her dismal existence. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and if she takes it, it could change everything.
Mari’s immediate sense of unease is eclipsed only by her curiosity—elicited from the supposed fan on the other end of the email. Unsatisfied despite doing her due diligence, and with no way to discern the legitimacy of the sender, Mari takes a leap of faith and replies.
What harm could come from one innocent message?
Soon, as she comes face to face with her ‘number one fan,’ it’s all too clear things are not what they first appeared. Now trapped by a villain far more sinister than she could’ve crafted herself, the fate awaiting her is inspired by the darkest depths of the monsters in her own novels.
In order to escape and survive, Mari must use the strength of the heroines she’s spent years writing about. But this villain has spent years inside her worlds, too.
How will she defeat an evil who has learned from the best?
For fans of Misery, YOU, and Behind Closed Doors, million-copy bestselling author Kiersten Modglin brings us a haunting tale of obsession and survival in the form of a writer’s worst nightmare come to life.
Jessica’s Review:
I can round up my thoughts of Do Not Open saying this: It’s like Misery but on crack! It has a gender reversal and is set up for our time now with social media complications. I have only ever seen the movie once many years ago and had to watch it again after finishing Do Not Open. Modglin may take the basics of King’s Misery, but definitely makes the story her own!
I guess this is every writer’s nightmare: Meeting your ‘number one fan’ according to said fan and end up fighting for your life. This novel may be troubling for some as the ‘#1 fan’ is a man and our author MC is a woman, and yes, we do have violence done against her.
This story takes off from the very beginning and just keeps going! There are issues dealing with grief, alcoholism, obsession, and survival. Mari made some decisions I just didn’t agree with. I didn’t know where Modglin was going to end this story, and it did go in an unexpected direction for me! When the big twist happened, I was confused and had to listen to the previous track again. But OMG! This unexpected direction deals with some serious emotions. This is the second audiobook I have listened to that was written by Modglin, but she is definitely on my radar now!
The audiobook is narrated my Mara Wilson. Yes, that Mara Wilson! The little girl who starred as Matilda is all grown up now. She did a good job with her narration.
Do Not Open has been out since October 30th in paperback and will be out in audio on December 26th. I was fortunate to receive an alc from the publisher Dreamscape Media. It is a shorter audio book, just over 5 hours, but intense the entire time!
Many thanks Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy! It was a pleasure to listen to this one! Just keep bringing on the thrills!
Purchase Links (As it is already out in physical/Kindle format. The audio will be out December 26, 2023):
Amazon US
Amazon UK