Audiobook Review: The Murder Machine by Heather Graham
The Murder Machine
Author: Heather Graham
Narrator: Tim Paige
Published: April 29, 2025
Audiobook: 7 hours 55 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: May 26-29, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
Artificial intelligence meets genuine murderous intent.
This state-of-the-art smart home has a next-generation entertainment system, an ultramodern kitchen where every appliance is online and even a personal AI to control it all. Standing above its owner’s lifeless body, FBI agent Jude Mackenzie is faced with the daunting task of discovering how the woman was killed by her own home. How do you catch a murderer that doesn’t leave any fingerprints?
Enter Special Agent Victoria Tennant, whose familiarity with cybercrime reveals the stark a machine can only do what it’s been directed to. As the number of grisly “accidents” begins to rise, the pair must race to uncover the perpetrator even as they find themselves caught in their digital crosshairs! There’s nowhere to hide when danger may be as close as the very phones in their pockets.
Jessica’s Review:
The description of the book intrigued me; AI is becoming ‘normal’ whether we want it or not. (I’m in the ‘not wanting it’ group. Hello… Skynet is coming!) When I read the book description about a ‘smart home’ and the owner being murdered, I wanted to read it.
And I loved the beginning! I was pulled in from chapter one with the aftermath of the death of the home owner. But I didn’t connect with the two FBI agents and the fact that they fell for each other just didn’t work for me. The story line was reasonable for me, but I could have done without that.
The narrator did a good job with the novel.
The idea of AI becoming a ‘murder machine’ is an idea I am still wanting to read more of. Especially since out world is becoming so much more dependent on AI. I mean, who will know what is actually real or not real?
Thank you to the publisher for granting me a copy to listen to and review. I wish I could have enjoyed it more.
Audiobook Review: The Payback Girls by Alex Travis
The Payback Girls
Author: Alex Travis
Narrator: Tamika Katon-Donegal
Published: April 1, 2025
Audiobook: 10 hours
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: April 30- May 5, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
Why get over your cheating ex when you can get even? John Tucker Must Die meets One of Us Is Lying in a gripping, binge-worthy debut thriller.
His first mistake was underestimating them.
Senior year is going to be perfect. Meghan won’t settle for anything less. She’s already crushing her classes and dating the star of the basketball team. Nate’s friends have been less than welcoming, but it’s never easy being one of the only Black kids at a mostly white prep school. Still, Meghan did not expect the scene at pep rally.
Robin and Bria dated Nate too. Correction: are dating him. He never broke up with them, and Meghan is furious.
When Nate is found bloodied and unconscious in the locker room after the big game, suddenly the three teens are prime suspects—and a tenuous alliance may be the only way to clear their names. Except Meghan doesn’t remember everything that happened that night, and she’s starting to have feelings for one of the exes. One thing is for sure: the more clues they uncover, the more Meghan, Bria, and Robin each look responsible
Jessica’s Review:
The Pay Back Girls is a YA novel that is high on the drama while also showing a commentary on being a black girl minority in a white dominated school. We have a star athlete that was attacked and he was dating three girls, none knowing about the others. We have the infidelity, adding in some amnesia with one character on what happened to Nate on the night in question; we also see the girls deal with social media warfare/bullying galore, and some LGBTQ themes. Put all of this together and we have a book full of drama with some immature girls who can’t seem to make up their mind on if they want to be friends and work together or not on who hurt Nate.
I am far from the target audience but the book description intrigued me, so I wanted to listen to it. But this book was not for me. We have three very different girls who all look suspicious in that that they all could have hurt Nate. They go from not liking each other to becoming friends and working together to try find the culprit. And two of them realize that they actually like each other as more than friends. And despite Nate cheating on all three of them, they still realized that they had feelings for him. These teen girls are confusing!
We do find out who the culprit was and I was a little surprised with that. Other than the novel not being for me, I did like to see real-world issues being brought to the spotlight in a way for the teenage reader to experience.
The narrator Tamika Katon-Donegal, did a great job with her narration. She really brought on the teen girl feeling.
Many thanks for the publisher for granting me a copy to listen to and review. I just wish I had enjoyed it more!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audiobook Review: The Summer House by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
The Summer House
Authors:
James Patterson
Brendan DuBois
Narrator: Ari Fliakos
Published: June 8, 2020
Audiobook: 10 hours 19 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: April 7- April 12, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
One historic lake house. Seven murder victims. Four accused Army Rangers. Two versions of the truth.
Only one can survive.
Sullivan County, Georgia, belongs to Sheriff Emma Williams. But not when Army Rangers posted to the local base are implicated in a major crime. To an elite team of investigators led by Major Jeremiah Cook, the physical evidence Williams swears by presents clues to an entirely different story. The small-town sheriff has never worked a multiple homicide, and Cook knows it. Unless he can convince the locals that the recent crimes are part of a larger mystery, this outsider may never unlock the century of secrets hidden inside The Summer House.
Jessica’s Review:
Patterson is 78-years-old and has been ‘co-authoring’ his books lately. If you research these books, it appears that Patterson creates an outline for the novel while the ‘co-author’ develops the novel into what it becomes. Patterson then reviews the drafts, gives feedback and revises the novels to make sure the novels stay in his style. Of course, Patterson is the more well-known name that gets the attention of readers. It’s a ‘give and take’ collaboration that both Patterson and his co-author benefits from.
I have only read two other novels written by Patterson, both of the “Zoo” series books. The Summer House is very different from Zoo. The Summer House is a military thriller that starts off with the murder of seven civilians, including a small child. A group of Army Rangers is implicated in the murders.
This novel just really didn’t work for me. The characters were unlikeable for me and they consisted of stereotypes rather than multi-dimensional characters. The novel takes place in a small, fictional Georgia county and the narrator tended to exaggerate the accents of several characters. Being I am a Georgia native my thoughts were, “We don’t all talk like this!”
I as curious as to how the book was ultimately going to end and was happy to see one character get what they deserved. If this had been an introduction to Patterson for me, I would not have been impressed. I would probably stick with his earlier works or if it’s a collaboration, look to see who the co-author is, and if I like that person then I would read it, such as JD Barker who has collaborated with Patterson several times. Barker has also become a named author that I will make a point to read.
I had recently listened to another novel that Ari Fliakos had narrated and he really brought more to that narration unlike The Summer House. This was just a book that was not for me. Maybe military thrillers are not for me. I did like the cover!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK