Short Story Sunday: Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand by Lisa Scottoline
Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand
Series: We Could Be Heroes: Short story 1 of 5
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini
Published: February 7, 2023
Audiobook: 1 hour 13 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: February 10, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
When amiable Italian immigrant Pigeon Tony discovers that local drug dealers are pressuring his young neighbor into joining their ranks, he resolves to put an end to the crime wave before it can take over the community. Pigeon Tony knows the law isn’t always on the right side, but it takes only one person to rally a revolution.
Jessica’s Review:
This is the first short story in Amazon’s We Could be Heroes series and takes all of the ‘Tony’s’ characters from Scottoline’s popular Rosato and DiNunzio series. I am a fan of Scottoline and was very excited when I heard about this short story, and I have really missed her R&D novels.
As the title shows, Pigeon Tony is the featured character in this short story, but all of the Tony’s appear along with Mary DiNunzio! All of the Tony’s are much older and are scene stealers in the R&D series. If you have read the series then you already know what you need to know about these characters that you have grown to love over the years. If this is your introduction, the story may seem a bit ‘out there’ for you with the way the characters act.
Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand is a quick and enjoyable read for fans of the series. The narrator did a great job. I really hope Scottoline gets back to the R&D series, but it seems that she has a new love of writing historical fiction.
Purchase Links: This short story series is currently available only on Kindle and Audible.
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Short Story Sunday: Tell Her Story by Margot Hunt
Tell Her Story
Author: Margot Hunt
Main Narrator: Dakota Fanning
Published: May 5, 2022
Audiobook: 2 hours 52 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: December 29-30, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Paige Barrett was living her dream as a journalist in New York City, racking up bylines as a staff writer at The Razor, a cutting-edge online magazine. But when she’s suddenly fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend, she finds herself back home in the quaint seaside town of Shoreham, Florida, waiting tables and living in her sister’s guesthouse.
Restless and itching for something meaningful to occupy her time, she decides to launch a true-crime podcast about the death of Jessica Cady, a beloved teacher who died mysteriously 20 years earlier. The case went cold with no leads and no suspects, but the more Paige digs into the woman’s death, the closer she comes to a killer. In a small town like Shoreham, it’s impossible to keep a secret forever.
Jessica’s Review:
This was the last short audiobook I listened to in 2022. It was short at under three hours and I really enjoyed it!
We have a young and disgraced former journalist who is convinced by her sister to start a podcast featuring the cold case of a 20-year-old murder of a much-loved teacher in her hometown. And of course, she gets in over her head the further involved she gets.
I really enjoyed this short story and liked Paige. I was fully involved in her journey to hopefully solving this long cold case. Tell Her Story is currently only available in audio format and I feel that is the way it should be ‘read’ or listened to. We go on Paige’s journey of ‘whodunit’ with her and then part of the audiobook is the podcast. Dakota Fanning is our main narrator and she did a very good job portraying Paige.
This is a short story, so it was fast paced and I never lost interest in it. The farther Paige went in her research the more she discovers and she then finds herself involved in a way she never expected. The podcast angle with the unexpected popularity adds to the danger and also shows how different our world is now than just 20 years ago when this murder happened.
I would be interested in looking at more of Hunt’s novels. This was a good introduction to her for me.
Purchase Links: Please note this one is only available in audio format currently.
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audible Original: One Little Mistake by Lucinda Berry
One Little Mistake
Author: Lucinda Berry
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Published: September 9, 2021
Audiobook: 2 hours 23 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Listened To: August 24, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Novella Description:
From the best-selling author of The Secrets of Us and The Best of Friends comes a novella of deceit, desperation, and how one little mistake can unravel a life.
When overwhelmed stay-at-home mom Alexis finds herself at odds with her husband after she’s charged with a DUI, she is given one chance to get her family back: complete AA and admit her faults. The problem is, she’s never had a drinking problem and has no idea what caused the blackout that led to her arrest. Still, she’s committed to working through the program, if that’s what it takes to be reunited with her two young children. But when she connects with a new friend, Farrah – a confident, successful powerhouse of a woman Alexis can’t help but idolize – she’s empowered to take a closer look at her husband’s role in her downfall. What she finds shocks her to her core, quickly spiraling into something more sinister than she ever imagined.
Jessica’s Review:
What started as a mother dealing with a DUI turns into so much more than I expected! This is my first by Lucinda Berry and it won’t be the last. I do have mixed opinions on this novella as the mother Alexis was not likable and also an unreliable narrator. Which if you have followed my reviews then you know my opinions on these types of narrators. Was Alexis’ situation a DUI or not since she has zero memory of what happened that afternoon/evening.
The ending of this novella took an unexpected and different turn which saved it for me. I was surprised as I liked the ending and wish it was a full-length novel. I want more to this story and see what happens next!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK