Battle Of The Audiobooks Part 1

I don’t know why, but when I’m on a tight deadline, I manage to be more productive. The last two weeks have been challenging, so I focused solely on work. As I mentioned in my post on Wednesday, I’ve received a large number of audiobooks in the thriller genre since I mainly read contemporary or romance in March, and I’m trying to avoid a reading slump. So, I’m not planning to join any readathons in April; however, for every five books read from my Kindle, I plan to pick up an audiobook, which is where this post comes into play. I’m calling it the battle of the audiobooks. I will pick up three and listen to the first chapter, and based on my thoughts on that, I will continue to read.

Goodreads Blurb:

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible — a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.

An author’s husband who just became a bestseller with his wife is a journalist who is receiving threats. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney begins with the wife on her way to celebrate the news while on the phone with her on her way home; a trap is laid, and she’s gone.

Goodreads Blurb:

A best-selling author. A mother. A murderer…

Mackenzie Casper is a brilliant student. But she is best known for her mother, a best-selling author whose dark, twisted thrillers have a dedicated worldwide fanbase.

When her mother dies in an accident, fans across the world are left grieving, and the investigators are asking: Was that really an accident?

The day of the memorial service, Mackenzie gets the first mysterious envelope, signed,
From #1 fan. XOXO

Inside are the pages of her mother’s diary that start with the lines:
Want to know a secret?
Love, Mom.

What Mackenzie reads leaves her in shock.
But then comes the second letter.
And the third…

Mackenzie starts her own investigation and stumbles upon secrets that her family has lived with for years.
Quickly, she realizes that her mother’s path to stardom was etched with sinister lies that might have caught up with her.

Sometimes fame is worth a murder. Or worse.
Soon, Mackenzie will come to find out that there are worse things than murder…

When a bestseller is found dead, it is thought to be an accidental death. The funeral is a publicity stunt to sell more books. When she hears her father arguing with a man, she doesn’t know why, but from the way they are talking, it’s clear he knows about her. When she gets into her car, she finds a letter that says, ‘Number 1 Fan.’

Goodreads Blurb:

Nothing ever happens in small towns…

When Shelby Dawson survives a harrowing attack that should have left her dead, she tries to move past it—for herself, and for her family. Fifteen months later, with the help of her best friend, Mackenzie, she finally feels safe again in the snowy Minnesota town she calls home. But when an anonymous note appears on her windshield bearing the same threats her attacker made, Shelby realizes that her nightmare has only just begun.

As new evidence surfaces, and a group of well-meaning senior citizens accidentally makes the case go viral online, the situation quickly goes from bad to worse. And with suspicious accidents targeting those closest to her happening all over town, Shelby can’t shake the feeling that she’s being watched. Fighting to stay one step ahead of disaster, she finds herself asking the question on everyone’s lips: Who attacked her that night?

But Shelby isn’t the only one with questions. Mackenzie’s husband, Leo, vanished without a trace on that terrible night, and over a year later, no one knows why. Until a deep dive into his finances reveals a history of debts, mismanaged funds, and hidden accounts—one of which is still active. Their suspicion that Leo is still alive only complicates things further, though, and when another person connected to Shelby goes missing, she’s caught in a race against time before her attacker becomes a killer.

Nothing Ever Happened Here by Seraphina Nova Glass starts with a woman living in a small town where nothing happens. When she goes to the store to buy a toy for her kids, whom she left in the car, she finds someone who shouldn’t be there, and things turn sour very quickly.

In the end, I was in between two novels, Love, Mom by Iliana Xander and Beautiful Ugly by  Alice Feeney, so the two related to the book world, but the winner is:

Alex