Fear the Darkness

November 17, 2014
For someone who still conducts threat assessments at functions as seemingly innocuous as a Tucson, Ariz., humane society fundraiser, retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn has gone dangerously soft in other respects—as she discovers when it’s almost too late in Edgar-finalist Masterman’s disappointingly wan follow-up to her electrifying 2013 debut, Rage Against the Dying. Then again, it’s tough for Brigid to be at the top of her game once she begins to experience increasingly alarming symptoms, including chronic nausea, anxiety, and hallucinations, after her teenage niece, Gemma-Kate, whose mother has recently died of MS, moves in with her and husband Carlo to establish in-state residency for the University of Arizona. Given the timing, as well as the girl’s glaring lack of empathy but keen interest in toxicology, Brigid starts wondering whether she’s let a psychopath into her little slice of long-overdue domestic bliss. Overly talky with too many heavy-handed efforts at misdirection, this novel lets down both Masterman’s kick-ass heroine and her many fans. Agent: Helen Heller, Helen Heller Agency.

Masterman's thriller continues the story of retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn. While narrator Suzanne Toren provides a convincing persona for the senior protagonist and even more so her good friend, Mallory, she seems to lack enough range to voice plausible characterizations for many of the other characters. Several teenagers feature in the plot, and all the roles blend vocally together in this production, which can be confusing. Where Quinn's niece loses the innocent tone to her speech, no such change occurs in Toren's presentation of the character. Furthermore, her overall pace is tediously slow and the climax underwhelming for a thriller, so listeners desiring plenty of action may want to pass on this audiobook. J.F. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

May 1, 2015

In this follow-up to the Edgar Award-winning Rage Against the Dying, Masterman brings retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn into a more domestic investigation. Brigid's sister has just died after a long struggle with MS, and Brigid and husband Carlo agree to allow her niece to live in their home for a few months prior to attending college. Shortly after the niece's arrival, however, things on the home front begin to go awry--from the poisoning of one of Brigid's pugs to a mass poisoning at her church. Brigid's own strange symptoms (agitation, trouble walking, and hallucinations) lead her to wonder if she is being poisoned herself, and if the possible culprit might be her difficult niece, or if her investigation of the perhaps-not-entirely-accidental drowning death of a teenage boy might be causing some discomfort. While the core mystery is a little far-fetched, Suzanne Toren does a great job of voicing Brigid. Listeners really get a sense of her personality, the slight Southern twang, and the wry humor, and Toren's voice hits the age of the character (late 50s) spot-on. VERDICT Great narration enlivens this slower-moving sophomore effort from Masterson. ["We can only hope the old Brigid will be revived in time for the next episode": LJ 12/14 review of the Minotaur hc.]--Victoria A. Caplinger, NoveList, Durham, NC

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