Narrated by Patrick Lawlor and Melanie Ewbank
Over the Edge ramps up the action in the Troubleshooters series and multiplies it by a thousand. Brockmann takes the concept of a larger team of people on board for handling security issues to a truly fever pitch. It starts with a rather quiet introduction in which Stan Wolchonok and Teri Howe, the main protagonists, have a bit of a convo; Sam Starrett is shown pining for Alyssa Locke; and a new character, Gina Vitagliano, is given a voice. Then the SEAL team is re-routed from a training exercise to a hijacking in Kazbekistan, Brockmann’s theoretical third world country always on the brink of disaster. Gina’s on the plane – Sam and Alyssa have to work together again, with Sam on charge of the op – and Stan finagles a way for helo pilot Teri to join the gang. Let the games begin!
The format Brockmann set up in Books 1 and 2, using a World War II plot alternating with the main one, is used with a twist. Helga Shuler is an Israeli envoy brought in because the terrorists are demanding the release of a prisoner in her country. She seems to be demonstrating signs of early dementia and we relive her youth as a Jew in Denmark through her episodes. As she slips in and out of the past, it’s a jarring contrast to the thriller occurring in the present. It becomes more and more obvious the terrorists have suicide in their sites, and the SEALS are dealing with lack of communication and the inability to get the right training equipment, while FBI negotiator/counterterrorism expert Max Bhagat tries in vain to keep everyone, including the bad guys, focused.
Suspense is Patrick Lawlor’s specialty – he uses his excellent narrating skills to keep the reader focused while all around is chaos. It’s in his pacing as well as his intonation. It’s clear that he and his co-narrator Melanie Ewbank work together, with both of them voicing the same characters from different points of view. He uses regional accents extremely well, continuing characters from earlier books while creating new ones, all with subtlety. My criticisms of Ewbank’s too slow, too deliberate delivery in books one (The Unsung Hero) and two are slightly easing – I felt it was still prominent in Book 2, The Defiant Hero, but did not feel compelled to speed up the audio. There are still echoes of that slow pacing here and I marked a scene at one point that demonstrates the too-long pauses between sentences. However, her delivery of Helga’s POV and stories was truly inspired. In general, though, both Patrick and Melanie faded onto the background as the suspense grabbed me and all I could think of was the action on the virtual page. And this is the mark of great narrations!
What I love about audio is demonstrated in this so clearly. Audio introduces a new angle to the book – any book – to hear a wonderful narration of every word, every phrase, every scene, brought to life. I have read the book multiple times, and was still moved by small things I didn’t recall in print – dialog here, a random expression there, even just a word or description that changes how I remember the scene playing out before. It illustrates why I like to both read and listen to my favorite books.
Melinda
Narration: Lawlor A; Ewbank B
Book Content: A
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Graphic
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Over the Edge was provided by Blackstone Audio to AudioGals for review.
I loved this book!
I enjoyed re-visiting it in audio, for sure! I’m loving re-visiting the entire series!
My first contemporary audio books were Brockmann and SEP…….NFL and Navy Seals were not my thing at all, but I loved listening to those stories……still some of my favs to be sure.