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A review by rebelbelle13
Shoot Don't Shoot by J.A. Jance
3.0
As the story goes, this was a very respectable third installment to the Joanna Brady series. Joanna is going off to police school, she's dealing with being a newly elected sheriff and all the baggage that comes with it, on top of being a widowed mother. There's a serial killer on the loose in Maricopa county, and Joanna sticks her nose right in it, even though she's busy attending school and it's not even her jurisdiction. The narrative flows along rather smoothly, even though it's not that interesting or attention-grabbing. There's the usual meddling by Joanna's mother and clinginess of her daughter (to be expected, and she's not that bad considering) and the unwillingness of the staff in Cochise county to accept her in her new position. There's also the introduction of a possible new love interest for Joanna. I applauded the way Joanna stood up for the women of domestic violence, and her new friend at the academy (who was gay and everyone was making a big deal about it). It was a decent story, though largely forgettable in the long run.
That being said, the audiobook for this was beyond awful. I listened to the old version narrated by Ellen Travolta and she was just the worst. There was pausing, lip smacking, swallowing, page turning, mispronunciation of words, the complete omission of other words and sometimes complete sentences were just missing. She could not figure out how to pronounce the words 'bludgeon', 'kevlar', and 'cuisine' among many, MANY others. Joanna was sometimes Joanne, and certain other last names were pronounced in several different ways. I cannot believe that something like this was actually recorded, produced and released to the public. I've listened to over 100 audiobooks at this point and I have never, never heard a narrator so awful. I'm glad to see that it was re-recorded. This version needs to be buried, and quickly. Yikes.
That being said, the audiobook for this was beyond awful. I listened to the old version narrated by Ellen Travolta and she was just the worst. There was pausing, lip smacking, swallowing, page turning, mispronunciation of words, the complete omission of other words and sometimes complete sentences were just missing. She could not figure out how to pronounce the words 'bludgeon', 'kevlar', and 'cuisine' among many, MANY others. Joanna was sometimes Joanne, and certain other last names were pronounced in several different ways. I cannot believe that something like this was actually recorded, produced and released to the public. I've listened to over 100 audiobooks at this point and I have never, never heard a narrator so awful. I'm glad to see that it was re-recorded. This version needs to be buried, and quickly. Yikes.