Malice
By: Jennifer Jaynes / Narrated By: Jane Oppenheimer
Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
Pretty good; I might even try another Jaynes/Thriller?!?
Perhaps you’ve noticed it: there’s rather a lack of Thrillers in Audiobook Accomplice’s stock of Reviews? That’s cuz I don’t really like feeling my toes curl in anticipation. It’s a frightful feeling. Plus, I don’t like feeling dread. So imagine how surprised I was that I liked Malice by Jennifer Jaynes. Sure, there was a good deal of toe-curling, of dread, of Oh No! Don’t-be-stupid! But there wasn’t sooooo much that I was desperately uncomfortable (so perhaps if you’re a die-hard lover of Thrillers, you might find it to be disappointing?).
It’s always a plus when your audiobook doesn’t make you sick to your stomach, in my humble estimation.
The story follows Dr. Daniel Winters, pediatrician, in his new life as married man to the woman of his dreams turned nightmare. And it follows Rachel, a young single mom, as she tries to navigate a healthy life for her toddler daughter. Mostly, it’s about the vaccine Rispera and the medical/pharmaceutical community’s onslaught of pushing it onto an unsuspecting but demanding public.
As Daniel’s personal life devolves (he’s always had this thing about drinking too much; he’s always had this thing about suicidal ideation; he’s always had this thing about not trusting beautiful women; he’s always had this thing about… it goes on and on as the man is a total mess!), so too does his professional life as he begins to question Rispera’s safety.
Rachel is barely keeping it together. She’s struggling to juggle the demands of work, online classes, bringing up her daughter. And after Rispera, things just start to happen. Little Susie keeps seeming to have a bad reaction, but nobody is listening to her or providing answers.
It’s almost like there’s some grand Rispera plot!
There’s plenty of gunplay involved in Malice, plenty of drinking and lying. And a whole BUTTLOAD of secrets and darkness. The latter, I believe, is what causes the only flaw in Jane Oppenheimer’s narration: she whispers darkly and ominously a lot as the characters trundle hopelessly along. And her male voices are a tad flat. But for the most part, given the plot of the audiobook, she does a good job, keeping the confusion and dismay going, as dire circumstance follows dire circumstance.
So here I am, pondering more audiobooks by Jaynes because I found the story compelling, but at no point did I want to claw my eyes out in dread. Make of it what you will…!
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