Don't Make a Sound (Sawyer Brooks, #1) (2024)

A Group of Female Dexters

Don’t Make A Sound has a lot to love. It focuses on a group of female Dexters, a group of female vigilantes who want justice, and a crime reporter by the name of Sawyer Brooks.

Strong female characters? Check. Imperfect parents? Check.

The prose is non- pretentious, and the sentences are short, almost too short. If flowery prose is your thing, you will not be impressed with this book. However, the prose worked well in this mystery/thriller. Who wants to drown in adjectives while reading a thriller?

Don’t Make a Sound is very fast paced, and it was better than the average thriller.

However, you have to suspend reality to get through this book. For example, Sawyer bursts into someone’s home without invitation and immediately finds a box of incriminating evidence in the closet. How did she know that the evidence was in there? It doesn’t make any sense.

At some point, Sawyer is moving out of her old apartment and driving to her sister’s house. She stops the car and picks up a random cat. She drivers to her sister’s and dumps the cat off, leaving to go investigate a story. Who shows up at someone else’s house and just dumps off a wild animal?

There are also so many different murders in this book that it is a bit too much. The plot needed to be a bit more focused.

Don’t Make A Sound has enough redeeming qualities that I enjoyed it, and I look forward to reading more books out of this series.

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3.5 stars

First of all, I think it is important to note this story involves sexual crimes. It's big element of the story so if that is a topic that you try to avoid reading about, I suggest you take a pass on this book. While I wouldn't say this goes into the most graphic detail I have ever read, it still was disturbing and a lot to mentally process. I read mysteries and thrillers all the time and I would put it in the compelling but tough read category.

Crime reporter Sawyer Brooks has tried to leave the past behind her but some things stay with you forever. She has never forgotten that her older sisters left her behind as they fled their hometown of River Rock, and she was left alone to endure horrific abuse. Two teenage girls were murdered in River Rock and their cases remain unsolved. Sawyer's childhood friend went missing and again, the case remains unsolved. While Sawyer has kept her distance from the town she grew up in, she is back hoping to find answers as to what happened to these girls. What will she discover?

The story held my interest as there certainly was lot going on and Sawyer was a solid lead character. The story does bounce around occasionally to other characters and in some cases I thought it worked well having different perspectives but in others it didn't feel necessary in order to advance the plot.

I feel the author might have been too ambitious in her storytelling as it becomes a bit much in terms of how much feels realistic when you add everything up together. I also thought the plot that kicks off the book started off promising but veered into bad Lifetime movie territory. In general, some elements of the story needed to be more fully fleshed out or abandoned completely. A few less characters might have also helped as it is never a good thing when you are near the end of a book and a character pops up and you struggle to remember who they are.

With that being said, I did like this book even though it wasn't a perfect read. In terms of the mystery elements, there was nothing really here that I found surprising but I also read the genre often and it's difficult to catch me completely off guard. I'm curious to see what is in store for Sawyer as this appears to be the first book in a series. If you can handle tough subject material, this is a decent pick.

the setup…
Sawyer Brooks is a news and human interest reporter with the Sacramento Independent newspaper with aspirations to join the crime beat. She gets her opportunity when their top crime reporter needs a photographer for a homicide where he’s on scene without one due to unforeseen circumstances. Sawyer finds a way into the actual scene, giving them a leg up and gets a promotion to crime reporter. Before she can start though, she must return home to River Rock to attend her grandmother’s funeral. It’s a place with truly awful memories for Sawyer. Meanwhile, a group of five women who call themselves The Crew are setting up a predator as vengeance for what he’d done to one of them. And, it’s clear that he’s just the first of more to acts to come.

the heart of the story…
This is one of the darkest stories I’ve read in some time. Sawyer and her two older sisters were sexually abused by a family member as children, mostly due to parental neglect. She’s got lots of issues resulting from her assaults but seems to have good instincts when it comes to crime reporting. The Crew’s backgrounds are even more traumatizing. I had to suspend belief too often as, while Sawyer does have skills, her investigative paths were rather light and should have already been explored by seasoned detectives. Sawyer also decides to investigate a series of murders that occurred in her hometown years ago, this while she’s in River Rock for a few days. Her family is seriously over the top awful, making her decision to even be around them nonsensical. But, it’s the actions of The Crew I found extremely intriguing and believable as they attempted to execute their vengeance. As well planned as they were, they were not without loads of unforeseen troubles.

the narration…
This is my first experience with the narrator and I enjoyed her performance. Her pacing was strong and voice distinctions nicely done. She definitely made this a better reading experience.

the bottom line…
I liked the story, despite not being able to buy into Sawyer’s abilities as a crime reporter and investigator. She had quite a few TSTL moments (Too Stupid to Live) for my tastes but I liked her and see potential going forward in the series. However, it was The Crew who hooked me, opening up all kinds of interesting possibilities and I definitely want to see where they lead. I know I shouldn’t be rooting for them but… There were also a couple of twists I was unprepared for, one really explosive, and I liked how they were developed. I’m in for continuing the series, especially on audio. 3.5 stars

Posted on Blue Mood Café

(Thanks to Brilliance Audio for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)

A solid story from victimization to female empowerment. 8 of 10 stars

3.5 stars rounded up.

I have read all of Ragan’s books and loved them. While they are not literary or mind blowing in any other way, they are reliably compelling to read and hugely entertaining. So this is a new series featuring 27 year old Sawyer Brooks, a journalist with the Sacramento Independent paper and a survivor of horrific sexual abuse as a child. I have the ARC of the second book but grabbed this one to read first (yes, I’m one of those sticklers for reading in order 🙄). Yikes, it is full on, very dramatic, maybe even melodramatic.

Sawyer heads back to her home town of River Rock to attend the funeral of Gramma Sally who was closer to her than her parents. Her sisters Harper and Aria both plead with her not to go as River Rock has bad memories and bad vibes. Sawyer is also aware of a string of disappeared teenage girls in the past including her own childhood best friend, Rebecca. She pitches a story on the missing girls to her paper and her boss reluctantly agrees.

While she is in River Rock another teenage girl is murdered and Sawyer is determined to get to the bottom of it. But could this be her undoing? Cracks start to appear in her relationships with her family and friends she thought she knew. Meanwhile we also follow a group of 5 female vigilantes who are getting payback on some of the men who abused them in the past. Both strands of the story spiral out of control with shocking revelations. It was interesting and absorbing but also pretty dark stuff. I guessed some but not all of the plot twists. The lengths some people will go to protect a secret...

Was it overly dramatic- maybe, so I’m giving it 3.5 stars rounded up and I’m onto the next one now. Remember folks - this is fiction, anything can and does happen.

You can find my full review here: https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.b...

++++++++++++++

Oh my goodness. What a cluster fuck this was. It was going pretty decently until the main character went home. It was really obvious which sister was part of the revenge group, and common sense and the process of elimination made it obvious who had killed the girls and was obsessed with Sawyer. Way too many subplots. Things that were intended to be red herrings, weren’t. Glad I didn’t pay for this one.

A dark and gritty start to a new series by T.R. Ragan. Sawyer Brooks, a crime reporter, returns home for her grandmother's funeral. Sawyer and her family have a sad and twisted past. This book combines Sawyer's personal story, the stories of her sisters, and a series of murders in her hometown. Fast-paced, exciting, and twisted. I look forward to reading more of this series.

They are a group of five; they call themselves The Crew. There's Malice and then there's Lily, Bug. Cleo and Psycho. Years of abuse, mental, physical, sexual brought them together. Their belief is that the only way to get justice is to see criminals punished. They have taken back control of their lives by teaching sexual predators a lesson or two.They have no intention of committing murder ... once the target is properly secured and "aware" of the harm they have done, they are released back into society.

But not all plans succeed.

They are a true sisterhood, committed to their newfound cause ... and they are plotting their first target.

Sawyer Brooks is a crime reporter, still trying to regain control of her life, her rage, her paranoia. As part of a work promotion, and to attend to her grandmother's funeral, she is returning to her hometown. Facing her past is no picnic. She'll have to see her cold, distant parents, and the sisters who abandoned her with her uncle when she was a child.

There were two murders in her town years ago ... almost unheard of at the time. Two teenaged girls were murdered and Sawyer's best friend disappeared. Three cold cases dead and buried with the rest of the town's secrets.

BOOK BLURB: When another girl is slain in a familiar grisly fashion, Sawyer is determined to put an end to the crimes. Pulled back into the horrors of her family history, Sawyer must reconcile with her estranged sisters, who both have shattering memories of their own.

What will prove most dangerous .... what she knows of the past ... or what she has yet to discover?

This author is in my top 10 favorite list ... and she never disappoints. Intricately woven plots... deftly drawn characters ... and she handles the hard issues with a delicate hand. This is a true page-turner and I am excited to read the next book featuring Sawyer Brooks.

This book features reporter Sawyer Brooks who had a horrific childhood, not just because of the abuse she faced by a family member and his friends, but by having parents that didn’t look out for her back then and couldn’t be less supportive of her now. She has two sisters, one of whom faced the same abuse.

While Sawyer is covering the crime beat, she hears of yet another girl who has been murdered in her small town of River Rock. She wants to uncover what happened there, and this means peeling back her own family history.

There are sort of three separate story lines happening here. In one of them, a group of women meet online to discuss ways to get back and the men who tortured and raped them. You can see that this is a tough read when that’s the subject matter on every single page.

Some of the stuff with police procedure doesn’t ring true to me and having parents that awful is hard to believe, even though I’ve seen those crime documentaries that blow my mind what parents do to their kids.

This is just not a fun read, although portions of it are extremely action-packed, leaving the reader edgy, wondering how the character/characters will get herself/themselves out of difficult situations.

There was alot of emotion reading this book,firstly as loved reading all her other books this book just took along time to get into this book wasn't sure about the characters maybe as a new series plus the delicate storyline of child abuse even it didn't give you harrowing details it a subject I avoid reading.it ended up a good storyline it starts Sawyer who's a journalist becomes a crime reporter goes back to her childhood town as her grandma dies as goes to her funeral but theres unsolved murders and family secrets that come to light.lookimg forward to book two.

Reporter Sawyer Brooks jumps at the chance of being put on the crime beat. When TV morning show host Kylie Hartford is found dead in her apartment, Sawyer works her way into the building, takes pictures, and interviews neighbors. She not only wants to write the story; she wants to solve the murder. But Sawyer doesn't have time for that. Her grandmother has died, and she must return to her hometown for the funeral. There Sawyer decides to use her investigative abilities to solve a series of cold cases. Two girls were murdered nearly twenty years ago. A third disappeared and was never found. Sawyer has just started asking questions when another girl is found murdered. Between her grandmother's funeral, a reunion with her estranged family, and questioning possible suspects, Sawyer has her work cut out for her.

This is a very dark, very busy story. It deals with pedophilia, sexual abuse, and rape. On top of the mysteries that Sawyer is looking into, there is a group of vigilantes called "The Crew" who have a plan to get even with the men who raped and tortured them. Their plan quickly goes awry.

There is enough storyline in this book to fuel three books. Between the old murders, new murders, vigilante antics, and various suspects, the story was very disjointed. There was just too much going on and it was too dark and unrealistic. On top of that, the characters were not likeable at all.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Jennica Dammon. She does a decent job with the material. I will probably continue with the series since I have the audible books on my device. My rating: 3 Stars.

I didn't think it was possible to squeeze so much darkness into one book, but that's exactly what T.R. Ragan did with Don't Make a Sound. This book is gritty, disturbing, and chilling and I loved it so much.

Don't Make a Sound is book one of the Sawyer Brooks series and it sure starts out with a bang. There are a few different mysteries and I was really intrigued by all of them. There are also other viewpoints that the synopsis doesn't mention, and I have to say they were a pleasant surprise. There is a vigilante feel to parts of the book that I adored, and the pace was steady because of the different viewpoints, although most of the beginning is just Sawyer. There are some badass women in this novel and that was one of my absolute favorite things about it.

I really love Sawyer as a character, and I am so glad there is going to be more of her. I also liked that Don't Make a Sound didn't end on a cliffhanger. I honestly don't know what I would have done if it had, but it also left me wanting more which is great. I loved Ragan's writing style and I thought it was reminiscent of Karin Slaughter who is the queen of the gritty thriller in my eyes.

Lastly, I feel the need to repeat the fact that Don't Make a Sound is gritty with a capital G. It won't be for the faint of heart and if you can't read about sex crimes you need to stay far, far away. But if you love dark and disturbing thrillers that are full of surprises then I'm just going to say you need to read this book NOW. I'm so excited that Ragan has a backlist that I can check out and you can guarantee I will be doing that ASAP!

Thank you to McCartin/Daniels PR and the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book! All opinions and thoughts are my own.

After reading and enjoying other books by this author, I jumped at the chance to get it as an Amazon Prime Reads selection. Now I've finished it, and I have to say it just didn't push the right buttons for me. It's heavy-handed in the focus on sexual abuse (often graphically described), psychologically damaged victims and some of the sickest characters I've ever had the displeasure to meet. It's not that it isn't well-written, I hasten to add - it was for me just too much of a bad thing.

There are two plots going on here, both tinged (make that doused) with violence and revenge. A group calling themselves The Crew meet on the Dark Web, plotting to make sexual predators "pay" for what they've done. No killing or maiming allowed, they claim; they simply want to impress upon them that payback is a you-know-what. The other story focuses on Sawyer Brooks, a 29-year-old journalist who longs to be on the crime scene beat. She and her two sisters, Aria and Harper, are themselves victims of extensive and horrific sexual abuse - and dealing with it in very different ways (Harper is a neat freak, Sawyer avoids emotional or physical attachments and Aria simply refuses to go there). Not only are all three seriously psychologically damaged by abuse, but in large part because of those experiences, they have tended to not play well with each other.

Things get heated when Sawyer gets her wish to partner up with the nationally recognized crime reporter at their Sacramento newspaper and her beloved grandmother dies. Since she's going home to nearby River Rock for the funeral, she convinces her new boss to let her report on the years-ago murders of two young girls and another - Sawyer's best friend - who went missing but was never found. Meanwhile, The Crew keep busy chasing down and showing the predators who abused them the error of their ways (oh golly, what could possibly go wrong with that scenario)?

For Sawyer, going home puts her right back in the eye of her storm - visiting the parents who at best ignored their daughters and the prison release of one of their abusers. On top of that, no one - including the police - are happy that old rocks are being overturned for all the world to read about in Sawyer's story. There are a few twists here and there, although they're for the most part predictable. Still, it's an action-packed adventure, albeit not what I'd call a totally satisfying one.

Surprisingly bad

I kept feeling like I was reading through someone's first draft of a book that would require numerous edits. Scattered, thin character development, and a lot of jumping to conclusions. I hadn't heard of this author before, so this almost assuredly "one and done" for me.

Truly Terrible

I don't want to be mean but this is just about the worst book I've ever read. The mistakes are so numerous that I thought it must be a first book with no editor. I'd enumerate but I don't want to waste even one more minute on it .

A dark & twisted revenge thriller & Kindle Unlimited title. The writing & narration were mediocre but I still found myself thoroughly entertained. This is book one in a new series. If you’re concerned about triggers be aware that pretty much every possible one is in this book.

Goodness gracious this was absolutely awful. Overly dramatic, completely unrealistic, amateurish and pretentious. Oh and dumb. It was just dumb. Oh and a main character that’s a better detective than every detective in the city and a smarter cop than any cop in the town and can fight men five times her size. Oh whatEVER. Ugh. Save yourself a few hours and skip this loser book. Next review I’ll tell you how I really feel, but this will have to do for now.

3.5 stars

Lots of triggers, so beware. I waffled between 3 - 4 stars because I couldn't put this one down. Lots of plot threads. Some were wrapped up but lots hanging. I will read the 2nd book. I hope Sawyer lets Derek in, eventually. I like the gradual building of their relationship.

My goodness that was dark... and awesome!

I have read previous series by this author and really enjoyed them and couldn’t wait to read this. I upgraded my kindle version to audio and listened to the whole thing today, I couldn’t turn it off.

These new characters are so damaged in so many ways. The 2 storylines running at the same time was really good. I am sure that they will cross over many times to come.

Don’t Make a Sound is a gripping, suspenseful thriller following three sisters—Sawyer, Aria and Harper—who have disturbing and horrific pasts but are doing their best to cope with their trauma while attempting to live somewhat normal lives. That is until their grandmother passes away and Sawyer—a newly promoted crime investigative reporter in Sacramento—travels back home to their small town of River Rock which also has a dark, menacing history; two young girls were mysteriously murdered and one girl, Sawyer’s childhood friend Rebecca, disappeared. While only planning on staying home for a few days to attend her grandmother’s funeral, Sawyer’s visit gets extended unexpectedly when there’s suddenly another murder of a 16 year old girl.

Meanwhile, back in Sacramento, a secret, online group of vengeful, victimized women—who all have been tragically abused in various ways—team up to seek revenge on the men who have brutalized them. Don’t Make a Sound is a book about revenge and the horrific, disturbing ways that women are abused by men but how by working together, they can seek the justice that they deserve but also revealing the sobering truth that while revenge is cathartic, that in and of itself is not enough to heal old wounds.

I could not put this book down! If it weren’t for other obligations, I could have easily finished Don’t Make a Sound in a day. I was completely consumed with both Sawyer’s story as she visits her old town of River Rock while also thrilled by the group of women seeking revenge on the men who had abused each of them. The author, T.R. Ragan, did an excellent job with both the character development and also the dialogue. I’ve read a lot of thrillers and I often find that I’m not hugely invested in the characters. That was not the case with this book. In many ways, this book was so cathartic. Guiltily, I loved reading how the women got revenge on the men who had harmed them but I must admit that this book also deeply disturbed me in ways that I won’t articulate to avoid spoilers.

My only criticism of the book is that I think certain things could have been removed—there was just a lot going on. There’s the original murder case in Sacramento, there’s the two unsolved murder cases in River Rock, there’s the story of the three sisters’ dark past, there’s the new murder and there’s a love interest not to mention the revenge group. I’m still happy with my five-star rating but I think trimming a few of the details down a little bit wouldn’t have hurt the book in any way and I think could have made the ending more potent without trying to wrap up the various, non-essential story lines.

All in all, I loved Don’t Make a Sound. It was extremely thrilling, dark and disturbing plus it had awesome character development and really made me care about what happened to the three sisters. I will say, admit this book might be difficult to read if you are triggered by violent or sexual and especially domestic abuse but if not—and if you really enjoy gritty thrillers—you’re sure to love this one as well!

3.5 STARS

My luck choosing Amazon Prime First Reads free monthly book has been hit and miss, usually misses so I wasn’t overly optimistic about DON’T MAKE A SOUND by TR Ragan and was pleasantly surprised to be drawn into the story.

DON’T MAKE A SOUND won’t be for everyone due to its dark, graphic writing, which didn’t bother me. As a sexual abuse survivor, I thought some aspects of Sawyer’s and her sisters’ sexual abuse felt realistic and authentic while others, like joining a vigilante group and physically avenging perps, far fetched. Though I understand desiring revenge, being the one with boots on the ground literally chasing suspects never entered my mind. The vigilantism was my least favorite aspect of the story.

I enjoyed relationships between Sawyer, Aria and Harper and that Ragan showed how abuse can affect different siblings in various ways. Sawyer was easily relatable and sympathetic. I liked that she was a young journalist, imperfectly following her instinct and that she sought therapy to help her recover from PTSD.

DON’T MAKE A SOUND is an above average read for those who aren’t bothered by graphic violence.

Holy terribly-written-dialogue, Batman!

Wow, this book was...just bad—like, straight-up bad. There are so many random things going on within the lives of these incredibly underdeveloped characters. I literally laughed out loud reading this gem of dialogue from the book at what is supposed to be the height of suspense: “I’m going to rip the cloud of secrecy off this town like a kid opening a f*cking Christmas present!” Like...what? I’m just honestly so confused about how this passed through an editor, and maybe that person should no longer have his or her job. If anything, I guess this book made for some good laughs for my book club.

Wow, this is a seriously good thriller that just keeps going and twisting and leaving you guessing to the end. Just when you think it’s all over, it kicks off again! I haven’t read any of T.R.’s books but I will be one of the first in line for the next instalment of the story of Sawyer!

Kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time! Didn't want to put it down. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

I read Out of Her Mind a couple months ago, I really liked the book, but it seemed like I was missing some pieces to the story of Sawyer and her sisters. Then I realized I had started with book two of the series. So now, having finally read book one, Don’t Make a Sound, all the missing pieces have fallen into place. Sawyer is a reporter for the Sacramento Independent newspaper and has just been promoted to the crime report team. Also, Sawyer gets a call that her Gramma has died and she needs to go to her hometown of River Rock. Sawyer and her sisters were all repeatedly sexually abused as children in their family home. So as hard as it is to return to River Rock, Sawyer does for her Gramma, and also there are are two unsolved murders and a missing girl from when Sawyer was young, so she plans to do some digging into these cases while she’s there. Sawyer uncovers a lot of painful secrets from when she and her sisters were young,
All of the sisters are carrying a lot of painful baggage and this book explains how each sister is trying to cope and live a ‘normal life’.

The twist were obvious for me. The ultimate killer I knew the first time that person was introduced. As far as a mystery, it was pretty basic and elementary. I also felt like I read parts if the story before. The group of woman for revenge, that storyline is very familiar, Lisa Jackson or Lisa ???.

The only reason I finished was to see if I was right. I was. Disappointing. Thank goodness I only paid a total of $1.99 for audio.

The narrator was good.

I love T. R. Ragan novels, but this one fell flat for me. I couldn't connect with the characters. They felt rushed and had limited growth and no dimension. The premise of the book drew me in, but the writing style felt jagged and awkward making made it hard to picture the essence of the characters. I couldn't get in tune with any of the characters. Which makes me want to skip the series altogether.

Don't Make a Sound: A Sawyer Brooks Thriller
by: T.R. Ragan

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication date: June 1, 2020
Print length: 285 pages

I received two books from the author via Twitter and sincerely express my thanks for being selected to receive these. Ragan has been the only author to acknowledge my existence and that is no small thing to me. I apologize in advance to her in regards to my rating, but I want to be truthful in my analysis.

I feel that I am the right target audience because I have also been victimized (discrimination and sexual assault attempts) and that is what made me go back to college to pursue a criminal justice degree. So I understand a lot of the issues that the author brings up in her novel. However, I felt that as the novel progressed it began to implode on itself.

Don’t Make a Sound by T.R. Ragan is the first in a Sawyer Brooks thriller series and is forbeaing in its examination of sexual abuse, torture, and pre-meditated murder.

Sawyer Brooks is a 29-year-old Sacramento newly promoted crime journalist. Her disturbing childhood sexual encounters from her uncle impact her daily, even after years of therapy.

I have to admit up front that I didn't particularly like any of the characters in the novel, but for the most part the scenarios are realistic.

But one scenario that comes to mind that is not realistic is Sawyer took pictures of another victim who was murdered. She photographed the deceased woman soon after the crime happened. It doesn't seem realistic to me that she would go out and do this to another victim of crime. I realize that Sawyer is a reporter, but the fact that she photographed the face and body of a woman who was also a victim of crime didn't sit well with me.

“My plan was to talk to the officer standing by and see if he would allow me to take a few pictures. That’s when I noticed the door to Kylie’s apartment was wide open and unguarded. I saw an opportunity and I took it.”

“Do you think that was ethical?”

Was he serious? “Yes. I didn’t lie to get inside the apartment. I walked in, and nobody stopped me.”

“But you knew you shouldn’t be there?”

“I didn’t think about it.”

My dislike for the main protagonist grew from here.

Sawyer had two sisters, Harper and Aria, who were also victimized. Harper was abused by her father. He was depicted throughout the novel as a weak spineless man with his wife in control; she knew everything that happened in the family.

There's a saying that my professor once said, "You don't have to like a character to find them interesting". The deep dysfunction that this family has is real and the author does a good job in portraying an evil person's mind.

There was a recent article by Siegel about the ongoing saga of Johnny Depp that brings this to light:

"In another text to actor Paul Bettany, Depp writes, "Let's burn Amber!!!" To which Bettany, apparently taking it as a joke, responds, "Having thought it through I don't think we should burn Amber — she's delightful company and easy on the eye, plus I'm not sure she's a witch. We could of course try the English course of action in these predicaments ­— we do a drowning test. Thoughts?" Depp adds, "Let's drown her before we burn her!!! I will fuck her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she's dead.""*

Even though Reagan does a good job in getting inside the mind of sick and twisted people, the storyline became over the top as the book progressed in sexual encounters and murders. The latter part had an unrealistic narrative and the last few lines of the book in regards to Heather just made me think, "how unbelievable". It's too much crammed into one book making the storyline implode on itself.

******
Siegel, Tatiana. “‘He's Radioactive’: Inside Johnny Depp's Self-Made Implosion.” The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Dec. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/he....

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart

Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Don't Make a Sound is the start of the new Sawyer Brooks series. It focuses primarily on the youngest of three sisters, Sawyer. I don't know what I expected, but I didn't expect her to be a crime reporter. I guess that is in the blurb, but I expected more police involvement. She has been trying to get onto a top investigative team at her paper and finally has a chance.

The story is a roller-coaster from start to finish. There are some things which feel kind of disparate but it all eventually fits. I appreciated the well-rounded view with her personal life, the boyfriend, her sisters and co-workers, and then her efforts in investigating.

She does end up going back to her hometown and following up on some cold cases. Everything escalates there very quickly, at least it feels that way. Is there anyone Sawyer can trust? I wasn't sure about anyone and it kept me on edge. There are some seriously bad happenings, both past and present.

I did figure out almost everything at about 75% into my read, but not how it would be resolved. There were some crazy twists. For being a bit naive and not taking very many precautions, somehow Sawyer solves a lot of crimes. She is rather brazen about collecting information. I wouldn't be so confidant and would be worried about the criminals taking notice of my efforts.

I enjoyed this quite a lot and recommend it if you aren't triggered easily by crime. Some of it feels very unrealistic but it might be it is just really far out of my personal experience. I look forward to more in this series.

Narration:
I enjoyed listening to Jennica Damon who was a new narrator to me. The voices felt slightly differentiated and appropriate for male and female voices. There were definitely more female than male characters here. I did have to slow to 1.25x speed.

Listen to a clip: HERE

I loved all of the author's previous books. This one was fast-paced and dark, but still an easy read, but unfortunately not my favorite. There was so much going on, numerous plots to follow and a lot of characters, but as a result it lacked depth and characterization. As it's the start of a new series, I am hoping this will be different in the next book because all the introductions have now been made.