The Ex

Title: The Ex

Author: Alafair Burke

Narrator: Xe Sands

Publisher: Harper Collins and Blackstone Audio, 2016

Format: 7 hours and 44 minutes, audio book download

Genre: psychological thriller / mystery

Obtained: library




Summary: Olivia Randall, a criminal defense attorney, is called when her ex-fiance becomes a suspect in a triple murder.  She knows Jack could not have done this.  Can she prove it?   

Thoughts: This was another good psychological thriller / mystery.  I didn't particularly find Olivia, the main character, likeable, but she was certainly developed and interesting, and I felt like she was a real person.  All of the characters were believable and had distinct personalities.  The story itself was less believable, but very entertaining and kept me engaged- wanting to know what would happen next.  This book was a nice combination of legal, mystery, and psychological thriller.  It did not get bogged down with alot of time in court. The question that the book focuses on is How well do we really know someone?. I liked the author's writing style.  It was organized and I particularly liked the way she used dialogue to tell the story, along with the personal thoughts of the main character.  Figuring out who committed the murders came early to me, but I wasn't positive, and needed it verified at the end.

The narrator did a fantastic job, especially the way she portrayed the main character.  She told the story at a good pace and her voice inflections and the emotions and energy she put into telling the story really kept my attention.

There was some bad language in the book, but it went along with the personalities of the characters, so it wasn't distracting to me.  I could see this bothering some people.  If you like a book with twists and turns and some suspense, and realistic characters are important to you, this is one to try.





                                                                  

Company: Plum Deluxe

Tea: Slowly Unwind Herbal Tea

Obtained: free sample with tea of the month club




I got a sample of Slowly Unwind Herbal Tea with my monthly tea subscription from Plum Deluxe.  The ingredients of this caffeine free herbal tea were honeybush tea, linden flower, elderflower, elderberries, apple pieces, strawberries, blueberries, raspberry leaves, rose petals, and strawberry / blueberry essence.  The leaves were a potpourri of berries, apple pieces, and leaves of all colors, shapes, and sizes.  The scent of the leaves was sweet berries.  I put two teaspoons of leaves into my teapot and poured sixteen ounces of boiling water over the leaves.  I let this steep for five minutes.  The liquid was a light orange brown with a delicate scent of sweet berries.  The taste was a blend of berries and florals.  This was a delicious, sweet herbal tea.  I just loved it.  Instead of "slowly unwind", I would call it "immediately unwind".  It definitely put me in a calm, relaxed state very quickly.