Dark Harvest

By: Chris Patchell

Narrated by: Lisa Stathoplos, Corey Gagne

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Becky Kincaid ventures out in the middle of a snowstorm to buy a car seat for her unborn baby and never makes it home. When a second pregnant woman disappears, Marissa Rooney and the team at the Holt Foundation fear a sinister motive lurks behind the crimes.

Lead investigator Seth Crawford desperately searches for the thread that binds the two cases together, knowing that if he fails, another woman will soon be gone. While Seth hunts for clues, a madman has Marissa in his sights and she carries a secret that could tear her whole world apart.

Can Seth stop the killer before he reaps his...dark harvest?

©2017 Chris Patchell (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

The Holt Foundation Book 2 Don't Miss This One!

Dark Harvest by Chris Patchell is book 2 of ‘The Holt Foundation Stories’. I highly suggest you read/listened to book 1 ‘In the Dark’ first, it provides the complete backstory and you won’t want to miss anything! The writing is great and the storyline is engrossing all the way through. Once again dual narration by Lisa Stathoplos, Corey Gagne was flawless. Recommended

A book that will have you riveted beginning to end

I loved this book! the writing was great and I couldn't wait to hear the whole story! The story had me completely engrossed all the way through. I loved the way the two narrators worked so well together. it was nice having a female voice during the female perspective, and a male voice during the male perspective parts of the story. the narrators really brought the story to life. I can't wait to hear the rest of the series.

Good plot and pace but no real twists

Marissa is facing new challenges at the Holt Foundation after Elizabeth's death. And not only this: Brooke is having a break down after what happened to her in book 1, her relationship with Seth is becoming complicated, and they have a new case in which a pregnant woman has disappeared. Time presses because the delivery time is just two weeks ahead.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series, so I was looking to this one. The style is very similar to the previous book: lots of action, interesting characters, a great plot with good subplots. It has all the ingredients to make of this an amazing book. 

I enjoyed how Marissa and Seth's relationship evolved, and how that subplot was woven with the main story. I didn't like the fact that they got involved in the previous book, but I understand that this makes it more interesting for this one and future books.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, but somehow I found it a bit more predicable than the first one, without any real twist, and this is why I give it only 4 stars. Nevertheless, the way Patchell's style traps you makes this worth listening.

About the narration, I have similar feelings to the ones about the first book. Lisa Stathoplos delivered a top notch narration, with an ample voice range and excellent character's interpretations. Corey Gagne was also very good, regarding voices and interpretations, but there were several noticeable audio edits, not enough to be distracting, but sadly unworthy of a 5 star review.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Chris Patchell. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Great suspense!

I really enjoyed this mystery/suspense story on audiobook. The author has created some great characters that are easy to relate to, a villain that gives you chills and a hardworking detective trying to keep more women from disappearing. I’ve always enjoyed thrillers like this one and feel the story had plenty of everything that’s needed to make it a good listen. Narration was also well done.

Good despite a self-centered main character

Note: Dark Harvest is Book 2 in the series and works best if read after Book 1 simply because you get so much character development that carries over from one book to the next.

I really liked that Brooke, who suffered a brutal kidnapping in Book 1, isn’t all sunshine and roses. She is still walking the hard, dark path to recovery. Marissa, her mom, struggles with how best to help her but she’s doing her best. Brooke’s younger sister, Kelley, puts in a few appearances but we see far less of her than in Book 1 and I missed her. Seth continues to be my favorite character. He’s doing his best to navigate these choppy waters with Marissa and her family, along with his work and memories of his dead wife.

Marissa was hard to root for in this book. She’s really self-centered and I think the author intended for us to see that. However, I don’t see Marissa becoming aware of her flaw and then taking action to better herself. She’s really wrapped up on Seth. He wants to give them all a bit of space to allow Brooke the time to heal and Marissa the time and energy to help Brooke. However, Marissa takes this as rejection. Ugh! Why, Marissa? Why? I wanted to give her a little reality check. I can see why she has a long history of failed relationships.

I also have to mention Marissa in one more thing. This is a MINOR SPOILER. Marissa has failed to take her birth control pill religiously and guess what happens? Yep. This really pissed me off about Marissa. She’s a career woman in her 30s who has basically raised her daughters on her own after becoming unexpectedly pregnant at 16. She’s been down this road before and apparently didn’t learn her lesson. The pill doesn’t work 100% of the time but when you negligently forget to take the pill daily, you’re borrowing trouble.

OK, so let’s talk about the mystery because that’s what really kept me in this book. Someone has been targeting pregnant women but no bodies have turned up. Pretty early on we get to know something about the kidnappers so the majority of the book is a cat and mouse game between the cops and the Holt Foundation and the bad guys. The motivations of the kidnappers were layered and deeper than I initially expected. I really liked that about this mystery. Tori, oh Tori! I wanted things to come out better for you even as I knew you had to pay for what you did. Xander Wilcox, I wonder if you were always so arrogant? Definitely interesting ‘bad guys’.

Seth struggles on several levels in this book. Henry, the computer genius at the Holt Foundation, doesn’t mind breaking laws to get data (phone records, arrest records, utility info, etc.). Seth has retained his cop sense of right and wrong and is mightily uncomfortable about Henry’s activities. However Nathan Holt isn’t interested in pushing Henry to follow the letter of the law. After all, the Holt Foundation is about finding victims before it’s too late. Seth is also struggling to both respect the needs of Marissa’s family as a whole and be supportive to Marissa as his girlfriend. Then he realizes that he hasn’t fully dealt with the death of his wife Holly. He’s a complicated guy and I really enjoyed watching him overcome one hurdle after another.

The ending had a few surprises. Henry! Oh, my! I also like that Seth has wrapped up some of the lose threads of his life. I would have liked further character growth for Marissa because she is a twit in this book. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Lisa Stathoplos and Corey Gagne did a really good job with this book. I really like Gagne as Seth and Stathoplos has a perfect voice for Marissa. She also does a great job with the voices for Kelley and Brooke making all 3 ladies distinct but still sound related. I especially liked the aggravated, arrogant voice for Xander. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Chris Patchell. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Better than the first book!

Dark Harvest was great!! I enjoyed In the Dark but Dark Harvest was an amazing thriller! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! Chris Patchell really fine-tuned the characters. They were the same characters from book 1 but she really developed them more and made them so relatable. Poor Marissa can’t seem to catch a break with life!

I enjoyed that Patchell really connected some real life medical research into her story. She came up with an original storyline. It was extremely fascinating! Now there was some areas in the book where I shook my head and questioned the characters sanity. I mean, most people don’t do or think how some of these characters did. I loved seeing Brooke and how she was healing, or trying to heal. Again, it was a real-life situation. Not everything is simple and Patchell proves this while taking us through Brooke’s healing process.

This book has it all! We have teen pregnancy with illegal adoptions, kidnapping, and scientific research into a super interesting thought process. I really liked that aspect of it. She took a super interesting idea and really explored the mind of a man who is on the edge! The narrators, Lisa Stathoplos and Corey Cagney did another stellar job! They add great infliction and emotion to a story that packs the emotion.

Rather Girlie

Good story, but the number of chapters or pages on the same feelings. And why such filthy language? I not s prude but I felt like some of the swearing, especially “f” bombs were there to add emphasis but to be “cool” seriously? Why ruin a good story and what can be a good series.

Horribly creepy, fully enthralling

Dark Harvest (A Holt Foundation Story, #2) continues right where In the Dark, book one of the series ended. Author Chris Patchett immediately sets a new scene and tone that has readers on edge as we see the horror of what’s coming – but we don’t know why.

For the audio book, listeners are again treated to the dual narration team of Lisa Stathoplos and Corey Gagne, who both seem more comfortable with the characters (there are at least 10 returning from book one) and better define them. I noticed Seth sounds a little more subdued than in book one, but it becomes clear quickly that he is fighting some internal battles and working to keep his emotions under control.

"Hope is a crappy strategy...but right now she had nothing else."

Conversely, Marissa seethes and is quick to fly off the handle, succumbing to the stress of taking care of PTSD-suffering daughter Brooke, being a corporate slave, and trying to keep her relationship from Seth from tanking. The narrators do an excellent job voicing all the characters, but particularly with Marissa and Seth, who are returning from book one and dealing with some serious issues.

The plot line of Dark Harvest is horribly creepy – and fully enthralling. What seems at first straight-forward in why the disappearances are happening soon twists into something even darker and disturbing. As with In the Dark, readers discover who is the perp early on, but in Dark Harvest, it’s more of a race to stop the crimes instead of a mystery to solve. Patchett has created some new characters who are truly loathsome, and the author continues to flesh-out some of the returning characters, so readers get to better know them. There is one character’s back-story that seemed overly detailed, lengthy, and unnecessary, and there are other characters about whom I want to know more. Hopefully there will be a third novel that dives-in to some of their stories. In any case, the explosive ending will have readers on the edge of their seats and leaves a set-up perfect for a next installment in the series.

While the subject matter is grim, and the body count is high, Patchett doesn’t get overly graphic in her descriptions, leaving the finer details mercifully up to the readers’ imaginations. As with the prior novel, I could do without the profanity, which fits even less with most of the characters in this book. Audio book listeners need to be mindful of who else is in listening range; it’s an adult book with sex and violence.

Thank you to Audiobookworm Promotions and the author for providing me a free audio download in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.

Holt Foundation Series - Take 2!!

Hey Y'all! I definitely want to let you know that this 2nd book of the Holt Foundation series is just as good as the 1st, maybe even better! If you haven't read or listened to the first one, stop right here and go get it now! Its a great book and you definitely want to get the back story on the characters lives before you start this one. This book begins where the first book ends. Marissa has gotten her daughter, Brooke, back from her kidnapper and is trying to help her heal, mentally as well as physically from her traumatizing ordeal. She and Sean are working with the Holt family to form the Holt Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping families of victims of violent crimes. The foundation takes on investigating the case of two pregnant girls who are close to giving birth. As the investigation progresses, they discover the babies are scheduled to be harvested and sold. The story is non-stop action and suspense with a little romance thrown in to make it even better!! To me this book is not just a crime thriller. I love these characters. I am now invested in their lives. I want them to overcome the tragedies of their pasts and find happiness as well as kick a** and take names!! :) I hope we get many more books in this series and I will be eagerly waiting!!

The Narration of this book, just like IN THE DARK, is superb. Lisa Stathoplos and Corey Gagne are the perfect voices for these characters and definitely make it a good book to listen to.

So, if you couldn't tell, I highly recommend these books!!

Excellent plot with very intense suspense

In this second novel in the Holt Foundation Stories series a mid 40s physician with early onset Alzheimer's is trying to slow the progression of his disease by treating himself with umbilical cord stem cells. He and his nurse lover are kidnapping late term pregnant unmarried teenagers and taking their babies by C-section. He harvests the cord stem cells and sells the babies for $100,000 each. The time comes that he realizes that cord stem cells are inadequate, so he decides he wants embryonic stem cells.

36 year old thrice divorced protagonist Marissa Rooney, the now single mother of teen daughters, works for the Holt Foundation as does her ex-cop boyfriend Seth Crawford. They are on the case which brings them into danger. Dark Harvest is an outstanding action and suspense thriller. The listener should complete Book 1 in the series (title is In the Dark) before this novel.

The author is appropriately careful to point out that the use of embryonic, cord, and adult stem cells to treat Alzheimer's is being researched, there is no success with such treatments yet.