• Malevolent

  • Shaye Archer Series, Book 1
  • By: Jana DeLeon
  • Narrated by: Julie McKay
  • Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,325 ratings)

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Malevolent  By  cover art

Malevolent

By: Jana DeLeon
Narrated by: Julie McKay
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Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author Jana DeLeon, the first in a new thriller series.

Everyone wondered about Shaye Archer's past. Including Shaye.

Shaye Archer's life effectively began the night police found her in an alley, beaten and abused and with no memory of the previous 15 years, not even her name. Nine years later, she's a licensed private investigator with a single goal - to get answers for her clients when there aren't supposed to be any.

And maybe, someday, answers for herself.

Emma Frederick thought her nightmare was over when she killed her abusive husband, but someone is stalking her and tormenting her with mementos from her past. With no evidence to support her claims, the police dismiss her claims as post-traumatic stress, but Shaye is convinced that someone is deliberately terrorizing Emma...playing a cat and mouse game with only one goal in mind.

To kill Emma.

©2015 Jana DeLeon (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Malevolent

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

If you like The Fixer series GET THIS!!

I really like this new to Audible series. Our heroine is Shea Archer. She can't remember her abusive past but can read about it in the newspaper. She is plagued by nightmares, afraid of the dark and hopes to learn the truth one day. Adopted by her foster mother the second half of her life turned out pretty good. This book is the first in the series and it is EXCELLENT!
Shea is now a private investigator and gets hired for her first job. A woman killed her abusive husband in self defense and now he's stalking her and trying to kill her. This is not a supernatural story. Shea is hired to find out who this man is.
The book is an edge of you seat suspense. Shea is a very believable character with flaws. The book leads you to one suspect and I thought I had it all figured out but the end throws on a totally unexpected twist. My thoughts of easy predictability went right out the window!
I can't say enough about this book. You can purchase this book for FREE on Amazon and then it is only $1.99 on Audible!
Julie McKay does a great job narrating.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED !
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133 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Plot twists and suspense!

I think of cozy mysteries and humor set in Louisiana when Jana DeLeon is mentioned. Malevolent is set in Louisiana, but it is a psychological mystery/thriller rather than a light, fun, and humorous cozy mystery. It is also a solid 5 star novel with excellent narration.

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55 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

WORST NARRATOR EVER!

Unfortunately, although I thought the premise of this book sounded amazing I could not get past the HORRIBLE narration. she reads it like a bad news anchor with an inflection at the end of every sentence. Her annoying voice still gnaws through my ears even after I returned the book. beware!

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good Book, Robotic Narration.

This was a good book. I really enjoyed it. It started out with a bang for sure. It stayed good too. There was excitement and things happening all the way through. No filler nonsense.

The story line and plot was good. Wow was this bad guy a psycho!!!!! Made for a great story though. I really liked Shaye's character and look forward to more of books in this series.

Someone compared this book to The Fixer by T.E. Woods. NOT! Although, I liked this book a lot there is NO comparison to Lydia Corriger or The Fixer story. The Fixer is amazingness!

If you haven't read The Fixer Series you should.

Anyway, back to this book, it is very good.

As for the narration, it was kind of annoying and robotic. A struggle at first but then you kind of get used to it, only because the story is good. Julie McKay needs to work on her narrations and voices.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love, Love, Love this Series!

This is the first book I’ve read by Jana Deleon. I’m so glad I it shot. Malevolent is the 1st book in this series. It took me several chapters to figure out how I felt about it and I almost gave up but I’m so glad I finished the book. This is a series that order matters! In this book, one of the characters is very freaked out by a stalker. A newly established PI is hired to figure out the identity of the creeper. At first I thought the performance was over dramatic, but halfway into the story I was fully captured and found myself listening late into the night. Four days later and I’m on book 3 in the series. If you like Karen Slaughter or Lisa Gardner you’re going to love this series. The characters are well developed and easy to fall in love with. Julie McKay is a fanatic voice performer and a great match for this series by Jana Deleon. I’m finding each book is very than the last.

P.S. You might find it best to pickup the book from Amazon. I bought the audible version for $1.99 after buying the Kendal ebook version on Amazon for $5.99.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love the story - Narration lackluster

I really loved the story. The twist at the end was not what I expected. However, the narrator's voice was awkward. I want to listen to the next book. But I can't listen to that voice again right now.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

She nodded...a million times!

I couldn't get over the using of the same phrases over and over again especially "he/she nodded", it was ridiculous! Another pet peeve is when the author does not allow the situation unfold but has to tell the main character(s) backgrounds all at once in beginning monologues...That's how this book begins. However, there were some interesting characters, but I was more interested in the background characters then I was in the main characters. I did not think this was a solid story and the narration was annoying at times. I won't be continuing this series and will avoid the narrator.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator pronunciations drove me crazy!

I would never have noticed the overuse of the word nodded had it not been that the narrator pronounced it as nauded. A minor thing that was annoying.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Somewhat entertaining

The storyline wasn’t too bad, narration somewhat lacking. The constant overuse of two phrases became quite annoying. She nodded/he nodded and she blew out a breath/he blew out a breath.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

WOW......Need I say more. This is a must-read!!

You must read this novel. You won't be able to put it. The charactes are written where you fall in love with them & want to read more. I bought this as an audiobook and really enjoyed listening to the narrator. I can't wait to read or listen to more of this author. It is a must-read book.

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9 people found this helpful