Sam's Song

The Sam Smith Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Hannah Howe

Narrated by: Suzan Lynn Lorraine

Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Love hurts. For Derwena de Caro, songstress, female icon, and teenage dream, success brought drugs, alcohol, and a philandering boyfriend. It also brought wealth, fame, and a stalker, or so she claimed. And that's where I came in, to investigate the identity of the stalker, little realizing that the trail would lead to murder and a scandal that would make the newspaper headlines for months on end.

Love hurts. For me, Samantha Smith, enquiry agent, love arrived at the end of a fist. First I had to contend with an alcoholic mother who took her frustrations out on me throughout my childhood then my husband, Dan, who regarded domestic violence as an integral part of marriage. But I survived. I obtained a divorce, kept my sense of humor, and retained an air of optimism. I established my business and gained the respect of my peers. However, I was not prepared for Dan when he reentered my life or for the affection showered on me by Dr. Alan Storey, a compassionate and rather handsome psychologist.

Sam's Song. This is the story of a week that changed my life forever.

©2014 Hannah Howe (P)2015 Hannah Howe

struggled to finish this one.

This story is in the "ok" category, and the narrator does massive damage to the audio version. She is a reader, not an actor, a pause-in-the-wrong-place type, and does not vary her characters much. It's also hard to get a sense of place, since this is a Welsh story told by a slow reading (painfully slow at times) American with zero attempt at an accent. This makes for a serious disconnect when hearing colloquial phrases and terms. The editing is slightly lacking...mispronounced words, slurred or missed words, stress on the wrong words, and awkward hesitations on top of a strange and unlikely plot development were tough to listen to. The story had potential, but most of it dissolved by the middle of the book and was hastily strapped together in a vain attempt to end on a solid note. The irrationality of the main character's belief systems works against her to the point that she's unlikable.

British with an American accent

Enjoyed the story but not the narrative. First it takes place in Britain with a British protagonist but using an American accent. Just wrong. Took awhile to get past that. I

Not Bad

I didn't realize that the setting for this book was England and listening to the narrator certainly wasn't much help in conveying it. The story had a few many twists and turns considering it's limited duration and seemed more convoluted than complicated. I liked the central character Samantha Smith, except when she was passive and/or cringing in the face of her abusive ex-boyfriend Dan. Derwena the drinking and drugging pop star was a "ripped from the headlines" twentysomething diva. I liked this one okay but I'm hoping subsequent books get better.

Sam's Song

I loved this book. I love her introspection.
The narration was wonderful with one exception. I had to play it at 1.25 times normal speed. At normal speed it didn't grab me. The 1.25 made Suzan one of my favorite narrators

Bad language

Dislike suggestive language and bad language. Barely started it before being offended. Wish books were rated like movies.

Struggle!

The narrator was terrible. I felt like I was sitting in a literature class in middle school. The story is meh.