Unzipped

Chrissy McMullen, Book 1

By: Lois Greiman

Narrated by: Barbara Benjamin-Creel

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Analyze this....

Chrissy McMullen has made a career leap, all the way from slinging drinks at Chicago's most notorious nightclub to dispensing psychotherapy from her sleek new practice in LA. Even if she can't quite shed her too-loud, too-curvy alter ego - or the brawling family that insists on claiming kinship. So when her most famous client, buff football star "Bomber" Bomstad, starts chasing her around her desk and getting, well...unzipped...Christina gets just a little miffed - until Bomber has the bad manners to drop dead at her feet.

Enter Jack Rivera, a no-nonsense detective with a grim attitude and a great butt, who's determined to prove this cocktail-waitress-turned-shrink was engaging in some very unethical behavior. Persuading Rivera that she's not a murderer isn't going to be easy. Plunging headfirst into a city full of people in need of some serious therapy, Chrissy will have to use all her street smarts, a good deal of sex appeal, and a little love to clear her name - and cancel an appointment with a killer.

©2005 Lois Greiman (P)2017 Lois Greiman

What a Hoot!

The characters are flawed and laugh out loud funny. Chrissie's inner monologues gave me the giggles and the storyline takes listeners to a lot of places inhabited by ordinary, unusual dispositioned, folks. Barbara Benjamin-Creel does a phenomenal job in bringing every single one of Greiman's people to life. Is it literary fiction? No. Is it a great summer or beach listen? You bet! There is a lot of alliteration, some crazy analogies, ridiculous situations, imperfect behavior and plenty of fun. "Unplugged", the next one in the series, is on my listening list.

Awesome Narration, Decent Mystery

The narration was excellent! This is the first time I've listened to an audiobook narrated by Barbara Benjamin-Creel, but it won't be the last. If I had read this book myself, I don't think the humorous moments would have registered, but Benjamin-Creel has perfect timing and really enhanced the story. Hopefully, she'll start narrating more fiction titles in the future.

The mystery was fairly interesting and I probably would have given it a three-star rating if it weren't interspersed with some icky moments that made it hard for me to find the book as entertaining as it was meant to be. Examples: nearly all of Chrissy's interactions with JD, Rivera's unrelenting and excessive hostility toward Chrissy, and especially Chrissy's prejudices, which also had me scratching my head and wondering what the author was thinking. On my last point, here's an excerpt of her thoughts on a bar (and its patrons) she visits:

"...I was hardly dressed provocatively, and yet I felt strangely exposed in the thin ivory rayon and Gucci sandals. But full body armor might have been incongruous with the Hole’s decor-early pigsty. I had only given his bar of choice a cursory glance upon arrival, but I was feeling paler by the minute and beginning to suspect the clientele hadn’t originated on some drafty northern isle, like that from which mine had tended to descend." Um OK. So, she's uncomfortable and is wishing for full body armor because the clientele isn't white? Really?

If that excerpt doesn't bother you, and you want to listen to a light, humorous mystery, then you'll probably enjoy Unzipped and you'll definitely enjoy the narration.

**I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review**

A romantic comedy meets mystery

Note: this is not a cozy mystery. There are scenes with attempted rape, cussing, and graphic sexual scenes. Just mentioning for those who are sensitive to such topics.

This book was a laugh out loud romantic comedy mystery. Christina is hilarious, and hearing her inner monologue adds a dimension which made this book very enjoyable. Christina finds herself in a bind when one of her clients dies in her office & she becomes the top suspect. That's when we meet Rivera, the head police in the investigation. There begins a game of cat and mouse going on with Chrissy & Rivera, which is sometimes funny but other times.. disturbing? Rivera is controlling and possessive and I get 50 shades of grey vibes. He seems to get off on being verbally aggressive and controlling with Christina, and I'm not a fan of that. But there are a lot of other great characters who round this book out, including Soleburg. Another touch I loved were the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. There are a lot of little touches like these which made this a great listen! I was voluntarily provided a review copy and gave my honest review

fun and mysterious!

I really enjoyed this mystery rom-com - it had me laughing out loud. The narration was perfect - excellent differentiating voices. This is the first book I've read by this author and I can't wait to read more.

Entertaining Listen!!!

It has been a long time since I had read this book and others by the author. I enjoyed the humor and it reminded me of all the bad luck Stephanie Plumb from another author's series encounters. This is a light listen with not as much character development as I wanted, but it is the first book in the series, so more might show up. The narrator did an excellent performance, and was new to me. I will look for more books by both narrator and author. My review is not a synopsis of the book, but rather my opinion of it. I was provided with this review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Great Book!

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. The narrator did a wonderful job with this book. She did a great job with the different voices of each character in this book. It was very easy to listen to and I didn’t want to stop listening until the end. If you are looking for a great book with well-developed characters then you need to listen to this book. I am looking forward to listening to the next book by this author and narrator.

An extremely fun listen!

This book was very fun listen!! The story was engaging, with lots of well written characters and a laugh out loud sense of humor

Crazy Chrissy McMcMullen

I really liked this book. It is kind of crazy and funny and it has weird characters. Wacky friends and relatives populate Chrissy's world. Lois Greiman does not try to imitate Stephanie Plum (who is also wonderful). Chrissy is a fresh character all on her own. The dialogue is snappy and snarky. The mystery should keep you guessing.
The narration is very good.
I was given this audio book free of charge for an unbiased review.

Laugh Out Loud Funny

What made the experience of listening to Unzipped the most enjoyable?

The narration was great. Lois Greiman did a great job giving each character their own individual personalities which is a key part of the audiobook experience.

What did you like best about this story?

The sense of humor. I'm a fan of irreverent, off-color humor and this book has its fair share of it. If you're part of the PC patrol--and there's nothing wrong with that--then this book may not be for you. But I think you would be missing out if you didn't at least give this book a try. Both my mother (aged 50 and pretty-PC) and I (aged 30 and not-so-PC) were cracking up throughout the novel.

Which scene was your favorite?

This question always lends itself to spoilers, so I'll just say that there were a few favorites, one of them maybe involving a little B&E.

Any additional comments?

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. If you check out my other reviews, you'll see that this has zero influence on the reviews I leave. If you're a fan of strong, somewhat mouthy, occasionally clueless female amateur sleuths, then you're probably going to enjoy this book.

enjoyable!

i really enjoyed this book although the narrator did not sound very young. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.