Review: The Perfect Witness by Iris Johansen (audio)

Title: The Perfect Witness   

Author: Iris Johansen      

Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers  

Published: September 2014, Brilliance Audio  

Length: 10 hours, 34 minutes   

Source: Personal copy via Audible 

She had the perfect life.
She had the perfect cover.
She was the perfect witness.
Until they found her.

When
Teresa Casali was young she discovered she had a strange gift:  the
ability to read people’s memories.  But the gift seemed more like a
curse as her mob boss father used her to gain the upper hand in his
world of corruption and violence.  Exposed by her own family to the
darkest impulses of mankind, Teresa is alone and unprotected.  She
realizes that if she is to survive, she has to run.

Out of
nowhere, or so she believes, a man by the name of Andre Mandak appears.
He kills her pursuers—but that’s not nearly enough for Teresa to trust
him. It is his promise to get her into Witness Protection, along with
his mind-blowing ability to help her control her gift before it consumes
her, that convinces Teresa Casali to become Allie Girard. Living a
normal life with a new family, she shuts the door to the past …although
Mandak is clear: when the time is right, he too will benefit from her
powers.

For years Allie flourishes …until the day her cover is
blown and the truth comes tumbling out.  Once again she is on the run,
with her own life and those of her loved ones at stake.  But this time
she will not be a pawn.  This time she will use her finely honed gift to
end the threat that began with her family’s betrayal. From perfect
target to perfect witness, Allie Girard is ready to take on the past
even if it kills her.

My thoughts: I’m a really big fan of Iris Johansen, especially her Eve Duncan series and her newest spin-offs, Catherine Ling and Kendra Michaels, both of which were came out of the Eve Duncan series. Iris creates strong, kick a** female leads and you can’t help but want more from them. I’ve also enjoyed quite a few of her stand-alones, but sadly, this one didn’t quite make the mark for me.

I don’t really know what it was about this book, but I never felt completely hooked on the story, which is unusual when it comes to Iris Johansen’s books. Yes, there was plenty of action and there was a mystery, but I just couldn’t get into it. I also had a hard time connecting to the characters and I definitely didn’t see or feel the connection between Allie/Teresa and Mandak.

There was just something off about this book. I kept going with it to see if something would interest me, plus I got to the point where I just had to see how it would all come together, but I just never found myself completely invested. Since I listened to this book via Audible, I was able to listen to it at a faster speed than I normally would (2x) and in this case, I admit I definitely took advantage of that option. 

I’m quite sad I didn’t love this book as much as I usually love her other books, but I can say without a doubt that this in no way deter me from picking up her next book. I will be counting down the days til her next release, Your Next Breath, the next book in the Catherine Ling series, which comes out in April.

Audio Thoughts: I just love listening to Elisabeth Rodgers narrate…she is one of my favorite narrators and she’s done quite a few of Iris Johansen’s books. While I didn’t love the story, I did love her narration of it, if that makes sense. As always, she did a fantastic job with the voices, giving everyone their own unique voices and adding a sense of urgency or emotion when needed. I love I pick up a book Elisabeth Rodgers has narrated because I know I’m in for a listening treat!