Title:The Off Season
Author:Colleen Thompson
Narrator:Hillary Huber
Published:September 2016, Brilliance Audio
Length:12 hours 5 minutes
Source:Publisher
Winter winds off the
Atlantic have turned the tourist mecca of Seaside Creek, New Jersey,
into a ghost town. Dr. Christina Paxton, however, is growing accustomed
to living with ghosts. Recently widowed, the emergency room physician
has returned to the shore with her young daughter, house-sitting a
sprawling beachside Victorian home. One night, her two-year-old calls
her by a name that makes Christina’s blood run cold and sends her
thoughts spiraling back thirty years.Deeply unnerved, and
certain someone else is in the house, she flees with her child into the
cold night, only to come face-to-face with Chief Harris Bowers, a former
classmate with whom Christina has a complicated history. Now divorced,
Harris hopes to mend their past, but Christina is wary of being played
for a fool again. As threats emerge, Christina and her small family find
themselves in grave danger. It seems there is no one she can put her
trust in—least of all herself.
My thoughts:This is the first book I’ve read by Colleen Thompson, but when I read the description, it just seemed like a good book with which to start. This book was twisted and full of suspense and had me guessing right up to the very end!
I loved the characters in this book – I didn’t know if I could trust anyone! They were all well-developed, yet deeply flawed and the regret and self-doubt, especially in the main character, only seemed to enhance that. There are so many secrets being kept and once these start coming out, things slowly start to come together. It’s like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces are constantly being moved around – that’s how I felt – things were always being thrown at me, yet they were all jangled up!
This is a multi-layered story that has many twists and turns. It really does keep you engaged as you race through it to figure out just what is going on. And at each turn, you often find yourself with more questions than answers. The setting, a small beach town during the winter, adds to an already tense atmosphere – that abandoned feeling at times that you could really feel – creepy!!!
I really enjoyed this book and I am definitely going to be checking out Colleen Thompson’s other books. Have you read anything by her?
Audio thoughts:This is the first time I’ve listened to Hilary Huber…and I thought she did a great job making this story come alive. She gave each character their own voices, even the child, making her sound believable and not too babyish. She really added an extra layer to the suspense of the book with the tension in her voice and her pacing. I will definitely be looking to see what else she has narrated.
