Review: AN AMERICAN FAMILY, by Jackson Baer

AN AMERICAN FAMILY, by Jackson Baer

Evolved Publishing - 2018

Narrated by Dan Carroll

*I was provided a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

 

My Rating (out of 5)

⭐⭐⭐

 AN AMERICAN FAMILY follows the story of Isaac Childs and his family.  

One day his wife Ramie leaves for her evening jog, and does not return.  The police are called in, and when it is discovered that her case is similar to nine others, the FBI comes in and takes over. Isaac is left with his two teen children and struggles to carry on. Eventually Ramie is assumed dead and Isaac moves on with his life.

While Baer is not without talent, and AN AMERICAN FAMILY was a good book, there were a few issues that affected my overall rating.

First off, is the way the book is being presented to potential readers.  On Amazon it is presented as "A Gripping Contemporary Suspense Thriller"; however, for myself I found it was lacking sufficient tension and plot twists to live up to that particular description.  To me this book fell more to a dramatic General Fiction work than a thriller.  For me as a reader, I go into a book with a certain mind-set created in a large part by how the book is presented to me, and if that book is much different than my expectations, there is a certain lack of connection that occurs.  While the dramatic components were strong, I found it lacking in tension and unexpected plot twists when compared to the description used.

Secondly, I found that the teenagers in this story were less sophisticated than the teens I know in real life, and some of the dialogue came off as "stiff". Not a major issue, but one that affected my experience of this story nonetheless.

Lastly, since I opted for the audiobook edition, I feel I must comment on the narration.  Dan Carroll is a seasoned narrator who has approximately 50 books in the audible library. His voice is clear and pleasant; however, I feel he was not a good match for this story.  His delivery seemed to fall flat when in comparison to the dramatic nature of the story. I feel that he is better suited to more factual/instructional books than strongly dramatic ones. 

As a dramatic work, this story has merit.  Families struggle in good times, and hard times make for hard struggles. This story delves into the struggles of one family living through a highly stressful event.

AN AMERICAN FAMILY is the first book in the series.  The second book LIFE AFTER DEATH, is now available as well.

Happy Reading,

Christine