Guardian [Hardcover]

It begins promisingly enough, when MaryAnne Carpenter, who lives in New Jersey with a philandering husband and their two children, Alison and Logan, gets a call telling her that her best friend and her wealthy husband have both died accidentally, leaving an only child, Joey. As he is her godchild, MaryAnne travels with her children to Idaho, where the Wilkensons lived on a magnificent ranch. There, she discovers that she has been named as Joey's guardian.

While there, she notices that Joey is a loner, a strange child who becomes stranger with every passing moment. Joey himself senses that there is something different about him. There is even a suspicion that Joey himself may have been responsible in some way for the deaths of his parents. Meanwhile, mysterious murders begin to take place in the rural countryside in which Joey lives. Evil seems to be all around them, as a malevolent force begins to strike at them. Who or what is it? Could it be the mysterious stranger who is spotted from time to time? Or is it someone or something else?

The book seems to degenerate into ludicrousness, as the reader is expected to believe that MaryAnne, knowing what she knows, is allowing her children, with and without Joey, to wander around the ranch where the Wilkensons mysteriously died. She permits this, even after savage murders have taken place very close to the ranch. The book further degenerates when the characters seem to be mere fodder for the predator that is out there in the wilderness, waiting for the moment to strike yet again. This book could have been a contender, had its editor seen fit to pare it down to a point where there might still be some tension left in the book. As it is, this is a book that should be avoided, unless one is a diehard fan of the author.

It begins promisingly enough, when MaryAnne Carpenter, who lives in New Jersey with a philandering husband and their two children, Alison and Logan, gets a call telling her that her best friend and her wealthy husband have both died accidentally, leaving an only child, Joey. As he is her godchild, MaryAnne travels with her children to Idaho, where the Wilkensons lived on a magnificent ranch. There she discovers that she has been named as Joey's guardian.

While there, she notices that Joey is a loner, a strange child who becomes stranger with every passing moment. Joey himself senses that there is something different about him. here There is even a suspicion that Joey himself may have been responsible in some way for the deaths of his parents. Meanwhile, mysterious murders begin to take place in the rural countryside in which Joey lives. Evil seems to be all around them, as a malevolent force begins to strike at them. Who or what is it? Could it be the mysterious stranger who is spotted from time to time? Or is it someone or someething else?

The book seems to degenerate into ludicrousness, as the reader is expected to believe that MaryAnne, knowing what she knows, is allowing her children, with and without Joey, to wander around the ranch where the Wilkensons mysteriously died. She permits this, even after savage murders have taken place very close to the ranch. The book further degenerates when the characters seem to be mere fodder for the predator that is out there in the wilderness, waiting for the moment to strike yet again. This book could have been a contender, had its editor seen fit to pare it down to a point where there might still be some tension left in the book. This formulaic horror story is not one of the author's better efforts.

It begins promisingly enough, when MaryAnne Carpenter, who lives in New Jersey with a philandering husband and their two children, Alison and Logan, gets a call telling her that her best friend and her wealthy husband have both died accidentally, leaving an only child, Joey. As he is her godchild, MaryAnne travels with her children to Idaho, where the Wilkensons lived on a magnificent ranch. There she discovers that she has been named as Joey's guardian.

While there, she notices that Joey is a loner, a strange child who becomes stranger with every passing moment. Joey himself senses that there is something different about him. here There is even a suspicion that Joey himself may have been responsible in some way for the deaths of his parents. Meanwhile, mysterious murders begin to take place in the rural countryside in which Joey lives. Evil seems to be all around them, as a malevolent force begins to strike at them. Who or what is it? Could it be the mysterious stranger who is spotted from time to time? Or is it someone or someething else?

The book seems to degenerate into ludicrousness, as the reader is expected to believe that MaryAnne, knowing what she knows, is allowing her children, with and without Joey, to wander around the ranch where the Wilkensons mysteriously died. She permits this, even after savage murders have taken place very close to the ranch. The book further degenerates when the characters seem to be mere fodder for the predator that is out there in the wilderness, waiting for the moment to strike yet again. This book could have been a contender, had its editor seen fit to pare it down to a point where there might still be some tension left in the book.

This audiobook, however, is very well read by David Regal in a somber, somewhat sepulchral, tone that suits the tenor of the book and adds to its ambiance. The pacing of the reading is excellent, and the voice transitions of each character are fairly effective. The sound quality of the audiobook is also excellent. While the narration deserves four stars, the content of the book merits only two. I am, therefore, awarding this book three stars.