Next Book Review: AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Call to Arms by Rachel Amphlett

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Call to Arms by Rachel Amphlett

Author: Rachel Amphlett

Narrator: Alison Campbell

Series: Detective Kay Hunter, Book 5

Publisher: Saxon Publishing

Genre: Mystery, Police Procedural

Released: March 5, 2018

Loyalty has a price.

Kay Hunter has survived a vicious attack at the hands of one of the country's most evil serial killers.

Returning to work after an enforced absence to recover, she discovers she wasn't the only victim of that investigation.

DI Devon Sharp remains suspended from duties, and the team is in turmoil.

Determined to prove herself once more and clear his name, Kay undertakes to solve a cold case that links Sharp to his accuser.

But, as she gets closer to the truth, she realises her enquiries could do more harm than good.

Torn between protecting her mentor and finding out the truth, the consequences of Kay's enquiries will reach far beyond her new role…

Buy on RachelAmphlett.com

Before turning to writing, Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as a sub-editor and editorial assistant.

She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction and spy novels, including the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the Detective Kay Hunter series.

Originally from the UK and currently based in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel cites her writing influences as Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Robert Ludlum. She’s also a huge fan of Peter James, Val McDermid, Robert Crais, Stuart MacBride, and many more.

She’s a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold sold to Fanucci Editore's TIMECrime imprint, and the first four books in the Dan Taylor espionage series contracted to Germany’s Luzifer Verlag.

Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Goodreads⎮Instagram

Reasons why I chose my narrator

I wanted to reach more audiobook listeners with the Detective Kay Hunter series as more and more opportunities are becoming available to authors to do so, and so I opted to pay outright for the audiobooks to be produced so I could then distribute them through an aggregator that offered a worldwide reach.

Of course, the hardest part was finding a narrator who could convey the resilience of my lead protagonist, Kay Hunter as well as the supporting cast of characters who fill the stories.

I chose to work with a production company in the UK as my series is based there. Audio Factory have an established reputation having worked with the likes of the BBC and a number of publishers, and what I really liked about their website was that they have samples from each of their narrators so you can have a listen and narrow down who is the best fit for your story.

What was very important to me was to work with a narrator for this whole series, not just one book so I approached that listening phase with my ears open for a narrator that didn’t just suit the first book, Scared to Death, but who I felt would carry the range of emotions and scenes through all the books in the series.

There were three books out by the time I was doing this – Scared to Death, Will to Live, and One to Watch, and I was busy writing Hell to Pay, so I had a pretty good idea of Kay’s voice in my head and what I was listening for.

One thing became clear to me straight away – the narrators I was listening to were reading from literary transcripts, not crime fiction for the samples, and I needed to know if those voices would carry the Kay Hunter series.

I emailed Audio Factory and explained my predicament, telling them about my plans for the series, and asked if they could help.

In a day or so, I heard back and not only were Audio Factory able to suggest some narrators who had slipped my attention, they also provided links to SoundCloud with more comprehensive samples – perfect!

Within a couple more days, I’d listened to all the samples several times but kept coming back to one narrator who sounded like the best match.

And that is how I came to be working with Alison Campbell.

Alison’s the consummate professional: from performing in theatre, film, web series and corporate role-play, she's also an integral member of the award-winning Natural Theatre Company and works with a number of publishers across a wide range of genres.

I love how she’s taken the character of Detective Kay Hunter and made it her own, and now I can’t imagine anyone else playing the role!

You can read more about the audiobook production process on my blog here (https://www.rachelamphlett.com/behind-the-scenes/how-do-i-make-an-audiobook/) where I interview Alison and Arran from Audio Factory and take you through the whole process in more depth – it really is an eye (ear?) opening read!

This might have been my favorite Kay Hunter book yet! I loved how Detective Hunter and her department. They all work so well together and as a group they compliment and flow so well. I really enjoyed that we got to have a case with Detective Hunter fully exonerated, unfortunately, all was not well since Detective Inspector Sharp was suspended.

I found the look through the cold case file completely fascinating. This was a much shorter book than the other or it at least felt that way since I was finished within a day. I was tickled to see the relationship between Detective Hunter and DCI Larch change and evolve in this book.Larch certainly seems like a real person in this book. It was a nice change of pace for him! DCI Harrison, man, he was a great character to loathe!

I was so thrilled with this ending! It did make me wonder, is this the end of the Detective Kay Hunter series? Everything seems to have settle into a pleasing ending, for myself anyway. I’d love to hear more about Det. Hunter. She’s a great character that’s easy to like, and one to root for!

Alison Campbell continues to be Detective Kay Hunter for me! There isn’t another narrator that would fit her books now in my opinion. She has just the right amount of feeling. Her voice sounds like what I’d expect from a woman Detective, strong, yet still feminine. The inflection and tone is just right! I’ve enjoyed every single Detective Kay Hunter book the Ms. Campbell has narrated! I’d love for more but only time will tell.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Rachel Amphlett. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.