Audiobook Review: Dark Harvest

Author: Chris Patchell

Narrators: Lisa Stathoplos, Corey Gagne

Series: The Holt Foundation Stories, Book 2

Length: 11 hours 7 minutes

Publisher: Audible Studios

Released: Sep. 27, 2017

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Becky Kincaid ventures out in the middle of a snowstorm to buy a car seat for her unborn baby and never makes it home. When a second pregnant woman disappears, Marissa Rooney and the team at the Holt Foundation fear a sinister motive lurks behind the crimes.

Lead investigator Seth Crawford desperately searches for the thread that binds the two cases together, knowing that if he fails, another woman will soon be gone. While Seth hunts for clues, a madman has Marissa in his sights and she carries a secret that could tear her whole world apart.

Can Seth stop the killer before he reaps his…dark harvest?

Chris Patchell is the bestselling author of In the Dark, Dark Harvest, and the Indie Reader Discovery Award winning novel Deadly Lies. Having recently left her long-time career in tech to pursue her passion for writing full-time, Chris pens gritty suspense novels set in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her family and two neurotic dogs.

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Lisa Stathoplos has been a professional actor working onstage, in film and commercial VO work for many years as well as narrating books and performing in Audiodramas for Audible.com and Hachette Audio. Most recently, Lisa played Nina Locke in Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’ epic multiple Audie award-winning 13-hour audio drama of their wildly popular graphic novel LOCKE AND KEY produced by Pocket Universe Productions’ AudioComics division and Finalrune Productions for Audible Studios.

Corey Gagne is an audiobook narrator, stage, and voice actor from Portland, Maine. Corey trained at Mountview Theater Conservatory (now Mountview Academy) in London, England, and has appeared on stage in London, New York, Philadelphia, Austin, and Portland. His work as an audiobook narrator includes Inci by Mike Resnick and Tina Gower, The Constable’s Tale by Donald Smith, the Sin du Jour series by Matt Wallace, The Goblin Crown by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, The Twilight of the Gods Series by Christopher G. Nuttall, The Black Wolves of Boston by Wen Spencer, The Builders by Daniel Polanski, and Dark Harvest and In the Dark by Chris Patchell.

This is one complicated story. It has problems everywhere. The main characters go through so much. Marissa and Seth try to find out who’s been kidnaping pregnant girls but as well they do what they can to save their relationship. Unfortunately, things are not that easy.

If book one was a race against time for the police, “Dark Harvest” is a race for both our detective and as well the kidnapers. The stress levels are up in the sky! And as well, the bad guy is revealed, but this does not make the book uninteresting. On the contrary, we see all the puzzle pieces falling into place as the story evolves. I loved the mystery, I love the chase.

While exciting and addictive, the race to find the victims was not the only thing that determined me to like the book. The personal drama, the problems our main characters are facing are extreme as well. While Marissa may seem a little rough towards Seth, she has had her fair share of unworthy husbands. I can understand her need to have him close and the disappointment she feels when he backs off. On the other hand, Seth is on the verge of wasting all his work trying to be sober. He is doing what he thinks is best for her and her daughters. Brooke’s situation is perfectly presented, her depressed state is not at all diminished or treated unimportant. The author has done an amazing job portraying each character’s struggles with maintaining balance, or at least a good state of mind.

I liked the narration too this time. Both narrators did a wonderful job to capture the different personalities with their voice acting. The desperation is also evident and they have a great contribution to put more light into what each character feels or go through. Two scenes come to mind: Brooke’s breakdown (one of them, any one actually), where Lisa Stathoplos was exceptional in capturing the pain, terror and despair and Seth’s almost giving into drinking, where Corey Gagne expressed Seth’s doubt, low self-esteem and anger.

All in all, this is an amazing story. It blew my mind! The mystery and the desire to see how everything will unfold for our main characters kept me on the edge of my seat. The entire series is well written and well narrated! I would recommend it with all my heart! Happy Reading!

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