**** Music and Mayhem —- Review by Rox Burkey
Wendy Bartlett combines Beau’s passion for playing her violin in a folk/bluegrass style with her abductor’s dream of her playing classical. Beau is kidnapped, drugged, and forced to play classical violin. She is manipulated through food and water restriction, then with appropriate behavior demands by her captor. Her location is portrayed vividly, leveraging all the listener’s senses. The inhumane treatment results in her playing magnificently after long hours of practice. Her snide comments show her resentment, but most notably, she often ends the learning sessions with her favorite country song. She is exceptionally talented, perfectly learning the new techniques her master teacher teaches her. Beau is also tremendously resourceful and not to be underestimated.
The characters are distinctive within the story. Beau’s parents, friends, boyfriend, and other family members conduct endless searches when she goes missing for the first time. The second time she is captured casts a shadow over everyone until they stop looking. The unexpected shift in control between Beau and her abductor is filled with action-packed scenes that will have readers and listeners on the edge of their seats. The ending was good but almost too easy.
The array of artists, Becky Parker, Jez Jameson, Jim Thomas, Matt Weisberger, Michael Reaves, Valerie Rose Lohman, and Will Tulin, delivered the narrative and dialogue and made this a realistic rendition. There were no issues with the audio. The tempo was uniform, with some well-placed intonations—a good book for those who like psychological thrillers.
About the Author
Wendy Bartlett currently lives in Berkeley, California. She lived in England for thirteen years and visits her family regularly where she haunts the places she writes about like the Old Bailey, the River Thames and Rottingdean. She re-published her novel Broad Reach in 2019 and has published four children’s books recently, including the popular children’s novel: The Flood. The new edition of Cellini’s Revenge, The Mystery of the Silver Cups, Book 1 was published in 2020, followed soon after by Book 2, and now Book 3, the last of the trilogy, is done and published in 2021.
Derived from her screenplay, Girl with a Violin, published as an audiobook, as well as paperback and ebook editions, is her latest novel.
Wendy has written much poetry and nine books. She is excited to work on her writing every day, telling great stories.
