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1st Case

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1st Case

Written by: James Patterson, Chris Tebbetts
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
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About this listen

Genius programmer Angela Hoot has always been at the top of her class. Now she's at the bottom of the FBI food chain - until her first case threatens everyone around her.

Angela's graduate school days at MIT come to an abrupt end when she uses her hacking skills on another student's computer. Yet her mentor, Eve Abajian, arranges a new beginning for her - as an intern in FBI's Boston field office. Her new supervisor, Assistant Special Agent in Charge William Keats, one of only two agents in the Northeast to make his rank before the age of 30, sees in Angela a fellow prodigy. But Angela's skills come with a natural curiosity, which is also a dangerous liability.

With little training, Angela is quickly plunged into a tough case: tracking murderous brothers who go by the Poet and the Engineer. When Keats tells her to "watch and listen", Angela's mind kicks into overdrive. The obsessive thinking that earned her As on campus can prove fatal in the field.

©2020 James Patterson (P)2020 Hachette Audio Crime Thrillers Fiction Suspense Technothrillers Thriller Thriller & Suspense Technology Crime Hacking Mystery
All stars
Most relevant
Excellent
Enjoyed this book thoroughly
Fast paced, interesting story line, and great characters
Highly recommended

1st Case

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I picked up this book because I will listen to almost anything narrated by Brittany Pressley. And this was not a disappointment. I really enjoyed the story and the narrated did a fantastic job once again.

Great listen

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loved it. simply. genius is underestimated and ignored more than acknowledged. great for it be a leading lady.

about time

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I don't know why I keep picking up novels involving serial killers. They give me the creeps.

At least when it's a first person narrative, I know the protagonist is likely to survive.

Most of the time. Unless they're the killer.

Killers in cyberspace

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everything about this audible was very juvenile especially the characters and the plot - tough to finish.
the representation of the FBI is quite pitiful.

very disappointing for this author

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Great story, well read by the narrator. Exciting and dramatic, I found myself encapsulated by the story

Well done

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Great story. Good mystery. Main character is a little much at times, but still suspenseful story keeps you listening to the last page.

Very good listen

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Author Chris Tebbetts (along with co-author James Patterson) presents a well-planned tale about a young IT specialist working with the FBI to catch a stalker/murderer who is using an ingenius spyware/dating app to find, groom, and attack teenaged girls. The writing is capable, the description is mind's-eye vivid, and the plotting is intuitive.
Less fortunately, the protagonist ('Angela Hoot') sounds so idealized that the attempt at generating "authenticity" backfires. Smart, beautiful, kinda nerdy, sporty/fit, flawless as a friend & daughter, assertive - but also submissive, vulnerable, insecure, and yearning for a handsome/sensitive/supportive man.. it became more and more clear that this book was written by a man the further it went. The more "relatable" she became.. the less plausible. Tebbetts's strong female lead ended up being paradoxically unlikable.
..and THAT would have been my biggest complaint until the execrable climax and frankly bizarre denouement. I almost checked my device to see if something went wrong with the download at Chapter 80 - maybe they replaced the authors' work with a Junior High School creative writing assignment for some reason?

On the plus side of the ledger: Narrator Brittany Pressley turns in one of the better performances that I have heard from her. She still tends to overenunciate, but exhibits spot-on timbre, cadence, tone, and voice-acting on this project.. backed up by exemplary technical support from Hachette Audio sound engineers.

Altogether, '1st Case' merits 6.5/10-stars. If you can get past the total collapse in storytelling, it rates a listen.. AS A FREE SELECTION. Paying a Credit for it would be indefensible.

[Incidentally: the screenshots of texting between the chameleon-like killer and the teenaged girls he is seducing are genuinely creepy. Tebbetts/Patterson know how to build tension masterfully]

Enjoyable Crime Thriller- Until The Ending

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..the main character, supposedly a "genius", an FBI intern, acting like a 12-year-old, narrated with 7 hours of hysterical high-pitch - all in all this is the worst book I've read so far. Save your time, your brain and your ears will thank you.

The most stupid book of this year

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Narrator voice was not great and the plot was too simple needed more complexity in story

Narrator and simple plot

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