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Chapter One

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Chapter One

Written by: Michael Wood
Narrated by: Stephen Hogan, Lucy Paterson
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About this listen

Only available from Audible, a gripping psychological thriller from the author of the DCI Matilda Darke crime series. Perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid.

A copycat killer is on the loose but who really has blood on their hands?

For years, Aidan Cullen has dreamed of becoming a successful crime writer. When his hard work finally pays off and his first book is published, what should have been a night of celebration unravels into an evening of horror. Left for dead after a brutal attack, trauma leaves him paranoid and reclusive, and he retreats to the remote countryside with only his dog Nanook for company. With the world kept at arm’s length, he begins to feel safe. That is, until a woman is murdered at the end of his road.

With the police asking questions and a stalker knocking on his door, Aidan’s peace is completely shattered. And when the murderer strikes again, he starts to see a pattern in the killings; a pattern only he can recognise. Is the killer sending him a message or is his mind playing tricks on him? When you can’t trust yourself, nobody is safe.

©2023 Michael Wood (P)2023 Audible Ltd. Crime Fiction Crime Thrillers Thriller & Suspense Scary
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I suspected the ending but felt it could go one of a few ways. The ending left me feeling... things. (No spoilers!)
I really cared about the main character. I loved the narration of Chapter 1 from various of his books.

Loved this book

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This Michael Wood story about an author observing murders that follow plotlines in his novels is unoriginal but enjoyable. Reclusive author 'Aidan Cullen' is a well-conceived character - with multiple quirks, chronic anxiety, alcoholism, and elements of paranoia that make his struggle with the inexplicable local "copycat" murders intriguing.
Wood writes with capable vocabulary/prose, reasonable drip-drip-drip revelations & foreshadowing, and praiseworthy description skills. Unfortunately, he also includes overly emotional dialogue (Aidan's quite the drama queen) and annoyingly predictable plotting. In the end, this book is noticeably derivative of other stories that I have read. It entertained but didn't blow me away.

Similarly, the presentation is serviceable but unspectacular. Readers Stephen Hogan - reading from Aidan's POV - and Lucy Paterson - reading the first chapters of Aidan's crime novels - provide commendable narration (Hogan's subdued Irish brogue is particularly pleasant and easy to consume for hours & hours, for example).. but Audible Originals Inc. could have gotten equally effective results from any professional in their stable of narrators. The listening product is "average", too.

Altogether, I give 'Chapter One' 6 stars out of 10. It was a reasonable distraction over a couple of quiet afternoons for free, but when it leaves the "included with your subscription" menu, investing a Credit on the audiobook would be hard to justify. Better options beckon.

Acceptable 'Plus' Selection

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Enjoyable. Well narrated. Good story though I found it a bit predictable near the last third of the book. Still worth the listen.

Interesting Listen

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excellent listen. I enjoyed all of it immensely. so glad I got to experience this thriller mystery for free!

Great plot, well read and written.

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Seriously? A bunch of the way through this book, I began to suspect what the rest of the plot was. As Chapter One continued, that was confirmed. It’s an OBVIOUS copy of Secret Window, the 2004 film starring Johnny Depp and Maria Bello. Way to GO, Audible; you commissioned or bought an act of plagiarism. If this were submitted as, say, a Master’s Thesis, the student would get a big ZERO, and be expelled from university for their easy-to-spot plagiarism. It’s still plagiarism, even if you change some aspects of the story; if you write something that has the same key aspects of the plot as an EXISTING work already does, and those key aspects aren’t common throughout fiction (e.g. of a common plot aspect, aka trope: the main characters = 2 cops who are partners; one is wild/daring/out-of-control and one is more staid/stable/reliable), IT’S PLAGIARISM!!! Very. Not. Impressed. Oh, and I did a DuckDuckGo search for “movie or book plot murderer multiple personality”, and Secret Window popped right up. So, EXTREMELY unlikely that NO-ONE involved with Chapter One was unaware of the plagiarism.
Stephen Hogan and Lucy Paterson’s performances were EXCELLENT, though, so 5 stars for them :-) :-)

Blatant plagiarism by Michael Wood of 2004’s Secret Window

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