Audiobook Review: A Solitary Man by Shira Anthony & Aisling Mancy

Sparks fly when Chance meets tall, sexy Xav at a Wilmington bar and they have the hottest one-nighter of their lives. But Chance doesn’t do repeats, Xav seems detached, and they go their separate ways without a word. Later, when closeted Assistant District Attorney C. Evan “Chance” Fairchild meets Dare's Landing’s newest deputy sheriff, Xavier “Xav” Constantine, Evan isn’t only wary. He’s irritated as hell.

Xavier is a former FBI agent turned deputy sheriff who is hot on the trail of a South American child prostitution ring. Evan is fighting to put an end to rampant cocaine trafficking and chafing under the thumb of an election-hungry boss. When someone tries to kill the eleven-year-old witness who holds the key to both their investigations, they’re forced to work together as they put their lives on the line to protect him. As Chance and Xav collide in the heat of a sweltering North Carolina summer, dodging bullets and chasing bad guys isn’t the only action going on.

Listening Length: 10 hours 38 minutes
Narrator: Jim Pelletier

Reviewer: Annika

Story - 5 Hearts
Narration - 3.5 Hearts

A Solitary Man was an intense book. I kind of also want to say that it was horrible. But not in the way you might think - the writing was great, I loved the characters and the plot was a great one. An important one. But it's also what makes it so horrible. This book is very mystery focused, the romance is not the important part or does it play a huge roll. What does play a huge roll is human trafficking, rescuing missing boys believed to have been sold into the sex trade and smuggled out of the country. Dealing with the reality, the futility, the hopelessness, and the aftermath if it all. That's why I said it was horrible. Reading stuff like this, knowing that it's not fiction – oh the book is fiction, but sadly this kind of thing does happen every day and all over the world. It's scary and humbling and I admire the people who are out there fighting for the victims and putting their lives in danger, in the hopes to save just one. Because we never do get everybody home safe - do we?

Jim Pelletier wasn’t the best choice of narrator for this book. Sure he had different voices and even some accents. I do love different accents in narrations, they add another level to the narration - and it helps distinguish between different characters. It still wasn’t enough though. At times it felt like Pelletier was over-acting, it didn’t feel natural and was a bit much that it felt unbelievable. In turn it made the character unbelievable and it threw me off and out of the story. It made me focus on the narration instead of the story unfolding. Which was a shame, because the story truly deserves all the attention it can get – and then some.

A Solitary Man is well worth a read or listen, it is a heart-breaking story. But there’s also hope and a will to fight the evil in the world. So while painful, it’s a story that I highly recommend.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review