Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Splintered
AUTHOR: SJD Peterson
NARRATOR: Rusty Topsfield
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 7 hours
RELEASE DATE: May 8, 2015
BLURB:
A string of murders targeting effeminate gay men has the GLBTQ community of Chicago on alert, but budget cuts have left many precincts understaffed and overworked. Not to mention homophobia is alive and well within the law enforcement community, and little has been done to solve the mystery. When the FBI calls in Special Agent Todd Hutchinson and his team, the locals are glad to hand the case off. But Hutch finds a bigger mystery than anyone originally realized – 17 linked murders committed in several different jurisdictions. Hutch’s clues lead him to Noah Walker.
Working on his PhD in forensic psychology, Noah has been obsessed with serial murders since he was a child. But coming to Hutch’s attention as a suspect isn’t a good way to start a relationship. Noah finds himself hunted, striking him off Hutch’s suspect list but not off his radar. To catch the killer before anyone else falls victim, they’ll have to work together, and quickly, to bring him to justice.
REVIEW:
I love mysteries and always have, probably always will. And when I find a gay mysteries or m/m mystery I’m always eager to start listening, ready for my next adventure.
The premise of this book was a good one; a serial killer roaming in Chicago targeting effeminate gay men in the most horrific of ways. And of course, we follow the detectives trying to find and stop the killer. This is all really good and should have been great and possibly heart-pounding listen, but to me it wasn’t for a few reasons.
The characters felt one dimensional and after finishing the book I still don’t feel like I know them any better than I did when I started. I wished for a back story for them, or something that indicated they had a past and lives before the book started. Parts of the book were really great, I mentioned the set-up before. I also enjoyed the profiling part of it, trying to get into the mind of the killer, and trying to make all the clues fit.
But then there were entirely too many clichés thrown in, too much wannabe macho-men, not to mention the TSTL moments. I mean if you know you are being stalked by a vicious serial killer, why do you run off without your police protection? There was also a distinct lack of depth and emotion in this book. I felt as if there was a distance between the story and the listener, so while listening I had a hard time to really connect and become invested. In general I don’t mind gruesome details or descriptions in my books, I can even stomach the odd abuse scene – but there has to be a place for it. They need to fit the narrative of the story and not been added as a way to manipulate the reader or reader as I felt it was here.
I think this might be my first foray with Rusty Topsfield, and it was an enjoyable one. I loved listening to his deep voice and appreciated how he varied his tone and pacing to fit the situation the characters fund themselves in. I’ve found that a particularly tricky thing for any narrator (male and female) is voicing the opposite sex in a seemingly natural way without overdoing it. Some can be downright cringe-worthy, but Topsfield portrayed really well, to the point where I stopped to take notice. Not that there were many women in this story, but it’s still something I appreciate all the same. The story might not have been for me, but the narration was, and I’ll happily listen to more of Topsfield’s books in the future.
RATING: 
Story: 2 hearts
Narration 4 hearts
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