Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Radio Static
AUTHOR: Nicky James
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 11 hours and 13 minutes
RELEASE DATE: January 24, 2023
BLURB:
Two single dads. Two headstrong teenagers. One dead body.
A cabin in the middle of nowhere, nature all around, peace and serenity. It was supposed to be a vacation to help Nova reconnect with his son.
But he didn’t expect to fall for his neighbor in the cabin across the lake.
He didn’t expect an erratic and unusual broadcast on a radio station no longer in existence.
And he definitely didn’t expect a dead body in the water.
Mercy likes his mysteries to stay within the pages of his novels. When strange things start to happen at his summer cabin, he and his daughter team up with the man and his son on the other side of the lake to get to the bottom of it. A little amateur sleuthing won’t hurt anyone, right?
Someone out there knows the truth.
Who is the man on the radio?
What does he know?
Mercy and Nova are determined to solve the mystery, but are they willing to risk life and limb for answers? Because someone doesn’t want their secrets revealed.
**Radio Static is an MM romantic mystery involving two single dads in their midforties.**
REVIEW:
Nova takes his teenage son to his parents old cabin in the woods to reconnect. Cooper spends most of his time with his mom and her new boyfriend who wants to be the cool parent, so Cooper isn’t excited about spending a month out in the middle of nowhere with his dad and his dad’s rules. But when he sees the teenage girl across the lake, well things are looking up. Plus there is this mysterious radio broadcast about a girl who disappeared 20 years before and the crazy sounding guy ranting and raving that she was murdered and things are going off the rails.
Mercy always spends August with his daughter Raelynn at their cabin. She’s 14 and growing up and Mercy is NOT ready for that. When the guy across the lake and his teenage son show up, he is definitely not ready for any of that – especially the hot dad who seems like he may be interested in Mercy as well. They dance around each other a little bit, but Nova isn’t out to his son as bi and so they are keeping things on the DL – plus they are supposed to be bonding with their individual kids.
Then a dead body shows up in the lake. When the sheriff tells them it was ruled an accident, Nova and Mercy and the kids are pretty sure that’s a lie. Thus begins their sleuthing in earnest. Needless to say, this puts them in harm’s way. Despite numerous warnings to butt out and go away, they just don’t seem to be able to let it go. This results in some very very unintended and potentially deadly consequences. Oh and it’s clear that Mercy and Nova can’t keep their attraction under wraps either and this wreaks havoc with them, their kids and the race to figure out who is pulling the strings in this really creepy small town.
So I will say, for folks from the US, you have to suspend disbelief just a little bit. We trust nobody and out in the wilderness and the proliferation of guns, no way would we poke around in what looks like two murders. Like just no. Anybody could be a crazy with a gun here, so we avoid avoid avoid. Hell even driving on the highway, people are shot at! In Ontario – a province in a country that is a bit less dangerous, then maybe 😉 But I was kind of shocked that they just didn’t call the RCMP! Here we would call the state police or the FBI. A small town police department wouldn’t take on something like this for sure. It’s got kind of a southern gothic vibe while taking place in Ontario 🙂 Although I sort of felt like I knew who the bad guy was early on, the mystery is really well written. I was on the edge of my seat the last quarter of the book for sure.
Nick J Russo does an absolutely phenomenal job performing this story. Maybe one of his best ever. There are a lot of characters from a lot of different walks of life. The terror and anger and frustration he was able to convey with each one was really top notch. His flirty and scared teenage girl and bullying crazy murderer were equally compelling. Just a real tour de force with this story. Highly recommended. A truly compelling performance from this narrator at the top of his game.
RATING: 
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