Joe Broadmeadow

My original Silenced Justice audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Josh Williams starts investigating an old case, requested by his former boss Chris Hamlin. A black man, accused of raping some white woman, and killing one of them, was sent to prison and killed there. Josh's investigations will demonstrate that witnesses had been manipulated and the truth tergiversed. During these investigations, the Russian mafia tries to kill Josh's wife, and they will realize that this case is deeper and darker than what they thought, having very powerful people involved in covering the truth.

This is an action packed story with several twists that will delight any thriller fan. I do not know if reading the previous book of the series is necessary here. I guess it is not since the story stands well on its own, but maybe we could get a better picture of the characters having read both books. It was an exciting listen, in which it was difficult to imagine how they good guys were going to tackle the bad guys since they had so much power. It was quite an interesting book that I would recommend if you like this genre.

Even though it was a very interesting book, there were some aspects that would not grant it five starts. The character development was almost inexistent, the characters were flat and some of the conversations quite forced. The frivolous banter between Josh and his wife felt completely artificial like they were just acquaintances. Also, the information was delivered mostly in dialogues and monologs, which felt forced too.

Brian Callanan's performance was okay. The narration and dialogues were very clearly delivered, but all characters sounded more or less the same. It is true that this is not an easy book to narrate since there were many characters, but I find it more pleasant when the narrator makes an effort in trying to make the characters sound different. That paired with the poor character development prevented me from fully enjoying this book.

I would recommend this book to any thriller fan, but if you are not into this genre you may skip it since this book does not particularly stand among others.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.… (altro)

SILENCED JUSTICE BY JOE BROADMEADOW is a fast paced thriller/mystery. From the very first page you get car chases, attempted murders, suicides & a view of a corrupt/unfair justice system, and I loved every minute of this book!

Josh Williams, husband & cop has been asked by a friend for a simple favor. Look into a case back from the seventies where a black man was tried and jailed for a crime. Easy right? Wrong! People in very very high places just dont want Josh to reopen the old wounds & the case. Does that stop Josh? Nope, it just encourages him to dig more.

The pace and the flow of the book is perfect. Not much slowing down of plot for the book, it just keeps going and going till the very end, just like Josh Williams and his determination.

I recieved this book free from goodreads in exchange for a honest review.… (altro)

Young Duncan Emeris has a fairly normal life. He has a dog, two parents, and is required to go to school. But then he starts writing fanciful tales. In fact, the story seems to come to him in his dreams and seems to be almost writing itself. Pretty soon, he learns that his story isn’t just a story and he’s swept into the hunt for the last dragon egg, pitted against determined foes, but joined by stalwart friends.

This story was OK for me. It was your pretty standard kid’s fantasy quest. There’s our young hero, Duncan, a possible love interest, Kathy, the old sage who guides the young hero, Professor Templar, and a comedic companion, Jamieson. Toss in an old dragon, Balinor, and some side characters that provide additional help, and you have the winning team. Opposing them are some sneaky bad guys that can shape shift and one treacherous backstabber. The hunt is on for the last known dragon egg. Whoever possesses the egg can’t harm it, but they can influence the tiny being inside for good or evil. The bad guys are easy to spot and the good guys always refuse to kill even when it would be smartest to do so. Pretty predictable plot, but much like comfort food.

I did like that the author threw in some languages for fun. There’s some mostly made up dragon language (which sounds like a Germanic derivative), and then some German, some Latin, and a smidge here or there of some other tongue. As a person who once upon a time studied languages, I found this fun. Alas, it was also a small plot defect at the end. The traitor has a name that points to their true nature and none of our language buff characters caught it, which seemed unlikely. Setting that little criticism aside, I definitely liked the inclusion of the languages as part of the world building and part of the clues that help our hero.

Speaking of our hero, he’s in a wheelchair. Hooray for diversity in children’s fantasy! And his dog isn’t named Tripod for nothing. Both get around with ease and are useful characters throughout the story. I also liked that the genders were well balanced, there being a roughly equal number of ladies and gents on the two opposing teams.

So my biggest criticism is that the plot is predictable, which made this book a little boring for me. That’s OK. It won’t be boring for everyone, and again, it was a bit like comfort food. My second criticism is that the author kept using the terms toxin, poison, venom, all the same way along with ‘infected by’. Sigh. The biologist in me kept slapping my forehead on this one. They do not mean the same things and they don’t act the same way. A quick internet search on each terms would clear that right up. Still, we all get the point for the story’s sake.

Over all, I think kids or folks just dabbling in the fantasy genre will enjoy it.

I received this book free of charge from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

The Narration: Fred Wolinsky did a great job with this book. Each character had a distinct voice and he portrayed the age ranges and the gender differences quite well. His mastery shows in how fluent he sounded in the made up dragon language. Well done!… (altro)

The first in Broadmeadow’s Josh Williams series, Collision Course is not for those who wince at raw and graphic language. That being said, this debut legal thriller has very defined and strong characters, a solid story and leaves you with a desire to learn more about Josh and his friends. The message I took from reading this book is that there are self-serving crooked politicians at every level of government who will stop at nothing to further their personal ambitions. Of course, the good guys prevail here, but getting there was a challenge that kept me awake to the wee hours of the morning just so I could read the last page. I also admire the author’s ability to add a cop’s cynicism and rather dark humor. There were a couple of places that I laughed until the tears flowed. A great read for the guys on your shopping list.
~ Linda Thompson, Host of www.TheAuthorsShow.com… (altro)