holy cow that ending..... gkdjlajriaf mind blowing!

Love the fact that I thought it was going one way only to surprise me. It connected everything perfectly... Jamaica and sailing... the novelist and the murders. ugh chefs kiss *mwah*

I have never read Charlie Donlea before but will be keeping my eye out for anything they release. LOVE LOVE LOVE

Avery Mason is the host of American Events, a hugely popular tv show. When the DNA of Victoria Ford is found from the 9/11 victims, Avery discovers that Victoria was also accused of murder at the time. Avery meets Emma Kind, Victoria’s sister, who lets Avery listen to an answering machine message from Victoria on the day of the 9/11 attacks, where Victoria claims she is innocent despite the damaging evidence to the contrary. Avery decides this will be the subject of her next show.
As she proceeds to investigate she meets up with the detective who was on the case, now retired FBI agent, Walt Jenkins, and together they go through the old evidence.
I really enjoyed this story which was suspenseful and had some surprising twists towards the end. A complex plot ensured I was riveted throughout. Congratulations to the author Charlie Donlea for an immersive tale.

2001 had an epic scandal that hit the media by storm. A woman accused of gruesomely murdering her married lover, a famous author. Just as Victoria Ford is getting briefed by her lawyer in the North Tower of the WTC on September 11th, the world is changed and the case disappears with more urgent matters and no one left to charge.

2021, Avery Mason gets a lead on the story that will catapult her TV reporting career to the next level, beginning with a positive ID on remains of Victoria Ford from the massive WTC database from 9/11, and a voice recording of Victoria on that day which her sister has kept. That message spurs an investigation that leads to questions about Victoria's guilt. While uncovering this mystery, Avery has to navigate her own perilous secrets and risks losing all she has built.

I wasn't sure about a story centered around such a real tragedy. I know this is done all the time, but often there is a story untold that needs telling...this wasn't one of those. This is simply a good suspenseful mystery that used that backdrop for specific plot reasons that worked for the story.

All that said, I thought this was a good mystery. The suspense built very slowly with lots of information and directions. The first half was harder for me, but it picked up and sped through to the epilogue. The plot was solid, the characters less so. There is no way some of what was secret could have been so. I had to suspend reality a bit and questions about 9/11 fiction, but then it really was a pretty good story. There were several lines going at the same time which kept me on my toes.

The narration was very good. I was held in by it and felt the tensions and angst in the characters!

Thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for the opportunity to listen to this ALC. This will be available on December 28, 2021!

3.5stars

This book opens with a death in the Catskill Mountains on July 15, 2001-two months before 9/11 incident. Fast forward to Sep 11, 2001 – the accused Victoria Ford is meeting with her attorney on the eightieth floor of the North Tower, when the first flight hits the building.
Twenty Years Later Avery Mason, the host of American Events learns that a new DNA technology has allowed the New York ME’s office to make an identification of a 9/11 victim after so many years. She is really excited to bring this to her show, but there’s a little more ground work that she needs to do – there’s a twist, the victim Victoria Ford who has been identified had been accused of a very horrific murder of her married lover 20 years ago. In her last phone call to her sister Victoria would have begged her sister to prove her innocence. Avery sets on a mission in bring the pieces together while dealing with her own challenges she was set on bringing a closure.
Thank you to Recorded Books & Netgalley for the Audiobook copy. This book is set to be published on Dec 28, 2021. The narration by Vivienne Leheny is superb.

#netgalley #recordedbooks #twentyyearslater

Victoria Ford is arrested for the murder of her lover, a famous author who was found hanging in his mansion. Victoria calls her sister and leaves her a message right before the North Tower collapses on 9/11 and the case goes unsolved.

Twenty years later, Avery Mason, a TV journalist, stumbles upon the message left by Victoria begging for her innocence. She sets out to uncover the truth about what happened 20 years ago.

Charlie Donlea delivered us a perfectly written multilayered plot with well developed characters. The drama is off the charts with betrayel, murder, and kinky sex. The story is told from multiple POVs with a present and past timeline. The story was really easy to keep up with even with so many layers, I could not put this book down. And that ending blew me away!

This book was narrated by Vivienne Leheny who did an amazing job.

Thank you Netgalley, Charlie Donlea and RB media for gifting me with this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I was a solid 3.5 stars throughout but the ending bumped it up to a 4 for me.

Twenty years after 9/11, new DNA technology is being used to identify victims from bone fragments discovered at the twin towers site. Avery, a crime show reporter is doing a piece on a woman who was recently confirmed as one of the victims. What starts out as an interest piece soon leads her down a twisty road and into a historic murder investigation involving a famous author.

This plot took awhile to get into but picked up once Avery was involved in the murder investigation. I thought the mystery was suspenseful and it kept me invested. However, Avery wasn’t all that sympathetic and I found her character difficult to connect to emotionally, which made the story good but not great. As a mystery thriller, it was a fun read to see where it would go but not a super memorable one.

The audiobook narration was clear and concise. The narrator delivered a solid performance but again nothing out of the ordinary.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This one had a ton of potential. It has a dual timeline, good writing, good characters, good narrator, and I enjoyed it while I was listening...but there was nothing strikingly unique about this one to make me want to keep picking it up.

Avery Mason, host of American Events, has a lot on her plate. As a woman she is trying to make a name for herself and be treated with respect. When she hears about a 911 victim just now being identified little did she know where the story would take her. Will Emma Kind find out the truth about her sister and if she does can she live with that.
There were several stories going on at once but they all in one way or another were really one. A suspense nobel you will not figure out.

“To understand the present, you need to listen to the past”

Avery Mason, the host of the popular show, American Events, is always looking for the next big story and when she finds out that a new DNA match has been pulled from the wreckage of 9/11 and it just happens to match a women who was being investigated for the murder of her secret lover, she knows this is the story to pursue, especially with the 20th anniversary just around the corner. But while chasing down this story, some of her past that she has tried to hide, comes to the surface.

The twists and turns this book took kept me on the edge of my seat wanting more. I listened to this audiobook in the span of 2 days, which helped my house get cleaned and my presents wrapped!

This was my first novel by Charlie Donlea and I will definitely be checking out more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Charlie Donlea is a favorite of mine so I was very excited to get an early peek at Twenty Years Later, releasing December 28th. He did not disappoint. Expertly weaving multiple plot lines together, he delivered a twist or two that gives you pause. Secrets, lies, and cover ups. A delicious tale of deceit
Accused of a brutal murder, Victoria Ford makes a desperate call proclaiming her innocence before perishing in the north tower during 9-11. Twenty years later her remains are identified prompting investigative journalist, Avery Mason, host of American Events, to delve into the case for her upcoming season. But is that the only reason Avery is traveling to New York? Or is it to revisit her secret past and close unfinished business.

“Love or the law. Mans only two problems in this world.”

Hiding her own dark past in plain sight, Mason, an up and coming TV reporter, is determined to uncover the secrets of a cold case from twenty years prior. But to understand the present you need to listen to the past. Due to new technology, a medical examiner has made the first positive identification of a 9/11 victim in years. But there is a twist. The victim was accused of the murder of her married lover, which is the very cold case that Mason is now investigating.

I will start this review by saying that a dunk tank is a non negotiable for me. 🙅🏼‍♀️ No job or amount of money would have me in one of those death traps. Nope. No way. That is all. Moving on.

Wheeeeeeeee! This is an intricate and cleverly woven story of ambition, money, murder, and cold cases. It dabbles in 9/11, Ponzi schemes, and a little S&M. There are a lot of moving parts here but they come together beautifully. I read a lot of thrillers and I am always so impressed when I get that WOW ending. This one gave me just that. Wow indeed!

The audio was Narrated by Vivienne Leheny and it is fantastic! Her voice is so smooth and easy to listen to. You can really feel the emotion of the characters in her voice.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, RB Media, and the author for this ALC in exchange for an honest review. Available today!

Amazing story.. A murder done before 9/11. The women accused of it died in the explosion, A bit of her body is found 20 years later, and that is where the mystery begins. A cracking storyline very well read. Once started I could not wait to carry on. Great ending. Really enjoyed this. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to it.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Recorded Books for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest mystery by one of my favorites, Charlie Donlea. The audio was perfectly narrated by Vivienne Leheny. 5 stars!

Avery Mason is a popular TV news broadcast host but while she is in the public eye, she's also hiding her own true story. She gets wind of a new story that she hopes will propel her star - after twenty years, the identity of a 9/11 victim was discovered using new DNA technology. Then Avery discovers that person was accused of a sordid murder of a celebrity novelist and never brought to trial because she was in the towers when they fell.

I'm not going to go any more into the plot in this review - there are multiple mysteries at work here as well as a full cast of characters and I totally enjoyed watching all the intertwined pieces come together. I figured some things out but was still stunned at the end! I love Donlea's writing and I had a tough time putting this book down. I enjoyed switching back and forth from the digital to audio versions as well for extra depth. Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review!

Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea brings an interesting (and sometimes very raw, difficult) timeframe into account to create a mystery that leans a lot towards a thriller as well. The story is captivating, challenging, and beautifully written. Twenty years after the 9/11 tragedy, new technology allowed researchers to identify a body from the tragedy. The body of a woman who was, apparently, very controversial and may have murdered her best friend's husband. Avery, a reporter in California, journeys to New York in order to try to report on and research the woman who was identified. At the same time, Walt, a retired FBI agent, is also coming to New York to try to solve a case that was closed and went cold twenty years ago when the 9/11 tragedy shook up everything in the United States. Now, the two stories collide and produce something addictive, transformative, and fast-paced in all of the best ways!

For me, the best part of Twenty Years Later is that it could be a true crime story (it's not, it is fiction) and I would be never the wiser. The whole thing is realistic. It could actually happen. That is perhaps what makes it so chilling, thrilling, and addictive. I simply had to know how this all played out because it felt so realistic. The characters are so interesting and deeply developed throughout the story, and they all mesh together so well while maintaining their own distinct identities. I simply loved this book! The narrator was also easy to listen to with appropriate intonation and was easy to understand the entire time. 5/5 stars.

This was really well done -- I didn't see the plot twist(s) coming.


Review copy provided by publisher.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Charlie Donlea, RB Media, and Recorded Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Having stumbled upon this latest novel by Charlie Donlea, I thought that I would take the risk and hope for the best. This is a curious story that straddles two time periods and is highly impactful throughout its development. An investigative reporter returns to New York to look into some new DNA technology that has uncovered the identity of a new victim from September 11, 2001, but there is more to the story. Victoria Ford was accused of killing her lover in a brutal manner, but all that was forgotten when the Towers fell. Now, Avery Mason is keen not only to get to the bottom of the case, but also uncover truths that were left to dissipate when the world turns its attention to the terrorist attack. She is determined to find truths, even two decades later! A great story that has me wanting to find more Donlea novels in the near future.

While the events of September 11th, 2001 are etched on the minds of many, the number of unidentified remains continue to pose an issue for those tasked with bringing closure to the lives of grieving families. After new technology emerges and a fragment of Victoria Ford is identified, it’s newsworthy. Avery Mason, host of a popular television newsmagazine wants to air the discovery around the time of the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack.

As Avery digs a little deeper into the life of Victoria Ford, she uncovers a goldmine. Victoria was accused of murdering her married lover by hanging him over a balcony, left to appear like a kinky sex act gone wrong. However, after her arrest, Victoria proclaimed her innocence and sent a final voicemail to her sister on the day of the attack, pleading that she was not guilty of he crime. Now, Avery has a copy of the recording and is keen to discover what actually happened and how the truth might have been buried.

Hoping to make this a smash hit for herself and the ratings, Avery contacts the former investigator in the Victoria Ford case and has him return to New York. The case seems pretty open and shut, but Avery refuses to believe it is that simple. She digs deeper and revisits much of the evidence, only to learn that nothing is quite as it seems. She’s hoping that she can blow things wide open and show that a greedy state’s attorney pushed the case along without examining the evidence properly.

While Victoria’s DNA is all over the crime scene, something does not seem right and Avery is keep to find that missing link before someone else does. All the while, she is juggling keeping her own past a secret so that she won’t have to admit hard truths that have loomed over her for years. When Avery uncovers an old and dusty manuscript, something clicks and she racing along to see if that might be the beginning of something that could exonerate Victoria Ford once and for all. This is more than ratings or stardom, it’s the honour of a woman whose life ended on September 11th, but left a family behind tarnished by the accusations. A chilling tale by Charlie Donela that has me hoping for more soon and kicking myself for not discovering his writing sooner.

I often surprise myself when i discover a new author, only to learn that they have been writing and impressing others for a long time. Such was the case with Charlie Donlea and this thriller. There is so much to enjoy with this piece, from the well-paced narrative to the great plot twists that took time to develop. I can only hope that many of his other books are as intense and I will surely find some soon, adding them to my list of must reads (rather than simply to be read).

Avery Mason is a wonderful protagonist with a great deal to offer the reader. Her backstory is both complex and ever-evolving throughout the novel, leaving the reader to see some of the struggles she faced and how she tackles them now. She does, however, not simply live in the past, but finds herself developing throughout the novel, presenting struggles both with the mysterious murder before her and the need to carve out a niche for herself in the world of television news programming. She can hold her own throughout this piece and I would love to see her in action once again, even if one-offs might be more Donlea’s style.

A great thriller uses a foundation of strong writing to begin, building on that to entice the reader throughout. Such can surely be said of this piece, as Charlie Donlea provides a stellar piece of writing here. His ideas layer together well and keep the reader on their toes as they progress throughout the piece. The mystery grows as the narrative gains momentum, allowing the plot to lead the reader down many a curious path. I cannot say enough about the ability that Donlea has to spin multiple plot lines together and keep the reader curious until it all comes together effectively. I wondered and guessed my way through this book, filled with teaser chapters that begged me to keep reading a little longer. I am quite eager to find more books by Charlie Donlea and am open to suggestions by those who have some to make!

Kudos, Mr. Donlea, for a fabulous novel. I cannot believe it took me this long to find you. I won’t wait too long before I return, of that you can be assured.

4.5 🌟 Avery Mason is the host of American Events a top rating TV show. She’s investigating the story of Victoria Ford. Victoria was accused of the horrible murder of her married lover, but was presumed dead during the attacks of 9/11. Twenty years later bone fragments are a DNA match to Victoria from the millions collected during the cleanup of the towers. While unearthing Victoria’s case Avery must deal with her own past life and her family’s darkest secrets.

This novel was written in a dual timeline and with my different perspectives, but still very easy to follow in audiobook form. This very complex story kept me intrigued. Loads of scandal and plot twists. A very well written thriller!

Thank you Netgalley, Charlie Donlea and RB media for this audiobook.

Review of Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is my first novel by this author and it won’t be my last. I listened to this one and binged it in two days. It was fast paced and fantastic. I loved the story and characters. It kept me engaged until the very last page. Major twists. A must read for thriller lovers.

Quick synopsis: Avery is a famous newscaster for a hit tv show. She is also hiding a secret last of her own. She stumbles upon a huge lead for a great story. Victoria Ford disappeared on 9/11 after being in the twin towers that day. A tooth just discovered has a positive hit for her DNA. She was an accused murderer who had been charged with the murder of her lover, famous author Cameron. Her DNA was all over the crime scene and she left a voicemail for her sister during the terrorist attacks begging her to stop at nothing to prove her innocence.

You won’t believe where this one goes.
Don’t miss it.

Thank you to @netgalley for the chance to listen to this one.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Story: 4.5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Detective
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Yes

Want to first thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to listen to this book. I will be honest, I am not a big fan of detective books and the beginning was a bit rocky for me. The descriptions sometimes tended to go on way too long. I did listen to this and towards the end I was ready to give this a negative review but the TWISTS this book makes is... wow. There is something that other writers can take notes on when writing.

Honestly, Charlie could have made this a series and I would have followed it.

Wow! This was good. New author to me and I really like the way he writes.
I was a little nervous about the 20 year jump but it worked well. The book delivered not just one mysterious event but two. I was pulled right in for a front row seat and just had to see how this would end. I was equally interested in both story lines. I liked ALL the characters and just wanted more and more. Loved the ending and it wasn’t what I thought. Cheers to the author for a great novel. I highly recommend. I chose to listen to this book on audio and wasn’t crazy about the narrator but it was satisfactory.
Thanks RB Media via NetGalley. #TwentyYearsLater #NetGalley