This novel wasn’t my cup of tea but that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. I can tell that the author put a lot of thought into the writing of the story, and I’m wondering if I would have enjoyed it more written than as an audiobook.

The narrator has a nice voice that doesn’t distract from the audiobook, she makes it so that you almost forget you’re listening. But the audiobook should do better in differentiating the characters since the story changes points of view a lot. I found myself confused a lot of the time which hasn’t happened to me with other audiobooks. I think this one just has too many characters and that made it hard for me to pay attention.

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

Twenty Years Later is a suspenseful mystery novel about two different crimes - a murder that is linked to a 9/11 victim, and a fugitive who's on the run.

Investigative journalist, Avery, is looking into an unsolved murder from 20 years ago. Avery has her own secrets she's trying to run from, and as she gets deeper and deeper into this 9/11 victim/murder case, she fears she might be exposed and ruined.

This book was just fine. I was trying to figure out the big mystery on my own up until the very end, but the "twist" seemed like the author took the easy way out. For the suspense and buildup, I was expecting something far more exciting. The novel is a tad too long and some parts are pretty ridiculous and a bit of a stretch, but it was still an entertaining read. I feel like it was just missing a little "umph"; it needed just a little ~something~ else.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story and how there were multiple characters and two main storylines going on at the same time! It was a little difficult for me to identify who was speaking when a new chapter started since it didn’t say a name, but I was also listening to an audiobook which could have contributed to that fact. I can honestly say that I didn’t see where the book was headed, and I love that! If you’re looking for complex characters and lots of twist and turns, this is the book for you.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced ecopy of the audiobook for Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea. The narrator of the book, Vivienne Leheny is really good. She gets 5 stars!

I'll go on record now as saying I have now read every published book by Charlie Donlea and can attest to the fact that the man can write a compelling mystery! What is better than a book with a great mystery? A book with TWO great mysteries!

One of the mysteries revolves around Avery Mason, and up and coming telejournalist who stays away from politics, but really delves into subjects that interest the American public. She got her start on television on a show called American Events that was a long running news-magazine sort of show with a beloved host who discovered her through one of his stories. Avery was so well liked as a guest reporter, they kept bringing her back until she finally got the job of co-hosting the show. When the star of the American Events died, Avery was installed as interim host until the new replacement was hired. She was so good at the job, she increased the ratings significantly. At the start of the book, Avery is negotiating her contract renewal with the network that owns American Events. We learn that though Avery is playing it hard and bold, inside she is also nervous that someone will learn about her family origin and use it against her. It turns out Avery is the new name she chose to hide her association with her father, a Bernie Madoff-esque thief who was not only proven to have stolen millions of dollars from his friends and clients, he also evaded justice by fleeing prosecution and going into hiding....presumably using his stolen money to live high somewhere. Avery gets a mysterious message that only she understands and heads to NYC using an upcoming American Events story as her cover. What was the message about and what is Avery working to accomplish with the elements of her past?

The second mystery is the story Avery is working on. While the public may not know it, thousands of DNA samples are on file from the deaths in the twin towers from 9/11. These days, a full twenty years past the event, it is rare to ever get a hit on any of that DNA. However, in 2021, there was a match made to Victoria Ford. Avery decides it is a story worth pursuing for the show, a family perhaps getting closure 20 years after a family member went missing. However, when Avery starts her research, she learns that Victoria Ford is a presumed killer. Her lover, a married thriller author, was found hanged in the early 2000's and all the evidence pointed to her as the killer. Avery learns that as the towers were under attack, Avery left a message on her sisters answering machine reflecting her resignation to death, but begging her sister to clear her name. Avery takes up that cause and it leads her down a path of intrigue and even potential romance.

I found both mysteries equally compelling and there were a couple twists that genuinely were not predictable (to me, anyway). I enjoyed every moment of this book and would recommend it to any mystery/thriller lover.

Great mystery! Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea was a highly satisfying mystery that made strong use of forensic/DNA science, which I appreciated. As this is a review of the audiobook I want to add that I found the narration to be really strong and the tone and mood generated by the narrator matched the overall feel and intentional pacing that the author was intending; I appreciate a good narrator who can add to the suspense and tension in a mystery. I also liked the true crime/journalistic approach to the storytelling, that is a style that works well for me and was used well in this book.
I requested this audiobook after reading about the book in a thriller/mystery column in the NYtimes and it did not disappoint. A hidden gem of a mystery for sure, I look forward to recommending this to my mystery book club friends and mystery/suspense groups on Instagram.

Top 5 of the year.
Slam dunk
Touchdown
Ace
Hole In One
Spike
Perfect 10
Bulls Eye
Goal! (Although I hate bringing up a reference to soccer, the most boring sport ever)

I.Loved.This.Book.

Please do note, there are A LOT of characters /timelines/ things going on. So I highly suggest you pay attention the first 50-75 pages, just so you know the characters, the backstories and what all is going on, trust me its worth the extra brain cells.
I don't think I can even write a brief description about what this book is about but I will attempt it.

Clare an anchor for a 20/20 type show. Ground breaking DNA technology discovers the remains of Victoria Ford in the remains of the 9/11 tragedy....20 years later (hence the title!) Well, Victoria was about to face trial for murdering the famous author Cameron whom she was having an affair with. Walt was the lead (young) detective investigating the murder. Clare goes to NYC to investigate this Victoria Ford but is using the trip as an excuse to take care of somethings from her past.....Clare is not America's Sweetheart if you will. Walt is called out of retirement to "help" Clare investigate the Victoria Ford murder....however the FBI has teamed up with Walt because they are "on" to Claire.....
Donlea leads the reader down many different paths (and I promise) ALL come together at the end. This was my first book by Donlea and certainly plan on checking out the rest. I cannot recommend this book enough!
I received an advance readers copy to review courtesy of the publisher via Edelweiss. Twenty Years Later is slated for US publication on 12/28/21.

Sensational Snafflefrass!

Well goodness me! This story was absolutely fantastic! From the very first page I was captured. I loved every aspect of this entire novel. How 9'11 was threaded through this story and what happened before it. I have to say, I can't rave enough about this book. I enjoyed listening to it and loved it. And Avery's story and looking into the past of a 9'11 victim was enthralling! Geez Louise this book was unbelievable! Definitely suggest it!

I give this 4.5 / 5 snowflakes! ❄️

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me this ARC.
Release date: December 28, 2021

Twenty Years Later feels like a fever dream to me. I listened to it in less than 24 hours because I needed to know what was going on. Did Victoria actually do it? What secrets is Avery, or should I say Claire, keeping? What’s the deal with Walt? How are all of these things going to intersect? Why do we keep talking about sailing?

This story is about the murder of a famous author who was brutally killed in his Catskills cabin twenty years ago. The case was investigated for a short time, and the woman he was revealed to be having an affair with, Victoria, was the main suspect. Victoria was meeting with her attorney in the North Tower when the planes hit and she didn’t make it out. In the aftermath of 9/11 the case was forgotten. But then, 20 years later, a tooth found in the rubble is matched with Victoria. Avery Mason, a journalist in LA with a secret past of her own, sees this story as the perfect cover for her to be in New York - she starts meeting the people who were close to Victoria to piece together the story. What she doesn’t expect to find is the voicemail Emma, Victoria’s sister, has been holding on to all of these years. Victoria left her two messages from the tower on that fateful day with her final plea to Emma to prove her innocence. Avery is going to do everything she can to help Emma. But will her investigation put her at risk of revealing her true motives for coming out here?

This book has A LOT going on. There are basically two full stories happening in parallel. I still have a few questions about the end - like why were some of the people involved, but once I think about it more I’m sure it will settle. I was really intrigued about what happened in the past and what was going to happen in the current day. The narration moves between the present time and 2001 - I wish there was more from 2001 because I do feel like there were some characters and details that were underdeveloped from that time. Overall, I really liked it. Looking back I can see all of the bread crumbs but they are expertly placed and concealed along the way. This was a satisfying read with an ending I both expected and was shocked by.

I loved the audiobook. Vivienne Leheny did an amazing job keeping it all straight - the time, characters, conversations. I never felt confused about who was speaking or when it took place which is a huge credit to her. I found her pacing to be excellent and her intonations added to the suspense of the story. I think she was a perfect fit for this book - her choices added to the story.

I would recommend this book and the audiobook version! I’m ready to discuss this book with everyone I know when it comes out on 12/28/21. Don’t miss it.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for the preview in exchange for my honest thoughts.

4.5 Stars

This story had me captivated right away, and I had so much fun reading it. There was great pacing and interesting twists. The plot was woven well and pretty unique. 

I will say that you really need to give your undivided attention while reading this because there is A LOT going on. In the beginning, it appears that the majority of the book will take place uncovering a murder from 20 years ago, but it is really more about the present- Avery Mason's story.  

What I liked: The TV show angle, how each chapter took place in a specific location (e.g., Lake Placid, Catskills, Negril), the cold case investigation, the sideline romance, the shocking twists and turns, the amazing epilogue that I didn't see coming 

What I did not love: I felt like there was a lot of repetition in the first half of the book, the book synopsis was a little misleading 

Thanks Netgalley and RB Media for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea.

First off, the narration was great! The sign of good narration (in my opinion) is when you can be fully immersed in the story without thinking much about the narrator. And good narration can often make the story even better.

This is a well crafted story that spans twenty years, about the grotesque death of a man right before the Twin Towers were hit. It's a crime that goes completely forgotten, due to the fact that the nation was in crisis, and also, their main suspect is one of the victims of the crime.

Mason is a popular reporter who catches wind of the interesting story. Could the 9/11 victim have been responsible for a brutal murder? Or was she set up to cover up something much more heinous? Mason dives into the story to find out.

I really enjoyed this. I thought that the way they were able to alternate between past and present was very clean. I loved the long game mystery. The characters were compelling. Very fun read/listen.

Readers should know that the tragic events of September 11, 2001 play prominently in how this story plays out. I don’t often read books centered around 9/11, but I had good reason to trust Charlie Donlea so I went for it and glad I did. After a bit of a slow, repetitive start, the pace of this book and the intertwining mysteries picked up and rocked a long at a pace that made it impossible for me to stop. I swallowed this book whole in one sitting- I listened to it in audio and it was well performed- perfect voice. I had an inkling of the resolution very early on but Charlie hit us with an unexpected turn that renewed my love for his books and the art of mystery writing.
Very much enjoyed this read and if you can handle the events around 9/11, I think other readers will as well.

Kind of reminds me of the murder of Chandra Leavey… how that investigation seemed muted in comparison to what was happening.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I had really high hopes. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t hit the mark for me. I really wanted to like this book. This book was about 9/11, but twenty years later. I really think this book could have been a lot more than what it turned out to be, for me anyway.

The first half of the book was really boring and drawn out to the point that when it finally did pick up, I wasn’t really invested enough in the story to care.

The writing wasn’t necessarily bad, the story just wasn’t that great. The twists at the end weren’t bad, but it wasn’t enough to change my thoughts about the book.

*Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ARC!

Avery Mason, TV host of American Events, knows her latest story – a murder mystery laced with sex, tragedy, and betrayal – is ratings gold.

With new technology the New York medical examiner’s office has made its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim in question, Victoria Ford, had been accused of murder at the time of her death. In a chilling last call from the North Tower, Victoria had begged her sister, Emma, to prove her innocence.

This was a fast paced thriller with plenty of plot twists and a heavy dose of mystery. The reporter/true crime element was topical and added a fun twist to an existing genre.

This novel does an excellent job of revisiting a sensitive topic. I Donlea did an excellent job with researching forensics, and the plot and character development are top notch.

Charlie Donlea has once again created an entertaining mystery. Avery Mason is a young newscaster who hosts a popular weekly nighttime show. In a search for a hot new topic to bring ratings gold, she latches onto a 20 year old murder, complete with “kinky sex, tragedy and betrayal”. The hook is that the suspect, Victoria Ford, was killed in the 9/11 bombings of the Twin Towers and her DNA has just been identified. Her sister, Emma, has a phone recording from that day where she proclaims her innocence and asks her sister to clear her name.
The story is told from multiple perspectives. In addition to Avery, there’s Walt Jenkins, a retired FBI agent who handled the initial investigation. Turns out, the FBI is interested in Avery as her father was behind a massive Ponzi scheme but disappeared before he could be convicted. The characters were well developed. I did find it a bit of a stretch that no one had revealed Avery’s true identity.
It takes a while to get straight on the various storylines as the story alternates between the characters and we’re given the background on Avery’s past, the FBI agent’s history and the murder. There were some decent twists, not just with the main storyline, but the backstories as well. While I had figured out one of them, I sure didn’t see that ending coming.
I listened to this and found Vivienne Lehenny did a great job of bringing the right amount of energy and emotion to the task.
My thanks to Netgalley and RB Media for an advance copy of this audiobook.

I absolutely LOVED this book! There are so many complex situations and characters in the plot, and the author does a fantastic job of laying out all the details in this book. I kept trying to figure out different parts and how the book was going to link together at the end, and I was completely stumped. I am so impressed by the end, and now I need all my bookish friends to read it so we can talk about it! I have no critiques for this fantastic thriller!

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to review this audio book.

This was something really different unlike I have ever read with many twists told in different perspectives which was a bit confusing.

Avery Mason ,a journalist with a shady past hears of a story of remains found in the 9/11 North Tower site of a woman accused of murdering a prominent author. In the meantime Avery gets a call from the sister of the woman, Victoria. that claims she has a call from her sister proclaiming her innocence and asking to be cleared of the murder. But is Victoria REALLY dead? That what Avery is about to find out on top of her own family issues and a plagiarism discovery she makes.

Good story and narrative just confusing with all the characters and perspectives.

In a Nutshell: One of the better thrillers I've read this year, though I have mixed feelings about how the 9/11 attacks were used in some scenes.

Story:
The prologue (which is excellent, btw) is set in 2001, but the main story is set ‘twenty years later”, in 2021.
Avery Mason, a top-rung TV news journalist, is always on the lookout for stories that grab the audience’s attention. Her latest story seems to be a potential goldmine for ratings. Developments in DNA technology have made it possible to identify unknown 9/11 victims from mere bone fragments. And the latest victim to be thus discovered happens to be Victoria Ford. The twist is that Victoria was accused of murdering her married lover in cold blood just days before the 9/11 attacks. But till the end, she maintained that she was innocent, contrary to all evidence for at the crime scene.
While Avery is digging more into the Victoria story, the FBI is on her own trail for a secret she has been able to keep from the world all these years. Will Avery be able to keep her past away from the public eye while bringing justice to Victoria?

There are too many characters in the story. Initially I tried to keep track of who's who but that proved a monumental task. I usually keep all the main and secondary character names in mind but in this book, I had to give up after about 20% and just went with the flow, hoping the content would provide enough cues about the character in the scene. Luckily, the writing is clear enough to make you recollect well in time who the character is. To a certain extent, I feel the author went overboard with the number of characters. But to be fair, he uses most of the characters wonderfully in the story and everything comes together neatly at the end. It also helps that the characters were mostly grey and hence felt a bit more nuanced than simple black or white characters.

To add to the confusion, there are too many parallel tracks in the story, and they seem quite disconnected at first. So it is a tough task to keep all stories distinctly in your mind at the beginning. But once the tracks show signs of merging, you realise that every subplot is used well by the author to lay the foundation for the finale. Some of the twists are guessable, especially because of the way the author builds foreshadowing into the narrative. If you are an attentive reader, you will figure out many of the twists. But there are still enough surprises that will catch you unawares. I loved the ending, and in a thriller, if an ending makes me happy, I am quite blind to its other shortcomings.

I was hooked right from the prologue until the end. The author uses all the locations competently. Thought I haven’t been to any of those places, right from the Catskills to NY to Jamaica, I could visualise them clearly through his words. The pace of the story is maintained nicely and there are hardly any scenes which seem added for the heck of it. The sole exception, (but this is a crucial exception), is the detailing of Victoria’s and her lawyer’s experiences in the WTC tower after the plane crashed into the building. I’m okay with authors using the 9/11 attacks in their stories in genuine cases, but to stretch them out needlessly felt like trauma porn. I wasn’t very comfortable with this writing decision.

The audiobook, narrated by Vivienne Leheny, clocks at 11 hrs. Her narration is impeccable and I absolutely loved her voice. However, as I said, there are too many characters and subplots in this book. So if you are an audiobook newbie, I would recommend you read rather than hear this book.

Despite the teeny flaws, “Twenty Years Later” is still one of the better thrillers I’ve read in an otherwise lacklustre thriller year. I’ve never read any other work by this author but I am definitely interested in trying more. Recommended if you want a complicated and quick-paced thriller that manages to surprise you fairly well.

4.25 stars from me.

My thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the ALC of “Twenty Years Later”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

Narrator 5 stars
The narrator was fantastic!

Story 4.5 stars

Wow!! First time coming across this author and absolutely will try another book.

Best best way to describe this book is like going out for dinner and ordering 5 sample plates, each interesting and delicious on there own but then when you add them all together it's an explosion in your mouth!

Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook! The story started a tiny bit slow, but picked up quickly and I listened to this book in 2 days! The plot has such an interesting premise. It revolves around a murder that takes place in the Catskills Mountains in the state of New York shortly before 9/11. It is also told from different point of views and has several different storylines.The different POVs and storylines come together seamlessly. Then the ending has a great twist. I would love to see this book turned into a limited series for TV!

Buckle up, dudes - here’s another chaotic review. 😂 (Sorry in advanced - this is a bit long.)

Let’s start with the good stuff:
- The main plot was interesting and when things really got going I was invested in knowing what was going to happen. Cold case investigations seem to be fairly popular in the mystery genre and it’s really no surprise that I love it. Plus the crime itself was *chefs kiss*. 🤌 We love an affair gone wrong.
- Avery Mason and Walt Jenkins were such a great pair and I think them partnering up is really what got me invested in the story. I really liked both of their characters and their backstories (y’all know I know I love when characters feel real!)
- The twists with the 2021 investigation were very fun and did have me feeling a bit shocked (even though the conclusion I wanted didn’t happen…)

Annnnd now the bad:
- I knew going into this that the 9/11 tragedy was going to be a part of a plot, but that didn’t really stop it from feeling kind of… icky. Maybe I’m just being the sensitive bean that I am, but a fictional tragedy/event could’ve easily been used or insert some random spark to spur reopening the cold case (we see that all the time on crime shows.) Regardless, there were options that could’ve been used and the story would’ve been mostly the same.
- I don’t understand why the synopsis didn’t mention Walt at all. He was very important to the story - basically a second main character.
- There was a lot of information in this story that wasn’t really important to the core plot. Both Walt and Avery had a lot going on and, while it was interesting, it was kind of a lot to process. At one point these sub-plots became the focus of the story and the investigation was sidelined; this random plot change literally gave me whiplash but also annoyed me a lot.

Overall, this book was fine, I guess, despite the gripes I have about it. The audiobook in itself was easy to listen to and the narrator was pleasant (I do wish there had been a couple of narrators to cover all the characters though.) I do think those mystery and true crime lovers will enjoy but brace yourself for a headache. 😅

This was an ARC-audio courtesy of Netgalley and RB Media. Both the audiobook and hardback drop December 28 so get it added to your 2022 TBR!