𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬!

Twisty, atmospheric, full of secrets, told from two POVs, a complex plot and a cold case file. It was engrossing, fast-paced and engaging.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 by Hannah Morrisey released yesterday December 6, 2022.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

This book was much darker than I expected! It’s about a woman who returns to her hometown and witnesses the murder of a cop. It’s best to go into this one knowing as little as possible, but I loved it!!!

𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬!

Twisty, atmospheric, full of secrets, told from two POVs, a complex plot and a cold case file. It was engrossing, fast-paced and engaging.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 by Hannah Morrisey released yesterday December 6, 2022.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Such a dark and atmospheric read. I always enjoy a book featuring a detective and i love following along during the investigation. i loved the female lead too. Her mysterious past and her not so legal antics to seek revenge. Here for it! This is such a gritty and haunting novel and i thoroughly enjoyed the journey. I really enjoyed that they were all a bit edgy and not really up to code. It made it all the more intriguing.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrators tho. I thought they were kind of bland and didn’t fully bring the story to life.

IYKYK #TheWidowmaker #Porsche

“All information has a price. It’s just that sometimes, only the rich can afford it.”

Wealthy business mogul Clive Reynolds disappeared twenty years ago, and ever since then the name "Reynolds" has become synonymous with "murder" and "mystery." Morgan Miri, a down-on-her-luck photographer, returns home to Black Harbor after receiving a cryptic note. The same night she photographs the Reynolds holiday get-together, Morgan witnesses the homicide of a cop that triggers the discovery of a long-buried clue. 

This clue could finally be the thing that cracks the cold case, and Investigator Ryan Hudson has a chance to prove himself as lead detective. If only he could stop letting his need to solve his partner's recent murder distract him. But as Morgan exposes her own dark demons, could her sordid history be the key to unlocking more than one mystery?

The Widowmaker is book 2 in the Black Harbor series, but I believe this one can be read as a stand alone. I enjoyed the audiobook, which is told with dual POV (Morgan and Ryan) and dual narrators. The narrators are great and add the proper angst to the characters. There is a lot going on in this story and I did find my mind wandering just a bit, but overall I really enjoyed the narration.

This book is full of familial drama and buried secrets and this thriller takes you along for quite a ride. Also, as the wife of a car enthusiast, I really enjoyed all of the references to the Porsche GT2 (actually called The Widowmaker). My husband knew all about it and I went down a rabbit hole on google about that fascinating piece of machinery. Vroom vroom.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, Minotaur Books, and the author for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The Widowmaker was an entertaining read, but not super memorable. I appreciated the mystery and suspenseful moments, but I could not invest in any of the characters. I would still recommend this book to anyone who likes the mystery/thriller genre, however - I have just not yet connected with this author's books.

I struggled to get through this one. Typically to enjoy a book I must connect with at least one character in some way. That never happened here. This was a fast-paced thriller, the writing was decent, but I was never fully engaged. I did listen to the audiobook version and maybe the narrators just weren’t for me. A cold case in combination with a new case usually intrigues me. I did enjoy the twists and turns, but the ending seemed unrealistic. I wish I enjoyed this one better, but to me it fell flat.

This one wasn't bad. The beginning set up the characters but the middle dragged. I enjoyed the twist and the ending was superb. Putting these elements together, this comes out as an average story.
I did like the narrators and their performance.

I could not put this down! It's been awhile since I've found a thriller that I've zipped through. This is the second book of a series but can be read as a standalone. Definitely recommend picking this one up!

I wanted to like this. The whole premise behind it is perfection. However, the execution just wasn’t there for me.

I was granted an audio copy through NetGalley and it is much appreciated. However, I found it to be overall incredibly boring. Anytime I opened the app to listen to it, I cringed. I just didn’t want to. I’m still unsure if it was the story or the narration that set me off but something about this book didn’t sit well with me.

Now on the flip side, I can see where this book could be enjoyable for many. It’s definitely slower paced and it’s a solid mystery.

⭐️⭐️ from me though. Just not a fan.

Not quite as good as last year's Hello, transcriber for me, this second book in the series was still a darkly atmospheric, twisty thriller that sees Detective Ryan Hudson trying to solve a cold case as well as his former partner's murder. Full of dark family secrets and set during the holidays, this was a perfect winter thriller and great on audio narrated by Adam Verner and Xe Sands! Much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the early ALC in exchange for my honest review! I'm excited to see where the series goes next!

The Widowmaker by Hannah Morrissey is about a wealthy family who takes an odd interest in a hired photographer. The other main character is a policeman who wants to solve the murder of his former partner, but he is assigned to solve the family's case.

This audiobook was an engrossing fast-paced read. The story told from two perspectives, has a complex plot and numerous unrealistic components. I didn't love this book, but I didn't dislike it.

I recommend this novel to people who enjoy dark thrillers or mysteries. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this audiobook from NetGalley.

This book was little bananas and chaotic and I loved it! I am happy that Morgan learned about her past and maybe has a chance at a real relationship with Ryan. But man what that past put her through! Her life could have been sooooo much different if her father had just stepped up to the plate and her uncle had not done what he did. I am definitely reading more of Hannah's books, I can't wait!

#NetGalley

I think it’s difficult to combine dual perspectives well, to make a flawless tie-in between the two. I sometimes get confused between perspectives, ultimately making me lose interest in the story, but Hannah Morrissey weaves Morgan’s and Hudson’s stories together so perfectly that I almost forgot there weren’t always intertwined. As this series matures, I think it’s getting more and more twisty, and I’m already excited to see what happens in the third installment!

Thanks for the opportunity to review!

THE WIDOWMAKER
Hannah Morrissey

This is my second Black Harbor novel. I first came across Hannah Morrissey and the Black Harbor novel series in a sampler I read with Minotaur Books.

The first book HELLO, TRANSCRIBER set a tone for the series and THE WIDOWMAKER is an excellent follow-up.

These books are dark, bleak, and atmospheric. This is the perfect time of year to read THE WIDOWMAKER as temperatures drop and the days are shorter.

THE WIDOWMAKER stars Morgan Mori a photographer who has been hired to take photos of a holiday event for the infamous Reynolds Family.

After the event, Morgan makes a stop at a convenience store where events unfold that change the course of her life.

The strength of this book by far is the author's ability to create an atmosphere. Morrissey is adept at going dark but knowing where to draw the line. Most of the time I felt she was effective at this skill. However, there were a few times when Morrissey was vague where I wanted explicit.

The plot itself has pockets of disbelief that you have to buy into for the story to make sense. Certain details of the story verged on fantastical.

Whatever you want to call it, I enjoyed my time reading it.

I was granted access to the audiobook version of this title and one thing I did want to point out was a few miscues with the narration of Hudson.

There is a segment of dialogue during a victim witness statement in which the characters begin to animatedly rap. I had to rewind to make sure I heard correctly.

Unfortunately, it completely took me out of the story, and felt misaligned with the tone and texture of the scene and actually the entire book.

Hudson is such a quirky and interesting character. I felt like the narrator's performance detracted from the positive aspects of Hudson’s character rather than adding to it.

I felt THE WIDOWMAKER was a solid second book in the series. It comes out on December 6, 2022!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

THE WIDOWMAKER...⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the ALC of The Widowmaker. 🎧📘 Oh, yeah! And happy pub day/book birthday today, December 6! 🎂

The Widowmaker is the perfect thriller for this wintery holiday season! This book has a cold case murder, a current murder of a police officer, people living double lives, a wealthy family, a drug lord along with some (content warning) child abuse and pedophilia. For a thriller, this book has all the elements essentially!

This one kept me on the edge of my seat and I kept waiting to see what happened next! I didn’t particularly try to figure out the whodunnit, I was just riding along enjoying the ride. Definitely recommend this one for me fellow thriller lovers!

There are two narrators for the two points of view (one female and one male) and both do an excellent job. Would definitely listen to them again!

This book is the second in a series, but I don’t feel like I missed out on anything with not reading the first.

This was my first Hannah Morrissey's book. This is the second book in the Black Harbor Series. The Widowmaker is an enthralling thriller, filled with secrets, mystery, and twists and turns. The cast of characters is impressive. They are well developed, and intriguing. The storyline is dark, complex, slow paced, and a little creepy. I didn't expect it. The writing definitely is imaginative. Xe Sands and Adam Verner did an excellent job with the narration. If you like dark thriller, this one is for you. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, a Macmillan Audio production, for an honest review.

The Widowmaker is book number two in the Black Harbor series. I have not read the first, and don’t necessarily think it needs to be read if you decide to read this first. I may go back and read the first book, to see if it changes my overall feel from this book.
I wasn’t into this book at all. I guessed the plot twists immediately, and was definitely let down with their reveal. I went into the book thinking it would be darker then it was, based on all the buzz on social media. The only darkness in the story is from Morgan’s past. If the whole book had gone into depth about her time at The Ruins, it would have been a more interesting story.
The narrative jumps from Morgan, (who really is a tortured soul and gives the book meat) to Detective Hudson (who is trying to make a name for himself, but is a dull character). I feel like if he wasn’t in the book, it would have been better. I didn’t connect with his character at all.
As an audiobook, I loved and hated it. The narrator for Morgan, Xe Sands, has a gorgeous voice and give so much emotion to the story that may have been lacking in the printed version. The narrator for Ryan, Adam Verner, did not have a voice that fit the character and was not audibly appealing. I needed his voice to be deeper, maybe giving substance to his character. Together the voices didn’t work on this book. If it was just Xe Sands, it may have been better.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this arc. This story was well written but there were certain elements in the book that if it had been listed in the blurb I would not have read it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

• gritty police procedural
• dual POV
• intriguing, flawed characters

Back to Black Harbor! I switched between the physical and audio versions. The narration was very well done. Dark and heavy subject matter with chilling writing. This book is the perfect winter thrill ride!

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC and audio! All opinions are honest and my own.