psychological-thriller, law-enforcement, rural, not-quite-horror, West-Virginia, psychotic, twisted, abduction, multiple-murder, investigations, short-staffing, suspense, evil, dual-perspectives, local-history, local-law-enforcement*****

This is what happens when I forget about the Archive Date and the book disappears before I'm ready to finish! So I went ahead and bought the audio so I could finish this book I was invested in.
Sheriff Elven Hallie is responsible for a poor rural county and is down two deputies. Johnny is still in a coma and Tank is recovering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder and is on limited duty. So now he has two gruesome murders while his newest, Deputy Maddison ‘Madds’ Cook, is missing under suspicious circumstances. And that's only the beginning of this adrenalin fest!
Madison Niederhauser narrator has a convincing voice and gives a good interpretation but poor character differentiation.
I requested and received a free temporary audiobook from Dreamscape Select/Striller Publishing via NetGalley.

DNF

I was drawn to this book because I found the title and cover art intriguing. I found the first few chapters intriguing fairly intriguing. This book is part of a series, and I have not read any of the prior books, but it was still fairly easy to pick up on the continuous storyline and character relationships.

That being said, I gave this book 2 stars because it lost my interest pretty quickly after the first few chapters. This book is entirely too long. Many of the chapters really felt like pointless fillers that were not necessary for the story line or character development. Also, I honestly didn't really like the main character, Elven. A detective who's best quality is his smile is quite superficial. At one point in the story, his looks are briefly compromised, and it says something about him needed to figure out how to get information from people the way less attractive people would (i.e., him winking and smiling at someone doesn't make them do everything he wants). Literal eye roll.

The audiobook performance was okay, but there were a lot of characters and not a lot of differentiation between voices, making it difficult to follow who was talking at times.

I did not finish this book because the audiobook is 14 hours and after over 7 hours of listening, I was not at all invested in this story.

Elven is the sheriff in a small town where he grew up. There's not usually a lot going on but when they find one of their citizens brutally murdered on the roadside, it leads to the discovery of another victim and a missing deputy. Elven takes it upon himself to cross jurisdictions and perform his own less-than-legal investigation to get his deputy back safely. He uncovers a dark world that he had never encountered before but finds very little out about who has taken his deputy.

This book was so much more than I expected! I kept checking that I was listening to the right story because it took a HARD left into an underground lifestyle I could never even have dreamed of. The story was great and very fast paced even though it is a long book. I love flawed and realistic characters and that is exactly what you get in this story.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio!!

Wow oh wow!!! What a great book!! I finished this in one sitting!!! It was long but I was happy that it had short chapters and the narrator did great!!!

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape, Select-Striller Publishing, and author Drew Strickland for the ARC. I am always looking for a series to read, and this title caught my eye, as I am a fan of Appalachia as a setting. As a new reader of this author, it was my fault this is the 4th in the series and I had not read the first 3 as I felt like I was missing details alluded to. This story definitely has suspense and the reader must pay attention to follow the faced paced twists and turns. Overworked Sheriff Elven Hallie is the only law enforcement in this West Virginia county until new deputy, Maddison Cook joins him to oversee an entire West Virginia County. When Madds goes missing after a woman’s body is found in the river, Sheriff Elven will go to extremes to locate missing Madds in time to rescue her, even if he has to join forces with his longtime enemy. Minacan County is…strange? The villain who abducts Madds is a deranged psychopath who will make your skin crawl. A lot of gore. Narrator Madison Niederhauser speaks well, but the accent for the area is not on point. I liked Sheriff Elven’s character and the way he interacts with county folk. I liked the character of Hollis Starcher, even if he is Sheriff Elven’s nemesis. I thought this book was unnecesarily extremely long, and needs further editing as there were glaring errors. Abducted in Appalachia definitely left me with questions! 2.5/5

This is the first of this series that I have read and I will definitely be reading more. The characters are very interesting, both the police and the criminals (and the ones that are in between). The villain is truly scary and has a few twists that I didn't see coming at all.

i thought this one would be for me, i fear it is not. it was too gruesome for me, especially living along the appalachian mountains. i wasn’t sure what route this was going to take and now i know.. pls check trigger warnings and prepare yourself.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Madison Niederhauser, who does a great job so I recommend the audio versions if that is of interest.

Sheriff Hallie investigates a gruesome murder that involves the abduction of one of his deputies and a murderer/abductor that has another woman being held at his mercy.

I have not read any of the other books in this series and this is not a stand-alone. I was a little lost with regard to some of the characters and pieces to the story. If you are a fan of this series, the author does not waste much time recounting the history but if you are new to it, keep this in mind.

I was excited to read this as a cop procedural thriller with murder drama thrown in. But I found that the story dragged along for me. It was a struggle to listen to the story and get to the ending, which is never fun. This was a so-so read for me. If you like this series, I am sure that it would be better.

3 stars.

Okay so this was a thing.

Honestly, I just don't think it was for me despite it being in my normal genre. I don't really have anymore feedback than it just didn't and couldn't hold my attention.

I loved the idea of a murder/ kidnapping mystery set in Appalachia.
The action started right away so I was gripped from the beginning and I wasn’t let go until the end.
I enjoyed how the story developed through multiple points of view.
10/10 for narration

When I first downloaded this audiobook, I didn’t realize Abducted in Appalachia was the fourth book in a series. As I listened, a few things cued me in that this story wasn’t standalone, but they weren’t enough to take me out of the story. Instead, I wanted to read the rest of the series!

Abducted moves quickly, requiring readers to pay close attention as the story develops. Strickland intertwines hints at the supernatural throughout the story, which enhances the suspense as he takes us through gruesome crime scenes and introduces us to characters held captive by the mysterious and murderous kidnapper.

Sheriff Elven Hallie is likable and easy to relate to, and the reader can empathize with his complicated relationship with the folks in his county.

Narrator Madison Niederhauser has a clear and soothing voice, but I would like to have heard more of a Southern twang in his narration, especially for the main characters. A few of the tertiary characters have a Southern accent, but these characters are generally the uneducated rednecks.

Book 4 in the Sheriff Elven Hallie Series. While it likely could be read as a stand alone, you will enjoy it more as part of the series.

Madds has been kidnapped. Johnny is still in a coma and Tank is recovering from a gunshot wound. Elven turns to Hollis Starcher for help out of desperation. They are in a race against time to find her all while bodies keep piling up.

I really enjoyed the whole concept of Elven and Hollis teaming up. It showed growth and a side of both characters you haven't seen before. I enjoyed the plot with Gabriel- it was different and a bit weird. However, I felt the book was too long. It felt like it was dragging on forever for a bit. I think it would have been better a tad shorter.

I am excited to see where book 5 takes everyone.

Madison Niederhauser narrates the audiobook again.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

The narrator is perfection. I can't find any fault there at all. It starts off strong and I was into it and then I don't know what happened but I got lost somehow and never got back on track. Maybe it is because I didn't realize this was part four of a series.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the Audio ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. I have been looking for something not romance related, and after reading the summary of this I knew I had to listen to it. The story and characters were very well written. However, the narrator on the audio book was not the best... I was thrown back to the boring college lectures that always had me falling asleep.
Anyway! If you enjoy detective stories, I would suggest the physical book for reading.

First book for me by Dew Stickland. For me personally, there was too many different characters and I found it really hard to keep up with what was going on. The story line was ok just a little to confusing for me going back and forth and adding so many new people along the way

This murder mystery/thriller captivated me from the start, fulfilling my desire for suspense and intrigue. Although the narrator's monotone delivery was not my favorite, it didn't detract too much from the overall storytelling experience. Drew Strickland skillfully infused the standard murder mystery formula with unexpected plot twists and fresh ideas, keeping me engaged and excited throughout. Despite starting with the fourth book in the series, I found it compelling enough to go back and start from the beginning. I'm grateful for the chance to delve into this thrilling read.

Book Title Abducted in Appalachia
Author: Drew Strickland
Series; Sheriff Elven Haller #4
Format: 🎧
Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
Publisher: Dreamscape Select-Striller Publishing
Genre: Mystery thriller
Audiobook Pub Date was: April 23, 2024
My Rating: 2.6 rounded up
Pages: 523
Elven Hallie, a sheriff in West Virginia and has been getting used to the job, when Deputy Maddison ‘Madds’ Cook one of his deputies has been kidnapped. Her estranged husband is a suspect

Story has me curious. I was frost drawn to this story as I was born and raised in West Virginia. Stories about my home state are usually negative. I was hoping this story might be more positive. Unfortunately I did not get my wish. A lot of gore and the villains were truly evil.
Plus I am sure there is no county as bizarre as Minacan

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Select-Striller Publishing for this audiobook.
Audio Pub Date was April 23, 2024.

I didnt realize this was book 4 in a series when I picked it up, but I didn’t feel like I had missed much and could keep up with the current story. There were a lot of POVs which got confusing, and while they did eventually converge some of it fell flat. Overall an interesting (although gruesome) thriller.

This was such a great story from start to finish I didn’t want to stop, there were part that made my skin crawl and made me check behind my back just in case because the book was that well written. I didn’t read the others in the series and feel like you can read this on its own though now I am going to also read the others.

Abducted in Appalachia: Sheriff Elven Hallie #4
Drew Strickland
The setting is a small town in the mountains of West Virginia.
Sheriff Elven Hallie is new on the job, he has one deputy in a coma and one with a damaged shoulder (on desk duty) and one missing. It is a horrific sight when the body of a body of a male victim is found gutted in a ditch along side a road.
Deputy Maddison (Madds) Cook is missing. Kurt, Madds estranged husband is the first primary suspect; he has been stalking her. She has been receiving notes and flowers from an unknown person; she suspects they are coming from Kurt. Madds has decided to stay in the area; she wants to put down roots. She made an appointment to meet a realtor and tour a house she is interested in. When she arrived, someone was waiting for her, but it wasn’t the realtor. An unknown male abducted her. She has no way of knowing if anyone is looking for her. The insane giant of a man holding her captive needs her to keep him calm, but he has to mark her to make her his.
To the Sheriff this is a personal matter, he cares about his staff and will do anything to protect them and Madds is special he has feelings for her. Monacan County is well known for drug gangs and vicious criminals, it is the next county over, the sheriff refuses to work with Elven. Sheriff Elven Hallie turns to an unlikely character, Hollis Starcher, for help.
This is a THRILLER! The characters are well developed. The plot keeps the reader listening or turning pages. This tale picks up where book 3 left off and yet it stands well alone. It is not a short book and yet it moves along at a nice pace.
Thank you NetGalley for a delightful read of a book for review purposes.