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.

After a body is found gutted in the road, Sheriff Elven Hallie discovers the murder was collateral damage to an abduction. One that leads out of his jurisdiction. And one that pushes the boundaries of everything he stands for.

At first, this was everything I love in a crime mystery/thriller. A gruesome murder, a hotshot Sheriff and enough drama to keep it going. Then, it just dragged on a little bit too much for my personal enjoyment. There were lulling moments that felt like a chore to get through. Once we left the realm of reality a little, I lost interest and needed to force myself to finish. This is book 4 in the Sheriff Elven Hallie series, while I did not read the first books - I recommend that you do, as I felt like I was missing crucial pieces of the story.

I was lucky enough to listen to the advanced audio for this one, the narrator was fantastic at getting the story across, I highly recommend them for a listen. Abducted in Appalachia is available now in all formats. Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Select and Drew Strickland for the opportunity to read.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the Audio ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I came upon this audio book when I was looking for something to listen to last night.

Overall I loved the story. It was chock full of drama. The characters were well written and it kept me engaged to want to continue to listen. For the book itself 4 out of 5 stars.

That being said, since I’m tasked with reviewing the audiobook specifically, the narrator was pretty boring. Thankfully the prose rose above it as if it wasn’t as well written it would have been tough to get through.
He was pretty monotonous at times so o admittedly fell asleep a few times, hence the 3 stars for the audiobook.

But I highly suggest the physical book for those that enjoy detective stories.

Abducted in Appalachia was the first of Drew Strickland's books I've read. I appreciated the storyline, and the character development. The story itself was a bit too gruesome for me to enjoy. I also found it to be long and a little difficult to get through.