Consumed – J. R. Ward Free Audiobook

Written by J. R. Ward
Read by Jim Frangione, Hillary Huber, Pete Simonelli, Jason Carpenter
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

A brand-new novel about arson investigator, Ann Ashburn, who is consumed by her troubled past, her family’s scorched legacy, and her current case: chasing a deadly killer.

Anne Ashburn is a woman consumed…

By her bitter family legacy, by her scorched career as a firefighter, by her obsession with department bad-boy Danny McGuire, and by a new case that pits her against a fiery killer.

Strong-willed Anne was fearless and loved the thrill of fighting fires, pushing herself to be the best. But when one risky decision at a warehouse fire changes her life forever, Anne must reinvent not only her job, but her whole self.

Shattered and demoralized, Anne finds her new career as an arson investigator a pale substitute for the adrenaline-fueled life she left behind. She doesn’t believe she will ever feel that same all-consuming passion for her job again—until she encounters a string of suspicious fires setting her beloved city ablaze.

Danny McGuire is a premiere fireman, best in the county, but in the midst of a personal meltdown. Danny is taking risks like never before and seems to have a death wish until he teams up with Anne to find the fire starter. But Danny may be more than a distraction, and as Anne narrows in on her target, the arsonist begins to target her.

A review….This first-responder thriller is marketed as romance, but its true heritage is gritty TV dramas. Characters have sex, but there’s nothing like a romantic story arc. Anne Ashburn is the only female firefighter in her New Brunswick, Mass. station. She’s the daughter and sister of firefighters, but she despises her family and won’t admit her continuing attraction to Daniel “Dannyboy” Maguire, the station’s bad boy and her recent one-night stand. Sexual angst becomes moot when a catastrophic fire ends Anne’s career and sends Danny into a PTSD spiral. Refashioning herself as an arson investigator, Anne discovers that the fire has suspicious links to others. Meanwhile, her former colleagues won’t let her leave Danny in the past.

There’s a lot of explicit injury, trash talk (“Amy, don’t be codependent. It makes your ass look big”), bad behavior excused because it’s done by the good guys, and sneering at “the Instagram set” and other caricatures of weak, whiny liberal elites. For readers who consider “Do your department a favor and just put a bullet in your head” to be pithy advice for a suicidal lover, Ward’s facility with topical one-liners will make this a hit, but readers seeking actual romance would do well to avoid it.

Another review….Ward (The Thief, 2018, etc.), known best for her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, relies on double-entendre instead of realistic dialogue and stock characters in place of complicated people in a dangerous profession.For a story centered around flames, there is no spark between the characters.