One Was a Soldier

At the Millers Kill Community Center, five veterans gather to work on adjusting to life after war. Reverend Clare Fergusson has returned from Iraq with a head full of bad memories she's using alcohol to wipe out. Dr. George Stillman is denying that the head wound he received has left him with something worse than simple migraines. Officer Eric McCrea is battling to keep his constant rage from affecting his life as a cop, and as a father. High school track star Will Ellis is looking for some reason to keep on living after losing both legs to an IED. And down-on-her-luck Tally McNabb has brought home a secret - a fatal one.

Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne just wants Clare to settle down and get married - to him. But when he rules Tally McNabb's death a suicide, Clare sides with the other vets against him. Russ and Clare's unorthodox investigation will uncover a trail of deceit that runs from their tiny Adirondack town to the upper ranks of the Army, and from the waters of the Millers Kill to the unforgiving streets of Baghdad.

©2011 Julia Spencer-Fleming. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGo

Narration terrible

The Chief sounded like a growling dog.

Claire ‘s supposed Virginia accent was a joke.
Both took away from the pleasure of this book.

Excellent Narrator, Well Written, insightful Story

Narrator was excellent- many characters and she had a clear distinctive voice for each one. The mystery itself was good but what stood out for me was the insight into the veterans and their difficulties dealing with reintegrating into the life they left behind

Disappointing

I agree with some of the other reviewers. This series seems to have turned a corner, and not onto a better street. Clare is showing symptoms of PTSD, she's drinking heavily and doing drugs.

And her cop soon to be husband doesn't suspect a thing.

She comes across as whiny and not at all like the Clare introduced to us in the first few books. Yes, we all evolve and PTSD is a terrible thing. But I believe the author is doing her characters a disservice in this story line.

I'm about halfway through the next book in the series and it's not getting any better.

Love this series and this book!

I totally love this entire series of The Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries and I think this book was one of the strongest. I almost succumbed to the negative reviews of this one, and am glad I didn't and quit. I'm actually listening to the entire series consecutively because I want to stay into Miller's Kill community until the end. This book deals with difficult subjects: PTSD, drugs, alcoholism, anger, fraud, suicide, abuse, murder....but you know what? Those are real subjects facing our world and our communities. I just scanned some of the reviews before starting this review to remind myself why I "almost" listened to them and want to quickly share those here. 1) Narrator bad - Suzanne Toren has been the narrator since Book 1. You don't enjoy her gravelly voice for the male characters? So? Get over it. She does a great job, and I don't even hear her voice. I hear Clare and Russ and Lyle and.... The story is what's important. Go to the library and pick up the physical book if you don't like her voice. 2) The book is slow. Really? There were so many story lines and characters in this book. How could it be slow? It ran. Enough said. I can't remember some of the other things now so they must not be important. Not to give any spoilers, but folks...this is the ending we've been waiting for! Woot!

Sounded to much like a soap opera

Couldn't get past the first few chapters. Too much like a soap opera and the reader just didn't do it for me.