Beyond the Carousel

Family Saga

By: Bette Lee Crosby

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

From an Award-Winning USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR...A heartwarming Southern Saga about a perfect family in an imperfect world... Laura Wilkes has everything a woman could want when she snaps the picture of her five-year-old daughter on the carousel. Each time the carousel comes around Laura snaps another picture, seven in all. This is a day of unforgettable happiness; one of the few Laura has left. In the months following the stock market crash the family is beset by tragedy. A homicide that goes unpunished. It's the height of the depression and there are hoards of faceless, nameless men living in train yards and back alleys. The murderer is never caught but the family never gives up hope of finding him. Now twenty-five years later, Laura's daughter has fallen in love with a policeman. Jack Mahoney is a rookie with little or no power, but he's the one, the only one, who can deliver the justice the family has long awaited. In a heartwarming family saga that stretches across three generations, and brings back Wyattsville's favorite detective, readers will get to know Jack Mahoney as a young man about to fall in love. Beyond the Carousel is family saga fiction at its best... Christine Nolfi, bestselling author of Sweet Lake.

Long , drawn out, slow and plodding story with a few good points.

The story and characters were ok but between the slow moving story line and the horrible virtual voice with too many mistakes it was hard to get through to the end.

Virtual narration kills the story

I recently discovered this author when I read/heard Spare Change, a listen I really enjoyed. Imagine my delight when I found several other books in the plus catalog that I could listen for free! After adding two books to my library - this one and Beyond Betrayal, I jumped right into it. Within 30 seconds, I realized my folly. The book is narrated by AI. Storytelling is an art. Character development, the emotions we feel, how we get pulled into the story and cannot wait to reach the end – the narrator carries a huge responsibility as a storyteller. AI is not such a narrator. The uniqueness of each character’s voice, and the expression of their personality is completely lost by this robotic monotone. Not to mention the unedited mistakes like reading a phone number as if it were a ten digit number, pronouncing U.S.as “us“, calling them the N.Y.GIANT instead of New York Giants. I’m only listing a few things, but overall the experience is regrettable. I’m deeply disappointed that this author, who is a brilliant storyteller, has chosen to use AI to narrate her stories. For that reason, alone, I do not recommend.