Blacklands

By: Belinda Bauer

Narrated by: John Curless

Debut author Belinda Bauer crafts an incredibly moving first novel in Blacklands. Twelve-year-old Steven is determined to put an end to his family’s misery and find the remains of his uncle, who was believed to be murdered as a child by a local pedophile. Steven spends his days digging for clues around his grandmother’s home, but when his search fails to unearth anything new, he reaches out to the only person with answers—the accused murderer now serving life in prison.

©2010 Belinda Bauer (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Loved it

Bauer is a beautiful writer and master story teller. Hopefully the second book in this trilogy will be available in the US soon. Also, the narration is perfect. I would listen to this guy read the phone book.

Amazing

I loved it very much. The storyline was Amazing and it kept pulling me in deeper and deeper. The person reading was very into it and performed very well.

And almost unbearable trip inside the mind of a serial killer

The story of an underappreciated young boy is very appealing to me. As she has in the other two books that I’ve read of this author, she brings him to life with all his worries and his quirks. This was this author’s first novel and does not have that underlying comedic moment from time to time that I so enjoyed in the other two. But then again, there is nothing funny about this story. It is gripping almost to the point of nausea sometimes. I admire this author’s fearless way of portraying a very sick mind. But I’m glad this isn’t her only style.

And author to keep track of

Black panda is Belinda Bauer’s breakthrough novel. It’s got a slow build but is so worth the read. Having read some of her other stuff you’re in for a real treat. The narration is wonderful too!

just okay

This wasnt a terrible book by any means, but without giving too much away it is about a boy, Steven, contacting a convicted pedophile to try to resolve the mystery of his uncles disapperance when he was a child. This leads us to hear a lot about what the pedophile is thinking and feeling, how he trys to groom Steven, and how he misleads the authorities about being a 'reformed' character. I found this very unsettling and didnt really engage with the book because so much times was spent hearing about this revolting pedophile - well written, but not for me!