Leaving Whiskey Bend

By: Dorothy Garlock

Narrated by: Catherine Byers

In 1890, the rough Western town of Whiskey Bend, Colorado, is no place for single women. The final straw for widow Pearl Parsons and young schoolteacher Hallie Wolcott is the assault on their friend Mary - she's beaten up and no one steps forward to help her. Desperately fleeing from the attacker, the three women drive away in an open wagon, seeking new lives and safety.

When they're caught in a violent storm on the road, help comes in the form of a stranger and daring young rancher, Eli Morgan. But Eli has problems of his own, and Hallie vows to help him; will Pearl, Hallie and Mary at last find happiness?

©2008 Dorothy Garlock (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks

Overall 3

The story was entertaining and easy to listen to, the only problem was the characters. The villains in the story are CRAZY! Not a bad guy romance novel revenge kind of crazy, but a looney bin crazy. All of the villas were just so ridiculous it was hard listening to their reasons why they were doing what they were doing. It was difficult to keep listening to this book because the author, while doing a good job, digs way too much into their heads. Then with their heads all being Loco, it is difficult to keep going.

Good story, not-so-good narration

I found this to be a fairly-typical Dorothy Garlock "Americana" novel. I can always count on being entertained for several hours, but know I am not going to come away with any life-changing revelations. My only complaint with Ms. Garlock was the over-use of the "GD" curse phrase. The book was entertaining, if somewhat predictable. However, the narration often made me cringe. Between Fawn's lisp and stilted voice and Chester's nasal voice reminiscent of Mr. Haney on the Green Acres TV show, I often felt myself cringing. I found the voices to be like "nails on a chalk board." The book would have been a better listen without the overly-dramatic narration.