Stone Maidens

By: Lloyd Devereux Richards

Narrated by: Donna Postel

From TikTok sensation Lloyd Devereux Richards comes the heart-pounding story of FBI agent Christine Prusik as she attempts to unmask a serial killer who leaves a calling card with a terrifying connection to her own haunted past.

As the chief forensic anthropologist for the FBI’s Chicago field office, Christine Prusik has worked her fair share of bizarre cases. Yet this one trumps them all: a serial killer is strangling young women and dumping their bodies in the steep, forested ravines of southern Indiana.

With each victim, the killer leaves a calling card: a stone figurine carved like the spirit stones found among the native tribes of Papua New Guinea—the same tribes Prusik worked with a decade earlier while doing field research. The personal nature of the similarity is eerie and, frankly, terrifying; Prusik still carries trauma from her time in the field.

As the dark details continue to surface, Prusik has to wonder if the connection is real or if her nightmares have finally wormed their way into her waking life.

©2012 Lloyd Devereux Richards (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

I wish this author had more books!

This book is on my top fave for serial killer novels forever more. I too found this book through the viral TikTok. Write more books, Lloyd!

it's okay

I couldn't return it so I stuck it out. The narrator was the problem. To me she sounded too much like Siri. At times she sounded EXACTLY like Siri.

YIKES.

YIKES.
"How did this woman become an FBI agent?" That thought ran through my head multiple times per chapter as this story unfolded. She is definitely not my idea of a heroine. She's book smart, but naive as a schoolgirl when it comes to street smarts. She's argumentative, reactionary, not a team player, and rarely engages what little filter exists between her brain and her mouth. She's also extremely bound by her PTSD from a past event.

I can't fault her for her reaction to trauma, although the entire setup for said trauma was pretty silly in my opinion. Regardless, she suffered, she survived, but she refuses to truly acknowledge the effects of this trauma. I can't imagine someone this scarred passing the psych test to become an FBI agent. Honestly, the entire story made me a bit frustrated. If you can't bring a decently intelligent heroine to the story, don't bring one at all. Don't treat your readers to main characters that are inept, blind to all their failings, and have no qualities that make us want to engage with them. Bring us smart characters. They can be flawed, scarred, imperfect, and struggling. But they need to be someone we, the readers might want to hang out with, have a drink with, or even have a relationship with. Bring us someone we can relate to in some form. We're not interested in heroines that seem like they have their position because there was a gender quota.

As for the story? It had its moments. It's got some suspense, and an interesting premise, with the exception of the past traumatic event. I would have given the story 4 stars if I could have tolerated the main character.

Good Read

It’s a good read and is well written. The story line held my interest and the plot twist was neat. I would recommend this book to my friends who like mysteries.

Great listen!

At first, I didn't think I was going to continue it. But it drew me in and throughly enjoy it!