The Holy Terror

Book: ★ ★ ½ Narration: ★ ½ I'm new to audiobooks, and at this point I'm not exactly sure how much they're for me. I can listen to whatever I want during my workday, so I figure, why not catch up on some reading while I do it? The problem is, I seem to come across more audiobooks that rub me the wrong way than those that don't. When the narrator is female and she reads the part of a male and is trying to either be sexy or menacing, I have a hard time with it. The same goes the other way as well. I've tried getting through [b:Odd Thomas|1160083|Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas Novel, #1)|Dean Koontz|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41C8ZbpCc3L._SL75_.jpg|4574034] but when the narrator speaks for Odd's girlfriend, I can't help but imagine a drag queen. It's that jarring that it takes me out of the story, and the same thing happened in this book as well.I enjoyed this story for what it was: a down on her luck Jersey girl who decides to try her hand at bounty hunting and hilarity ensues. I didn't find myself laughing all that much, although I did smile at some of Morelli's lines, but then quickly cringed at the sound of the female voicing them. It was a weird experience.Throughout the novel, Stephanie isn't all that smart. This being the first in a very long series, I expected that going in, so I wasn't all that surprised when she decided to hit her would-be rapist over the head with her purse instead of taking her gun out of said purse and pointing it at his face. She doesn't do so many dumb things that it made me want to slap her though, and that can be a fine line to cross. I actually thought a lot of characters toed that line; her Mom was pushy but in a funny way, her Grandma was crazy but not annoying, and Morelli played sexy and dangerous in a delicious way. Ranger, I'm on the fence about because he played such a small part, and also because I think some of his lines would have been sexier in my head than out of a woman's mouth.I was surprised at some of the darker parts of this book, although now that I think of it, this kind of reads like a Lifetime movie. Think murder, torture, rape, all that fun stuff. Throw in some prostitution and drugs and now we're having a good time! Honestly though, I think the grittier bits made me like the story more because it wasn't just fluffy chick-lit all the time, but then, I'm twisted like that.I liked that I was kept guessing up until the end. I had my suspicions, but I was actually wrong and I enjoyed that! All too often I figure out the mystery before half the novel is over but that wasn't the case here so that was a pleasant surprise.I don't think the narrator did a poor job for most of the novel; it was just the sexy and evil men that she was trying to do that wasn't working for me. I feel like I was missing out on some of the atmosphere with the characters by not hearing the men in my head. Maybe this isn't an issue for others that are used to one narrator doing a whole cast of characters, but it just isn't something that's clicking with me.I will continue on with this story, but in regular ol' book form. I hear the love triangle continues on for eternity, but I think I've proved I'm a glutton for punishment since I'm still reading Anita Blake, so I'll definitely pick up the next installment of Stephanie Plum's series soon.