Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Canyon Sacrifice by Scott Graham Narrator: Joel Richards
Series: National Park Mysteries #1
Published by Tantor Audio on November 28, 2023
Genres: Mystery
Length: 7 hours, 51 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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A deadly struggle against murderous kidnappers in Grand Canyon National Park forces archaeologist Chuck Bender to face up to his secret past and his new and unfamiliar role as husband and father in this gripping mystery debut.
I decided to try this National Park Mystery series because I would enjoy a national park setting and a mystery is always another layer to the plot. The main character is an archeologist who does work at park sites where they are planning to build. Chuck Bender is in his early 50s in good shape. He has just married Janelle, who is the sister of one of his staff. She has two girls, Carmelita and Rosie.
Canyon Sacrifice is set at the Grand Canyon where the family is vacationing. It also gives the girls a chance to see Chuck’s work and learn about it. Our point of view is Chuck and he’s a guy with integrity who really cares about his new family and wants to make them happy. I don’t like Janelle. She blames everything on Chuck.
The story begins with a mysterious death and then Carm goes missing. Up until then, I found the story kind of boring and thoughts on a loop in Chuck’s head. Things picked up when Chuck searches for Carm. It felt like a long time to get to the point though.
I was surprised by the various archeology aspects and the native culture in the story. This added to my interest. Chuck put himself in some severe danger and there was some exciting action.
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Mountain Rampage by Scott Graham Narrator: Joel Richards
Series: National Park Mysteries #2
Published by Tantor Audio on December 26, 2023
Genres: Mystery
Length: 8 hours, 27 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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In the riveting second installment of the National Park Mystery Series, archaeologist Chuck Bender finds himself and his young wife and stepdaughters in the crosshairs of an unknown killer when he defends his brother-in-law from false accusations of murder in the brutal slaying of a resort worker in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Chuck has a summer gig from his alma mater to take 12 students on an archaeology project at Rocky Mountain National Park. Janelle and the girls come along and they all stay in a cabin. (I’m not sure how the cabin would have been available or the dorm buildings during the busy season.) Janelle’s brother Clarence and a PHD student Carina help supervise the students and the work.
Chuck finds things he doesn’t like. Clarence is still drinking too much and while he is not hooking up with the students, he is with the staff from the hotels. He also finds someone he believes is poaching rams. Then the floor of the cave tunnel collapses during their exploration. No one is hurt but Chuck knows something is fishy about it.
When there is blood found outside the dorms, and a few nights later a server is murdered suspicions fall on the Clarence and even Chuck. I don’t quite understand why Chuck researches everything on his own and then doesn’t share the information with law enforcement. Well, I know he wants to stay under the radar. But the people doing bad things aren’t stopping.
There are plenty of twists in this one. Someone is always trying to use Chuck and have him take the fall. He’s used to working on his own and takes too many chances. His immature wife never supports him and withholds her approval until he’s proven once again he has integrity and gets the job done. I have to wonder if that will improve when they have been married longer, and whether the student program will continue.
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Yellowstone Standoff by Scott Graham Narrator: Joel Richards
Series: National Par Mysteries #3
Published by Tantor Audio on January 16, 2024
Genres: Mystery
Length: 7 hours, 49 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
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Yellowstone Standoff takes readers deep into the backcountry of a wildly popular national park. When Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bears and gray wolves suddenly and inexplicably go rogue, archaeologist Chuck Bender teams with his old friend, Yellowstone Chief Ranger Lex Hancock, to defend the suspect members of a group scientific expedition. Soon, Chuck finds himself defending the lives of his family as an unforeseen danger threatens in the storied national park's remote wilderness.
The characters are becoming familiar to me now and I continue to enjoy the National Park settings. The family is coming together better. Janelle wasn’t even annoying in Yellowstone Standoff. Clarence may always be a problem.
Chuck has a new contract which he and Clarence can do on a short wilderness trip. He’s told he can bring the family. From the start, he gets a bad feeling about it with a grizzly who seems to be stalking humans. But the normal behavior of both the grizzlies and wolves that are being studied at this wilderness camp are they are more likely to run when confronted with a small group. So they plan to stick together. Really everybody does well with the plan except Chuck and Clarence. They get involved with finding people who are lost or missing.
Chuck gets a good start on his project and then takes a day to go with the scientists for studying grizzly and wolf because they are not behaving normally. The scientists are filming and trying to observe as the bear and wolf seem to be traveling together. Eventually a whole wolf pack shows up and the scientists hustle back to camp.
Things go downhill from there as the satellite phone goes missing, a group member goes missing and there are more grizzly and wolf attacks. Of course, Chuck is at the head of the search for the phone, and people, and in trying to keep people, especially his family safe. He is comfortable in the wilderness and has knowledge of the wild animals.
Narration:
I’ve enjoyed this narrator previously. The primary voice and thoughts were Chuck and he certainly became Chuck for me. The other voices were all comfortably appropriate. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip HERE
About Joel Richards
One day, when he was 11 years old, Joel realized that he enjoyed sharing stories with his friends as much as he enjoyed all the crazy things they did together. It was then that he knew–although he didn’t have a word for it yet–that he was storyteller. He tells stories on stage, through the written word, with a camera lens, and in front of a microphone. He has called New York City, North Carolina, Texas, Indiana, Utah, and Rhode Island home but has travel to or through most of the fifty states.
While his education as a storyteller began with trading stories with friends as a child, he did his undergraduate studies at the University of Utah graduating with a BFA in acting from their conservatory Actor Training Program and a BA in English. He then went on to receive a Masters in Storytelling from East Tennessee State University–the first, and perhaps only, graduate program to focus on the study and performance of oral storytelling. Joel is an Audible Approved Producer on ACX.
About Scott Graham
Scott Graham is author of Canyon Sacrifice: A National Park Mystery and Extreme Kids (winner of the National Outdoor Book Award). He is an avid outdoorsman and amateur archaeologist who enjoys hunting, rock climbing, skiing, backpacking, mountaineering, river rafting, and whitewater kayaking with his wife, an emergency physician, and their two sons. Graham lives in Durango, Colorado.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 23-COYER
I would never have looked at this series but for you! It looks interesting and I’m off to check it out. Great reviews, Anne💜
I think it is good with a bit of a slow start. I’ve only read the 3 and enjoy the settings. I like this narrator also. It feels just a little old like it was written 10-20 years ago but it isn’t that old.
The Nat’l Parks setting does have appeal. Looks like after a slow start it gets better.
yes I think it improves as the series goes along.
I was curious about this series. Glad to see you are enjoying them.
I think they are pretty good. I am more of a mystery reader than a lot of people.
I like the setting and premise, but Janelle and Clarence sound like annoying characters. Chuck sounds like he veers into the TSTL category sometimes, too. I think I’ll wait and see your thoughts on the next one before I’d add this. It is the kind of series that seems to appeal to me.
Sounds like a plan. I’m listening to at least one more. The characters can sometimes be annoying but I guess that is also a bit realistic. I really like the national park settings and am always up for a mystery.
I really like the sound of this series. The National Parks settings, archeology, and some excitement sounds like the perfect combination.
yes so far I think they have been improving as they go along. I really like the setting.
These sound pretty good overall, but I wonder if I’d get annoyed with the side characters – sounds like they don’t always make the best choices. Thanks for sharing!
yes it depends on how much you get annoyed. They are annoying but some of that feels realistic to me. ie people are annoying. There are some interesting things though with the park settings, the mysteries, the fact that Chuck is white and his wife and family are Mexican immigrants. It has some layers.
I’m not a big mystery reader, but the setting and that it’s an archeologist sounds cool! Glad you enjoyed it mostly!
Thanks Lisa. I like to read a diverse set of books and this one is different in the settings, with diverse characters and it has a bit of an older time feel to it.
I love that these are set at National Parks and Chuck sounds like a great lead character – Janelle not so much. I’ll have to give this series a try.
I’m really enjoying the National Parks and the mysteries. Janelle was ok in the third one so she’s improving. Her brother is still a dumbass.
Sounds really good. I might’ve walked passed these since the covers don’t give me a mystery feel, but now I’m intrigued! Thanks!
I enjoyed them because they are not like other books.
The national park settings for these sound pretty fun! I read a contemporary romance set around Yellowstone park last year and I liked reading more about that park. Glad to hear the narrator worked well for this series.
I was already familiar with this narrator and liked his work. These have a bit of an old feel but I really like the park setting and mysteries. The personal relationships are a layer I’m not enjoying as much but it’s improving.