The National Park Mystery series continues to improve as it goes along. I still enjoy the park settings, the mysteries, the archeology and the family growth and character development. These last two installments also have timely topics which are very relevant.
Chuck and Janelle and the two daughters, Carmelita and Rosie, are much more of a tight family now. Chuck is an archeologist who does work at National Park sites. Chuck Bender is in his early 50s in good shape. Janelle is now nearly finished with a paramedic course. She is serious about it and does a good job. She is working with Chuck now instead of blaming him. The girls are starting to have teen attitudes though.
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Canyonlands Carnage by Scott Graham Narrator: Joel Richards
Series: National Park Mysteries #7
Published by Tantor Audio on April 16, 2024
Genres: Mystery
Length: 7 hours, 45 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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When suspicious deaths befall a whitewater rafting expedition through Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park, archaeologist Chuck Bender and his family recognize evil intent lies behind the tragedies. They must risk their lives and act before the murderer makes an already deadly journey on the Colorado River through Utah’s red-rock wilderness even deadlier—or turns on them instead.
The theme for Canyonlands Carnage is water use and shortages in the Southwest United States. A group of scientists, academics, corporates and government types are going on a whitewater rafting trip down the Colorado River while they discuss water regulations. Chuck and Clarence go to both help with gear and so they can provide historical / archeological facts.
Right away people start dying. They look natural or accidental but Chuck and Clarence don’t think they are. They discover aspects which make them more like homicide. At home, Janelle gets an email for Chuck from a friend warning about dangers. So she and the girls travel to one of the night stops on the route to deliver that information.
Janelle and the girls become targets even though they leave almost immediately. They witness the next murder. It’s a struggle afterward to get everyone out safe and determine the culprit. Chuck and his family have a lot of experience.
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Saguaro Sanction by Scott Graham Narrator: Joel Richards
Series: National Park Mysteries #8
Published by Tantor Audio on April 30, 2024
Genres: Mystery
Length: 7 hours, 2 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
Janelle Ortega and Chuck Bender are drawn deep into a threatening web of hostility and deceit in Saguaro National Park in this page-turner of a mystery.
When Janelle Ortega’s cousin from Mexico is found brutally murdered at a remote petroglyph site in Saguaro National Park, she and her husband, archaeologist Chuck Bender, are drawn deep into a threatening web of hostility and deceit stretching south across the US-Mexico border and back in time a thousand years, to when the Hohokam people thrived in the Sonoran Desert.
The issue in Saguaro Sanction is that of migrants traveling across the border to apply for citizenship or asylum in the United States. Janelle and Clarence’s parents have been in the United States many years but her uncle and cousins are still in Mexico. Chuck has a new project to study petroglyphs which are right along the path migrants take. Indigenous groups put out water because otherwise they end up dealing with the dead. Migrants are often kidnapped, trafficked or forced to work for the drug cartels.
Chuck and Janelle go out to start the project, but also because they think the teen grandsons may be coming that day. They arrive and find one of the cousins brutally killed, the other disappeared. There is another injured migrant who gives them some clues. Now they must search for the missing cousins and whoever murdered the other.
They face a lot of danger, including the daughters who assist in the searching. Chuck finds some outstanding archeological artifacts. Eventually, they find the killer since they are attacked as well.
Narration:
I’ve enjoyed this narrator previously. The primary voice and thoughts were Chuck and he certainly became Chuck for me. Janelle has more of a voice in these later books. 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.
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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:
- 24-COYER
These both sound great! I love how each book seems to deal with an important theme.
yes in addition to the national park setting and the personal growth of a blended family, there is also a broader world theme as well.
Yeah, both those topics with the mysteries are pretty big right now. Glad the books are just getting stronger as you go.
yes they seem to be improving. I also think they are written more recently so that helps them be more up to date also.
Good to hear Chuck and Janelle are on more solid footing now! The mysteries sound exciting too!
yes I think the series has improved as it goes along.
You are really killing it getting through this series! Really happy you’re enjoying, Anne💜
yes I’m at the end. They are a bit shorter than many of the audios I read. And they are easy listening. I’m caught up now. They all just came out in audio over the last 6 months so easy for me to jump in.
This series is high on my list to read. I do love that National Park setting!
I hope you enjoy them. They are an interesting set of layers and I liked the growth throughout the series. Well everyone except Clarence I should say.
I hope to dive into these one day. I love the park settings.
The series improves as it goes along too. I’m glad I went ahead and read them all.
These DO sound really good.
Mysteries are my easiest reads and I love the settings.
You’re getting through these pretty quickly! Glad you’re continuing to enjoy them.
The early ones were a bit dated but the later ones are more current with current issues.