Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan Narrator: Amanda Stribling
Published by MacMillan Audio, Minotaur Books, St. Martin's Press on June 23, 2026
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 225
Length: 11 hours, 48 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
After the sudden death of her husband, Ellen McKenna is doing everything she can to keep her Texas farm afloat. She and her family hope to expand their operation, but times are tough and making ends meet is more expensive than she imagined, much less trying to grow. Many of their neighbors in Cooke County have thrown in the towel and agreed to sell their farms to a local businessman, but despite similar pressure, Ellen refuses to let her dreams die.
On top of the usual hardships, a series of recent storms has left the region partly flooded, and as the heavy rain begins again one morning, all the members of the McKenna family jump into action to protect their land and animals. Ellen’s oldest son discovers an injured dog—and the dog leads him to a man barely clinging to life, the apparent victim of a brutal home invasion. Then, Ellen’s younger kids go to check on a nearby neighbor and walk into a threat none of them saw coming.
Before anyone can figure out what’s really going on in their idyllic rural valley, the storm picks up again in intensity, and the McKenna kids find themselves in over their heads with no way to call for help. To protect her farm--and her family—Ellen must face down all the forces trying to tear them apart.
Allison Brennan seems to be writing about one standalone thriller each year, in addition to new installments in two of her current series. Whisper Creek is a standalone.
I really liked the characters right away. They are good, hard-working people dealing with life every day as happens on a farm. But the bad guys were trying to hurt them for their own gain. The way they could cheat and deliberately damage neighbors hurt me. For a minute, I thought I just couldn’t read this. It’s a sign of how things are out of hand in the real world.
Ellen and her children are running the farm after losing her husband. Her teens are making decisions for their life based on their dreams plus what the family needs. Her brother-in-law has lost the plot after coming back from the military having lost a leg and now lost his brother. Jake would like to be a vet but instead of just taking off, he plans to start in the local program in veterinary. His sister, Avery, loves the farm and she and her boyfriend want to stay and work the farm. The two younger children are also focused on animals.
A storm has come into the area causing flooding and crop washouts. The youngest, Bobby, is looking for a stray cat who is about to have kittens. As the family does preparations for the storm, they try to contact neighbors to see if they are okay and have trouble reaching some of them. As they do, they find one has been shot. Ellen learns from the sheriff there have been several robberies in the area recently.
As the storm causes more flooding and blocks more roads, taking out power and communications, it’s harder to check on neighbors or even member of their own family. A suspenseful read, where one family with smarts figures out the score and protects themselves and others.
Narration:
I don’t recall listening to Amanda Stribling previously but did once awhile ago. Her performance was comfortable and the voices were appropriate for age and gender. There were a few accents that seemed realistic. I listened at my newer 1.75x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Allison Brennan
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Allison Brennan believes that life is too short to be bored, so she had five children and writes three books a year. Allison recently relocated from Northern California to Arizona with her husband and two youngest children.
Allison has penned more than three dozen thrillers and many short stories. COLD SNAP was a finalist for Best Thriller in the Thriller Awards (ITW) and FEAR NO EVIL (2007) and COMPULSION (2015) won the Daphne du Maurier award. Allison has been nominated multiple times for RWA’s Best Romantic Suspense award, and the Kiss of Death’s Daphne award. She currently writes the Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan thriller series, and is launching the Mobile Response Team series in February 2020.
| Rating Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
 |
| Writing |
|
| Characters |
|
| Narration (Audio) |
|
| Overall: | |
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.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- 🎧 Murder in Blackfriars by Jennifer Ashley ‪@jenniferashley.bsky.social‬ #KymberleyCochrane @dreamscape-media.bsky.social ‪@berkleypub.bsky.social‬ @BerkleyPub#LoveAudiobooks #LibraryLove - August 15, 2026
- The One Who Walked Away by Karen Rose @karenrosebooks.bsky.social @berkleyromance.bsky.social @berkleypub.bsky.social @KarenRoseBooks - August 13, 2026
- 🎧 Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan ‪#ArcherSullivan #EmilyPikeStewart @macmillanaudio.bsky.social‬ @minotaurbooks.bsky.social #LoveAudiobooks @MacmillanAudio - August 11, 2026
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 26-Audio
- 26-COYER
We twin posted again! This was so, so good. Great review, Anne💜
Thanks Jonetta. I’m slow on responding this week.
I’ve been seeing this one around the blogs today. It does sound like it would be a really good book. The characters wound like they have a lot going on.
yes it’s kind of a perfect storm of things but if it wasn’t what would be the story?
Oh, that’d awesome that she’s publishing standalones. Are they in the same world as any other series? Sometimes I wish more authors had standalones.
yes she does about one standalone a year which so far is unrelated to any of her series.
I can picture this in my head as a Netflix movie! It sounds really good, although a bit depressing too.
I am so tired of the greedy and dishonest.
Ok! I’m curious!
She’s a favorite of mine. You could try her standalones. I love her series though too.