With Friends Like These by Keri Beevis (Audiobook)
Dreamscape LLC
Audible Release: June 21, 2022
Listening Length: 8 hours 50 minutes
Narrator: Joshua Manning
Genre: Thriller
KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this audiobook for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.
Keri Beevis lives in Norfolk, England, with her two naughty kitties, Ellie and Lola, and a plentiful supply of red wine (her writing fuel). She loves Hitchcock movies, exploring creepy places, and gets extremely competitive in local pub quizzes. She is also a self-confessed klutz.
Realising the man is alive, Billy puts him in the back seat of his car, planning to leave him outside the nearest hospital. But when the man dies, Billy panics and drives to the reunion with the body in the car, where he begs his friends for help.
Tension swirls within the group at first, but when the dead man’s ID reveals him to be a notorious criminal Dougie McCool, they decide to get rid of the body. The only problem is that some dangerous men are looking for McCool—including his brother, who is willing to brutally exploit the circle of friends to get what he wants. But will he succeed or can they get away with it?
“It’s probably the shock, too.”
A group of friends decides to stay in a remote cottage to celebrate Griff’s birthday. Despite not staying as close as they had once been, everyone shows up ready to have a good weekend. Until Billy shows up with a dead body. Suddenly, everyone’s plans are changed, and it’s a fight for their lives.
I might have enjoyed this more as a book I read than a book I listened to. While the narrator did a good job performing the book, I found the storyline difficult to follow as timelines weren’t made clear.
Several times I was confused because the book had gone back in time, which wasn’t obvious. I also felt the book went on longer than necessary when the chaos exploded.
I might have to try this again as a book I read to see if I enjoy it more. The plot was decent, and the pacing moved along quickly, but there were times I didn’t know where we were in the timeline, and I tuned out.
There weren’t really any great characters in this book. Everyone had secrets and ulterior motives, and as intertwined with the hit and run, things got more complex.
I found the narrator talented. He did a great job bringing the characters to life, and there were many people to keep straight. I enjoyed his voice and the cadence in which he read the novel.
I wish things had been a bit clearer, but overall, this was really just okay for me. I was happy when it was finished. I felt the story was dragged out longer than necessary, and the plot was reasonably repetitive from the middle through the end.