Audio Book Review: The World Beneath

The World Beneath 

By:  Rebecca Cantrell

Publish Date:  November 25, 2013, Audiobook Release January 28, 2014

Format:  Audiobook - 7 hrs 12 mins
Narrated By:  Jeffrey Kafer

Genre:  Thriller, Mystery

Series:  1st Book in Joe Tesla series

First Impression:  Mystery Thriller in the tunnels of New York.

Synopsis:
Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Cantrell drops you into a vast, dark world: 100 miles of living, breathing, tunnels that is the New York City underground. This subterranean labyrinth inhales three million bustling commuters every day. And every day, it breathes them all out again... except for one. Software millionaire Joe Tesla is set to ring the bell on Wall Street the morning his company goes public. On what should be the brightest day in his life, he is instead struck with severe agoraphobia. The sudden dread of the outside is so debilitating, he can't leave his hotel at Grand Central Terminal, except to go underground. Bad luck for Joe, because in the tunnels lurk corpses and murderers, an underground Victorian mansion and a mysterious bricked-up 1940s presidential train car. Joe and his service dog, Edison, find themselves pursued by villains and police alike, their only salvation now is to unearth the mystery that started it all, a deadly, contagious madness on the brink of escaping The World Beneath.

First Sentence:
Dr. Berger looked into the long dark mouth of the tunnel.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository

Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

Joe's agoraphobia has drawn him to live in the underground house, connected to the tunnels under New York city. But when he watches Rebar tear into a wall that's hiding the long lost presidents train car with skeletons, he becomes curious. Feeling more alive than he has in months, Joe is determined to return to the walled in train car later, to learn who Rebar is, how he knew this was here, and why was the people in that train walled up to die. This brings Joe into the center of a terrible and hidden government secret.

Jeffrey narrates this story, and his voice is perfect for these types of stories. Thriller and mystery in one, and Jeffrey's voice gives nothing away to us. I like that I can't guess the story as his voice doesn't tell me what to expect. Jeffrey does narrate with voice differences, even just slight differences. He also voices with pacing that fits each character and how they are feeling in the moment. We get a feel for the personality of the character through his voice and actions.

This story starts right in. Quick happening and makes me curious about the mysterious infection that the special doctors are experimenting with. Wow. Had my attention out the gate here!

There are a few people we follow and all their lives are intertwined. If not before now, they will be as the story goes. Joe Tesla now lives in a Victorian home made in the tunnels under New York years ago, which is totally awesome. Vivian was to watch over him six months ago, when he vanished down into the tunnels which she thinks something happened to him then to cause his agoraphobia. She is once again called in to help protect Joe by his attorney. Ozan is hired by Dr. Dubois to kill Subject 523, who got away and needs to be stopped before he spreads what he's infected with (which Ozan doesn't know about). Ozan is also instructed to take care of anyone who might know about the papers Subject 523 took.

I liked Joe. Joe is not a perfect man but he's a smart one. He lived a life as a brilliant computer programmer, and this comes in handy with what he needs to learn on this case he trips into. Joe acts smart in this story when he's in the tunnels and running from the man who's now after him. We also get a feel at the end of the story that Joe may have been given his agoraphobia. This is an interesting thought and we are lead to believe this by the story that's happening now. I really liked the way the author drew us to this point.

I even found I was feeling for Ozan in the end. The bad guy that I ended up liking. Yes, this was well done. Ozan has a profession but he's a person too, having a life outside of what he's hired to do.

The story was easy to follow with the authors writing style and we got all the clues and back story we needed as the story went. I found I could draw the connections as I learned the parts from each person. I'm very curious about Joe in this ending. I want to see what comes next for him and how he stays working or involved on cases.



**If you liked my thoughts, please click Yes at Amazon and/or Audible. Thank you!