Audio Book Review: Tranquility

Tranquility

By:  Dave Creek

Publish Date:  December 2015, Audiobook Release July 21, 2016

Format:  Audiobook - 3 hrs 10 mins
Narrated By:  Kristin James

Genre:  Science Fiction

Series:  Stand-alone

First Impression:  Moments in one woman's life as she grows.

Synopsis:
An explosion in Tranquility City on the Moon kills 14-year-old Dacia Stark's parents and sends her on a quest to find Julian Walker, the terrorist who admitted to the crime.

Now a detective on Tranquility's police force, Dacia has seen more than her share of blood, death, and grief. But that's only stiffened her resolve, not just to track Walker down -- but to kill him.

First Sentence:
Inevitably, whether from a newby officer in the squad room, or an onlooker making small talk at a crime scene, or a kid during a school assembly, comes the question: "What made you want to become a detective?"

Purchase At:
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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.

Dacia Stark is determined to find the man who admitted to bombing Tranquility City, killing her parents. Julian Walker. Julian promises more attacks until humanity gives up the unnatural desire for space exploration and send the galactic intelligent race Arols away.

I do enjoy Kristin's voice acting. When the moment is explosive and needing to move quick, Kristin brings that rush to her voice yet she's still clear and easy to understand. Kristin puts the feel into Dacia's voice along with others that are present in Dacia's small group of friends.

Right at the beginning we see a huge turning point in Dacia's life, when Tranquility City was bombed and she lost her parents. Though, here we meet her doctor. I really don't like the doctor. Dr. Portillo has no bedside manner with a 14 year old girl, telling her point blank that her parents are dead then what is/was wrong with her. Harsh. They want to keep her from feeling overwhelmed, but they hit her with all the terrible things. Though we learn that Dacia's emotions are muted, so telling her these things abruptly won't affect her at this moment. Then a week later she goes to the Memorial Service for all lost in the bomb with Dacia. The doctor feels contradictory to me this early in the book. Though as we get to see the doctor later in the story, she's a nice person and wants well for Dacia.

Dacia... Living through what she did and having the drive to find the man who did it is wonderful. But she's living her life on this obsession. She's kept her emotions muted until she finds Julian Walker and feels her hands squeezing his throat. She misses all other things in life by living this way. Eventually Dacia realizes this and with the help of her friends makes a big change in her life.

I think this story is to short. There are times where there's a lot of information that feels important and I was noting like crazy. Then there were times that I felt we were being told about Dacia instead of living with her, in this case I think the story could be better and longer if we got to live these short sections with her and through her actions.

The format of telling this story feels like it's an anthology of short stories in Dacia's life. We see different times in her life and different cases she solves. All don't feel to connect except that she's always got in the back of her mind, in each short section, that she will always look for Julian Walker. In the end, mostly they come together as to why those moments were selected to be shared.

Basically, I wanted more from the story. Bring me into the world and make those cases Dacia is working connect to what is happening and finding Julian. I feel like I'm getting news clips of Dacia and her life. (are they all important?) Even to show the rules of Tranquility a bit more clearer by living through them.

This story felt a bit rough for me going through the first time with the connections and quick glimpses in Dacia's life over a large span of years. All the moments are important in the end though, that's what saved this book from a lower rating.



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