Downfall audiobook

Downfall by J.A. Jance is a 2016 William Morrow publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Once more J.A Jance puts Joanna Brady into a complex and emotionally charged situation and once more I found myself glued to the pages, riveted as always as Joanna navigates her stressful professional life with her often complex home life. In this chapter, Joanna, pregnant with her third child, is struggling with the untimely deaths of her mother and step-father, dealing with hurt feelings regarding her brother, Bob, being named executor of her mother’s estate, her election campaign, and by a puzzling double murder of two women that at first glance might suggest a murder/suicide. This installment in the series finds Joanna feeling melancholy and a little tender. However, when she steps into her professional role, she’s all business. Jance tackles some controversial and disturbing issues as she works to find who murdered two seemingly unconnected women, while drawing parallels between the case and the youthful mistakes both she and her mother made and the consequences of those actions. This is probably one of the more poignant Brady novels, although faithful followers of the series have followed Joanna on a long, emotional journey, often marred by tragedy. Still, this story has a wistful tone as Joanna looks back on her complicated relationship with her mother and mourns her loss, but also finds a way to celebrate her life. The crime drama is explosive, shocking, and very disturbing. I was totally engrossed in this story as Joanna and Robin, her FBI partner on the case, uncover one of the most twisted and sickening cases of Joanna’s career. Jance did a wonderful job of building suspense, keeping me guessing from start to finish, leaving me totally shocked at the outcome. But, she also tells a touching and emotional family story that proves that no matter how many books are written in the series, no matter how familiar we are with a beloved character, there is still room for growth. Overall, this is a special installment in the series and one any fan of J.A. Jance will not want to miss. 4.5 stars

I have to admit that as a reviewer and reader of thriller/mystery fiction I have not picked up a book by J.A. Jance in years. No real reason for it other than my overcrowded 'to read' pile and review deadlines. I can proudly say that her latest novel DOWNFALL has brought me back into the fold.The latest in the Sheriff Joanna Brady series, set in Cochise County, Arizona, is intense, brutal, shocking and clever all at once. Sheriff Brady is dealing with two extremely stressful situations. The first was the untimely death of her mother and step-father in a car accident. This is coupled with her being a few months away from giving birth to a baby girl --- while her oldest is still in college.Brady is taking this as best as she can and is also attempting to keep thoughts off her upcoming re-run for the Sheriff post. All of this is put aside when a double murder/suicide is thrown in her lap. The high peak locals refer to as Geronimo has long been a location for those seeking to step off and end it all. The community is shocked when the bodies of a minister's wife is found side by side with that of a brilliant young P.H.D. student studying to be a microbiologist.Rumors fly about a possible relationship between the two women but Brady and her team cannot put anything together. Things begin to point towards this being a double murder. Confirming this is the callous response the police get from Reverend Nelson when questioned about the death of his wife Susan. He confesses to them living a loveless marriage where he was well aware of her frequent trysts.The problem for Sheriff Brady is the fact that Susan Nelson was a High School teacher and some of these supposed trysts may have involved her students and alleged statutory rape. When one of the young men connected to Susan Nelson turns out to be the son of one of Brady's deputies things get too close for comfort. A very pregnant Joanna Brady has no idea that the further she takes this investigation the deeper into danger she sinks.DOWNFALL takes on hard moral issues and surprises at nearly every turn. The conclusion is a breathless stunner that will have readers quickly flipping the pages. I'm safely on board for the next J.A. Jance Brady novel!

The last days of August would have been hard enough for Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady, as it was. She has to make funeral arrangements for her mom, Eleanor, and her stepfather, George. What was initially believed to be a simple motor vehicle accident involving their RV as they returned to Bisbee, Arizona was actually a crash caused by a sniper. George died at the scene and Eleanor was airlifted to Phoenix where she soon passed as well. The killer was taken down and dealt with just a few days ago. Now Joanna has to deal with funeral arrangements and other family matters all made more complicated by the recent arrival into her life of her adopted brother whom she had known nothing about.When you are in charge it means your personal situation often has to take a backseat to your job. Moments after finalizing the numeral arrangements, she is called by her Chief Deputy Tom Hadlock. He wants to make her aware that there has been a discovery of two bodies at the base of a nearby rock formation known as “Geronimo.” It may have been a murder/suicide or a double murder. Haddock wants her to take a look. Quickly it becomes clear this was no suicide and it was a double murder. That means everyone on staff including Sheriff Brady, the FBI, and law enforcement in neighboring counties are hard at work on a case that escalates in complexity seemingly by the hour as evidence is uncovered. The latest in the series, Downfall: A Brady Novel Of Suspense, is a really good read by author J. A. Jance. The author works the heartstrings of the reader to great effect as Brady is faced with a number of personal issues. At the same time, the overarching mystery is complicated with tentacles that go off in many directions. The result is a mighty good book that powers along on all levels to one very suspenseful conclusion. Downfall: A Brady Novel of SuspenseJ. A. Jancehttp://www.jajance.com William Morrow (Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers)http://www.harpercollins.com September 2016ISBN# 978-0-06-229771-6Hardback (currently also available in audio and eBook formats)400 Pages (more like 385)$26.99I was able to read and review this book because I was able to get it by way of the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

William MorrowSeptember 2016Sheriff Joanna Brady is on her way home after making funeral arrangements for her mother, Eleanor, and her step-father, Dr. George Winfield, who were victims of a teen-aged binge killer, when she gets a call from her chief deputy, Tom Hadlock, about two female bodies that could possibly be a double homicide or murder/suicide. After a quick trip home to change clothes and eat, the pregnant sheriff is off again and upsetting her husband, Butch, because she’s working too hard.The victims were either pushed or jumped off of Geronimo, a double humped limestone peak, and are laying one on top of the other. The bodies were discovered by two young boys who slipped out of their house to go climb Geronimo, which is a tradition in Bisbee. The coroner declares the women were dead when their bodies landed on the ground, and pronounces this is a double murder. Investigation shows that the women weren’t acquainted. Desiree Wilburton, a graduate student, had been camping and looking for a rare cactus. Susan Wilson lives and teaches in Sierra Vista and is married. Her husband, the good Reverend Wilson, has nothing good to say about his wife. With little clues here and there, Joanna Brady is able to find the dark and dirty killer that is hiding in plain sight.As usual, J. A. Jance leads us on a merry pursuit of chasing shadows and red herrings, while enjoying every bit of time spent. Joanna has a lot on her plate, and the fact she hasn’t slowed down is causing some friction in the marriage. She hasn’t grieved properly over the loss of her mom; her daughter, Jenny has just started college; and, Joanna has some strong issues concerning her newly found half-brother, Bob – he and his wife, Marcie, will be coming to Bisbee for the funerals. Add the fact she is taking care of her job and her five-year-old son, Denny, while expecting a baby girl in a few months, and anyone can understand why Butch is exasperated! Ms. Jance always delivers a superb mystery starring a core of boldly drawn repeating characters readers care about. DOWNFALL delivers the good with the bad situations, and it is also emotionally beautiful. This is a terrific, evenly paced and gratifying read.Betty Cox for ReaderToReader.com

I have been reading J.A. Jance mystery novels for a long time, all the way back to her very first JP Beaumont outing "Until Proven Guilty." "Downfall" is the seventeenth adventure with Joanna Brady, a small-town sheriff in Cochise County, Arizona. What makes the series and this book so interesting to read is development of the characters and the area. The mysteries are usually good and not too hard to figure out when following the clues, but the character's including Sheriff Brady, her family, the officers and team members she works with, and the secondary unique local citizens that play a role in the plots really make the difference with the reader. This book takes those characters along with a strong mystery and packs a lot of punch. Brady is dealing with her mother's death. two homicides, and being pregnant. For me the various plots delivered well. It's like taking a annual visit to your Grandparent's in a small country town. You get to visit everyone and see how they've grown and changed since last year, as well as how they're dealing with challenges. Jance creates strong characters, a riveting and constant-moving plot line that not only keeps our interests, but demands our attention until we're done. If you are a Jance or Sheriff Brady fans, you will probably find this one to be one of the best in the series like I did.

My favorite Joanna Brady yet. Real character development, focus on a contemporary issue that often ends up causing more turmoil for the "victim" along with a plot twist that reveals the killer and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Loved it!

I love this series! I like how Joanna is such a strong, female lead character. Some support her and some don't but she always prevails. There were a couple things happening in this book. First her **SLIGHT SPOILER** mother and stepfather's funeral. Second, two women who may have been murdered. And third, another suspicious homicide. How everything played out made you not want to put the book down! Perfect ending and I'm ready for the next one!

Joanna is busy planning her parents funeral and getting ready for the birth of her baby. Her daughter is leaving for college and her son is getting ready for kindergarten. A challenging case happens at the same time. Two women are found dead at the top of a local climbing hill. They don’t seem to have any connection. The one woman, Susan, had been a popular debate teacher married to a strict preacher. Susan was pregnant when she was killed and it couldn’t be her husband’s. This leads Joanna to a shocking find.

This is the second book I have read by this author and I enjoyed both equally. The story is told from the perspective of Sheriff Joanna Brady who is determined to show the small town who elected her that she can handle whatever mayhem comes along, as she deftly tries to investigate what appears to be the deaths of two women while also making funeral arrangements for her mother and stepfather. Don’t want to give anything away and spoil upcoming readers pleasure, but suffice it to say that Sheriff Brady is in for a few surprises. The story begins as a who done it ands takes the reader on a tumultuous ride. Needless to say, this won’t be the last book by this author I want to read!

So often when we follow a book series it is because we love the characters and are so happy to see them again after an absence. Or we love the setting, nostalgic for a place we know well or enjoying a place we long to visit. One would think the thing to do would be to read the new offering at leisure, savoring the company and the flavor of the story. But there are some series for which that approach simply doesn't work, no matter how good the intentions. We sink into it, completely immersed, not to surface until the very last page is turned. The Joanna Brady series by J A Jance is one of the these. I long for the newest installment, first through the long months of the writing and publication, and then again after putting the book on reserve in the library system. It's a happy day when I finally lay my hands on the actual book. On arriving home, all bets are off. I'm gone into the story. Downfall has been anything but an exception. I finished the book after a marathon session and emerged exhilarated at the growth of the characters and satisfied by the story line and its denouement. Darn it! Another year to wait again!

Downfall: A Brady Novel of Suspense is by J. A. Jance. Sheriff Joanna Brady is back in a new suspense novel. J.A. Jance has kept the high standards of her writing up in this new novel. It contains believable characters as well as a plot that could definitely happen. The novel is beautifully written and keeps the reader totally involved as the story unfolds. The suspense is such that the reader is compelled to complete reading as soon as possible. Just as you think you have it figured out, something else happens and you have to go back to square one and start over. As Sheriff Joanna Brady is clearing her desk to be gone for a couple of days, she gets the call about two young women who are found dead at the base of a nearby peak known as Geronimo. What happened and why were the two women out here at this peak? All the resources Joanna has are brought to bear to figure out what happened. Just how deep does this investigation have to go? It is a fantastic novel that has the added advantage of having a novella added to the end. The novella involves Sheriff Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds coming back together to solve a case.

Bisbee, Arizona, is a relative small community just north of the Mexican border and at a pretty high elevation. Lots of history there. In J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady series, lots of exciting things happen in this town. In DOWNFALL, there are six deaths in less than 72 hours and a funeral for two more people killed a few days before in another part of the state. High body count, but it certainly keeps the reader on the hook. Hard to put down. Major decision on Jance's part to kill off Joanna Brady's mother and stepfather, who have been around in the series for a long time. Very engrossing and I enjoyed every moment of it. A few years back, I wasn't exactly at Joanna Brady fan, but this one held my attention from first page to last.

This is my First J.A Jance book and it was so great that I went back to reread it. I prefer mystery books, this did well, and the writing was genius. The murder mystery of the two women went in so much detail to a point that the entire case was clear. This kept me engaged up until the end as well. This story makes me want to read more books from this author. I went and bought the book 'Random Acts' to go with this book because Joanna's story line is empowering and keeps me wanting to read more about this series.

I am in love with J.A. Jance's writing ...what a writing genius! but I am now having a hell of a time figuring out what book is next in the series or style ...this book did include a Bonus Novella "Random Acts" included??! but i sort of wanna keep in the same line... don't wanna go off on way-ness and read totally out of order?!?! ya know??! i hope i can figure it out. love these characters ...such a gripping read. i mean edge of your seat for sure. i thought i had a clue ...but J.A. Jance ... sold!! i am such a new fan!! WELL DONE!! loved it. MUST READ! ( ;

A pregnant Sheriff Joanna Brady and her department face challenges as they investigate the deaths of two women who appear to have fallen off the side of a mountain. This happens the week after her mother and stepfather die in an accident caused by a sniper. Along the way they discover that one of the victims was a serial pedophile which complicates the case. Jance gives us another outstanding story.