Without Warning

by David Rosenfelt Narrated by Jeff Steitzer

Overview

Years ago, Katie Sanford's husband was convicted of the murder of Jenny Robbins, then died himself in prison. It's a small town and memories are long, and Katie and Jenny's husband, Chief of Police Jake Robbins, have had to work at putting the tragedy behind them. But it's all brought up again in the wake of a hurricane which has just wreaked havoc on their quiet Maine town. Since its founding, Wilton has had a quaint tradition of creating a time capsule every 50 years, and the storm unearthed the most recent capsule. As the editor of the local paper, Katie joins Chief Robbins to supervise its opening. Neither of them is prepared for the macabre set of predictions, dating back to months before Jenny's murder, that they find inside. Someone predicted her death, as well as 11 other tragedies, which are still occurring even long after the death of Katie's husband.

At last, after all these years, Katie has reason to hope that her husband might not have been guilty of Jenny's murder after all. But as she and Jake race to stop the next predictions from coming true, they find themselves caught in a terrifying mind game with no rules...and life or death consequences.

In Without Warning, David Rosenfelt has written another tightly plotted thriller that will hold listeners in its grip from the opening page all the way through to the stunning conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Audio

06/30/2014
Rosenfelt’s latest hapless hero, Jake Robbins, is the police chief of Wilton, Maine, a job that becomes considerably more difficult after a powerful hurricane and flood unearth the town’s 50-year time capsule about 46 years prematurely. It was put in the ground several months before Jake’s wife, Jenny, was murdered. Inside, Jake finds are skeletal remains and a set of predictions about future crimes that accurately describes Jenny’s death along with several other murders. Narrator Steitzer, who has recorded several of Rosenfelt’s recent novels, uses a strong, resonant voice for the stalwart Jake. The police chief narrates much of the book, starting out casually and naturally, but becoming more emotional as the mysterious killer tightens the frame. Steitzer takes an appropriately more detached approach to the objective chapters. The men who work for Jake speak in different shades of gruff. The unsympathetic mayor sounds like the boisterous phony the author describes. Reporter Matt Higgins is aggressively ambitious. The result is a entertaining whodunit. A Minotaur hardcover. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

01/20/2014
At the start of this riveting standalone from Edgar-finalist Rosenfelt (Airtight), a hurricane destroys a Wilton, Maine, dam. When newspaper publisher Katie Sanford and her staff unearth the time capsule they buried nearly five years earlier to check for water damage, they discover skeletal remains and a set of predictions about future crimes, including the murder of the wife of police chief Jake Robbins. Months after the capsule’s burial, Katie’s husband allegedly killed Jake’s wife, with whom he’d had an affair. Other predictions correlate to an unsolved arson case and a string of murders. When Jake realizes he’s the common denominator among the crimes, he races to piece together the cryptic clues, identify potential victims, and delve into his own past to discover who wants to frame him and why. His feelings for Katie—the high school sweetheart with whom he’s starting to rekindle romance, but who represents the potentially antagonistic press—add complexity and nuance. Only some minor chronological discrepancies mar this suspenseful page-turner. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

Riveting.” —Publishers Weekly

“Relentless.” —RT Book Reviews (4 stars)

“Creepy. Edgy. Shuddery. What more could anyone want?” —Booklist

JULY 2014 - AudioFile

This audiobook has the kinds of twists and turns that immediately grab listeners, and hold their attention until the story ends. Aided by an effective performance by narrator Jeff Steitzer, this is not a typical mystery. The story is set in a small Maine town, where memories and personalities intersect at almost every turn. As Rosenfelt combines plots twists with some unusual plot elements, such as a time capsule that predicts the future, Steitzer effectively uses an array of voices and tones to create distinct character personalities. His performance is notable for his deft portrayal of Katie Sanford, editor of the local paper. The result is a complex and engaging mystery. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2014-02-20
A methodical serial killer is on the loose in a small Maine town, and it's up to the police chief to resolve the case before more people die in Rosenfelt's latest police thriller. Jake Robbins is a war hero, but it's a role he neither likes nor covets. While in Afghanistan, he was involved in an incident that won him the Navy Cross, but though he saved lives that day, others were lost, and it's something he has a hard time reconciling. When he returned to Wilton, where he grew up, he worked his way up to chief of police, but life there has its own price: His wife, Jenny, was murdered by Roger, the publisher of the local paper, with whom she was having an affair. Roger was murdered in prison, leaving his wife, Katie, to assume control of the paper. After Wilton suffers damage from a devastating hurricane, Katie decides to dig up the town's time capsule, something that's buried every 50 years, to make sure it's not damaged; when workers open the hole, they find the skeletonized body of a man who apparently died about the same time the capsule ceremony took place. Even more disturbing is the fact that the capsule, which in addition to artifacts holds predictions written by local dignitaries, now contains an extra box of predictions—each of which addresses a murder. Some of those murders—like Jenny's—have already taken place, but others have not, and Jake must resolve the mystery before more people are killed. Rosenfelt's staccato writing style is clean if a bit abrupt. While the action moves along at a rapid pace, he fails to flesh out the characters, making the ensuing romance between Jake and Katie seem both forced and predictable. A romance camouflaged as a thriller but a short, smooth read most will enjoy.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171950491
Publisher:	Listen & Live Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	07/10/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

 

 

 

 

The dam broke at three AM, four hours after the storm hit. Fortunately, only the North Dam was affected, leaving the other two intact. Had they been breached as well, the eighteen thousand residents of Wilton, Maine, would be former residents of a town that no longer existed.

The destruction came as a surprise to everyone, especially the engineers that had certified the dams as “low risk” just eighteen months before. Certainly Hurricane Nicholas was a powerful storm, especially for early August, but no more so than others that had struck the area in recent years.

But the dam completely came apart from the pressure and flooded the areas in Wilton it had sworn to protect. Because it was the least important dam of the three, this meant that three streets on the outskirts of Wilton were flooded and badly damaged, as was the park and the small, private airport.

The only citizen to lose his life was seventy-three-year-old Warren Simpson, who suffered a heart attack during the chaotic evacuation process. He was flown to Bangor Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The people of Wilton were resilient and had no doubt they would bounce back from the storm damage. It would cost money and take time, but the town whose charter had been ratified in eighteen forty-eight made plans to persevere and overcome.

Of course, they had no idea what was coming.

 

 

I have a lot of anniversaries. I try not to pay attention to them, but sometimes it’s hard. Dates are everywhere, from the TV when you switch channels, to the front of cell phones.

March thirty-first is my birthday. January fourteenth is the day that Jenny and I were married. September seventeenth is the day I joined the force. April first is the day I was promoted and officially became Chief Jake Robbins. My real name is Jason Robbins, but how Jason became Jake is a puzzle my parents never adequately explained.

August seventh is the day Jenny was murdered; I try not to change channels or look at my cell phone that day.

Of course, there are some anniversaries whose actual date I don’t even know. For instance, I have no idea when I got to Afghanistan, or when I left. I don’t have a clue when our old friend Katie Sanford introduced us to Roger Hagel, the guy she would eventually marry. Nor do I know the date that Jenny and I first went out with them, although I do remember that the four of us went bowling and then to dinner.

While I know the date Roger murdered Jenny, and even know that it happened at 3:00 PM, I don’t know the date he was convicted, nor the date a few months later when he was murdered in prison. I know that I learned of their affair on June nineteenth, but I don’t know exactly when it began.

I was tempted to leave Wilton after Jenny died, but I never took any action toward that end. I had the job I always wanted, more good friends than I could ever need, and was living in a town that I liked a great deal. For a person who never had much of an interest in putting down roots, I somehow found myself rooted.

All I didn’t have was Jenny, but no matter where I went, she would never be with me. Roger Hagel saw to that.

Pretty much everything in Wilton reminds me of Jenny, but that’s okay. I want to remember her, the good times and the bad. Especially the good.

So I stayed, and life went on.

 

Copyright © 2014 by Tara Productions, Inc.

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