A Child Is Torn cover art

A Child Is Torn

Whitley & Keal Mystery, Book 1

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A Child Is Torn

By: Dawn Kopman Whidden
Narrated by: Beth A. McIntosh
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About this listen

When dependable Evan Madison fails to show up for work, police are dispatched to his home. His 10-year-old son, Brad, is discovered inside, unharmed and seemingly alone. He is stoic, sitting in front of the television playing his favorite video game, Super Mario - and he's covered in blood.

Veteran Police Officer Marty Keal is the first on the scene. With his many years of experience, he thinks he's seen it all. That is, until he discovers Brad's not really alone after all. Upstairs in their bedroom lies the brutally bludgeoned and deceased bodies of both his mother and his father. When questioned, Brad confesses to the horrific murders.

When Brad is transferred to a local mental health institution for children, Dr. Hope Rubin is brought in to evaluate and treat the child. A preliminary investigation shows no evidence of any kind of mistreatment in his past. She must determine the disturbing truth: Is Brad telling the truth? Or is he covering for someone else?

Detective Jean Whitely rounds out the investigative team and she suspects there is much more to the case than what meets the eye. The happily married mother of two is unwavering in her determination to uncover the real truth about Brad. Was he abused? Or is he the product of an evil seed born to kill?

As the layers of truth about Brad are systematically peeled away, you will be compelled to ask yourself, which is the more dominate factor in contributing to who we are - nature or nurture?

©2016 Dawn Kopman Whidden (P)2017 Dawn Kopman Whidden Detective Mystery Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Fiction

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All stars
Most relevant
We meet a lot of interesting characters in this book. Dr Hope, Jean Whitley, Keal and Keal's father, The Captain being just a few of them. The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because it's not really a mystery. But, I don't want to say anymore about that issue because I'll give the game away, and this is a spoiler-free zone! It is though, a very sweet love story and, as an introduction to future Whitley and Keal mysteries is absorbing and enticing. Now that I am familiar with the characters, I am looking forward to seeing them work together to solve some difficult crimes. As an introduction to a series, it's very good

An intriguing start

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I'm a bit unsure as to how I felt about this book. It was mysterious and left the reader pondering the question "Did he or didn't he?" But I don't think there was enough in it to entice me to read further on in the series.

Good but

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This story was a heart wrenching but pulling fabulous. Brad is found alone at home & when the police investigate they find a horrendous scene.
I felt so much for Brad, sympathy, sadness, revulsion, all mixed. The story pulls them all in. I liked the characters around the crime scene, the police officers and the investigating team. The child psychiatrists psychologists and teams were really good. Likeable people I’d like to learn more about in future stories. Hint hint!
I wasn’t sure about the narrator at 1st but after couple of chapters I didn’t even think about her. She managed the tempo & differing in voices keeping the tale running at a want to know more pace. Think I’m used to a lot of male narrators but not anymore.
Very good & all every star to me

Haunting

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This book grabbed me from the very start, when a slight young boy of just ten, was found in his home playing video games, while his parents lay bludgeoned to death upstairs. The question of how, why, and whether, the crime was committed by the boy is the basis of the novel.

It was interesting to read a novel about the care system and what happens to a child under such traumatic circumstances. Maybe I'd have liked to have heard more from the young boy, but overall that was a small gripe. My main reason for the 4, rather than 5 stars, was the ending, which didn't entirely convince me, but I will say no more.

I enjoyed the interaction between the adult characters, the police and carers, grandparents and teachers, and it was interesting to see how they worked together and how different people held differing suspicions about the case. Some of this group will appear in subsequent books of the series and will no doubt become friends as I continue to follow them.

Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of the narrator, she read rather slowly and had a much older voice than was appropriate for the characters she was reading. Although she read clearly, she made little attempt to differentiate between characters, even between male and female.

I already have the second book, Faceless, lined up to read, and I'm looking forward to it.

Is this child a killer?

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This is a tricky review to write because this book was not what I expected after the first quarter or so. It is also not really one of my chosen genres - this mix of romance and crime.
But for what it is, it is a worthy read.

The romance relationship bits were a bit juvenile for me - I couldn't believe a qualified divorced doctor getting angry because a man she had met the night before on a blind date had not contacted her by 8am the next morning. Very teenagery I thought, and her angst and anger was just silly.
And I also thought the mother daughter relationship was a bit cardboard cut-out

But I also have very little experience with the genre and seem to remember other books I have read (Nora Roberts) in the same genre having quite similar situations, and complaints from me. So it is clearly me not them.

I was very invested in the little boy at the centre of the crime part of the book and certainly could have lapped up a whole lot more indepth investigation into the cause of what happened. But, again, this is not a hard core psychological thriller and as the book it is, it dealt with the little boy and family as expected.

So - I would absolutely recommend this book to those who like a bit of gentle romance, some complicated families, a dash of feel good love, and an interesting criminal event and investigation upon which to hang it all.

When considering the audiobook, this narrator does a great job. I barely noticed that it even had a narrator really - the book was just in my head. And I think that is a perfect narrator.

And let it be said and recorded - I am still going to go and listen to the next in the series, and I expect that now I have my expectations more accurately set, I shall enjoy it immensely.

A worthy read

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An excellent book which I finished in a day, I just couldn’t stop listening! I instantly liked Dr Hope and very much enjoyed her story and the blossoming romance with Marty. This is shaping up to be one of my favourite series and I am very much looking forward to the next instalment.

Excellent

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Great chute koitt Kuhn GCSEs nughlubdrcvkkygn
Perfomane shit grace fine this requires a minimum af

Great

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Could a 10 year old boy really kill his parents. Although the basis of the book it was more about the characters involved in his story and their lives. Brad's story brought them together. This was definitely a book which is setting the characters for future novels, however this didn't detract from it. Hard to put this book in a specific genre as it was a bit crime, mystery and relationships all thrown in together. There were some great characters and it will be interesting how their stories develop in the rest of the series. Told from the view of the main characters in turn, the story gradually builds to its outcome. An interesting read, that wasn't quite what I expected when I started, but quicky drew me in. I'm looking forward to listening to more from the series.

Did he really kill his parents?

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Any additional comments?

I was so excited to listen to this story and I was gripped from the start, by both the story and the performance. Told from multiple viewpoints, A Child is Torn introduces us to Brad, a ten year old who claims to have murdered his parents! There are other storylines woven through the main one, each as gripping as the other. I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to listening to Faceless now! Four stars for Dawn Kopman Whidden.

Highly recommended

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This is the first audiobook where I have actively sought out time alone to continue the story, because it was such a compelling tale.

I enjoyed the change of the viewpoints in the chapters and the characters become very well rounded. I was very intrigued with all the plot lines, including the romantic sections, which I found enhanced rather than distracted from the main storyline.

Overall, it didn’t feel like a mystery to me, but a fascinating insight into the process of investigating and assisting children accused of terrible crimes. Looking forward to future books in the same series.

A compelling powerful story

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