The Only Truly Dead (Audiobook) by Rob Parker, Warren Brown: This Trilogy Ends as Strongly as it Started

The Only Truly Dead

by Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Thirty Miles Trilogy, Book 3
Publisher: Audible  
Publication Date: May 18, 2023
Format: Audible Original
Length: 7 hrs., 3 min.
Read Date: May 19-22, 2023

What’s The Only Truly Dead About?

The ending of And Your Enemies Closer has changed the scene for this series—DI Iona Madison is clinging to her career by her fingernails—under investigation from the events on that roof, as anyone officer should be. But also, thanks to her old boss’ (now exposed) corruption, she has to clean her reputation, too. Those same events reshaped the criminal landscape of Manchester and Liverpool, with new leadership trying to solidify their places.

Rumors are flying about something called the Twilight Express. But no one knows what it could be—other than big. Career-making (or saving) for the police officer who derails it.

It’s risky, but Madison sees only one way to put a stop to Liverpool’s newest crime lord—bring her former DI, his brother, Brendan, in as a consultant. Brendan resists—until his teenage son starts spending too much time with his uncle.

Find out what the Twilight Express is. Stop it. Extract Dan Foley from his uncle. Clear Madison’s name. Any of those would be enough to fuel a book. All four? That’s a daunting prospect. But Foley and Madison are probably the right people for the job.

Poor Red Shirts

Throughout this series, Parker displayed a real knack for introducing (or re-introducing) a character in such a way that you just knew they might as well be wearing a security red shirt from the original Star Trek (he’d also frequently tip his hat in dialogue sometimes so you’d know someone just changed into that uniform). Frequently it annoys me when an author does that—oh, okay, I can stop caring about this character and just wait until it happens.

Parker (with an assist from Brown), however, consistently got me invested in these Red Shirts—and usually surprised me when they were killed. The fact that he did that when I was expecting it here was even more impressive.

I don’t mean to say that he does this with every character’s death—there were characters who died—or survived—that I didn’t expect. And plenty of other surprising turns and twists along the way.

A Pleasant Bonus

Readers of Parker’s Ben Bracken series will see some old friends here—Salix and his NCA team get involved, which was fun.

If you’ve never read the Bracken books, it won’t hurt your appreciation of the characters—you’ll just see them as more people working alongside Madison and Foley. It’s just nice to see some familiar faces in this setting.

What About the Narration?

It’s always important to get a good narrator for an audiobook, doubly (or triply) so when it’s an Audible Original. This is the way that audiences get to experience the book*, so it needs to be great.

Warren Brown was a perfect choice for this trilogy—and you can hear that from the opening of Far from the Tree to the close of The Only Truly Dead. I’ve failed the previous two times to have something more to say about Brown’s work, so at least I’m consistent as I struggle here—he just does a fantastic job and there’s nothing to add to that.

He seems pretty busy with the whole TV thing, but I hope he finds the time for more audiobooks—he’s great at it.

* At least for several months before Red Dog Press can put it out in print.

So, what did I think about The Only Truly Dead?

This book just didn’t stop moving—sure, it was a little slow at the beginning as Parker was setting the stage—but even then, between moving between POV characters and scenes the book had momentum. And it kept accelerating and building up energy until it became unputdownable. (circumstances required I do that with about 90 minutes to go on Friday, and the only reason I didn’t delay any longer is that I knew it was only going to get worse—it was a long weekend waiting for a chance to dive back in)

The ending was as gripping as you could want. A character or two says that it had to end this way, and they were right. As satisfying dramatically as that is—it didn’t necessarily make it easier, or less tense, to read.

The only thing I want to call foul on is the final conversation between Madison and her Acting Chief Superintendent. I want to say that it’s nonsense and that as skeptical as he is of her, no decent officer is going to act that way. But…I can’t. Because it’s probably the most authentic moment in this procedural, if only for it being full of infuriatingly bureaucratic nonsense. You’ll know the scene when you get to it.

Even if the first two books in this trilogy hadn’t hooked me—this one would’ve and would’ve impressed me (incidentally, it’s not vital to have read the previous two to enjoy this). As with the sequel, this isn’t just a repeat of the first novel—new crimes, new characters to enjoy, new and surprising levels of depravity, and a few people stepping up to do what needs to be done to push back against the darkness. A mix of hope and darkness, and a reminder that both have lasting effects.