WHAT HAPPENED ON HICKS ROAD?

Release Date : 2023-08-29

Duration : 7 Hours 49 Mins

Publisher : Tantor Audio

SYNOPSIS

This YA thriller is the latest from Hannah Jayne, author of over a dozen novels, cancer survivor, writing teacher, and speaker!

Lennox Oliver has moved all over with her transient health care worker father but finally feels settled in California. She has two best friends, Eva and Alison, and a new love interest, Owen. But no one knows the truth about her past or that her mother is locked away in a mental institution. Everything turns upside down when Lennox hits something with her car while driving home one night on the supposedly haunted Hicks Road. Her friends say it was nothing, as there is no sight of anything on the road, but Lennox can’t shake the vision of a terrified, bloody girl in her headlights. With no one believing her story and strange incidents and clues coming her way, Lennox becomes frantic to find the haunted-looking girl. At the same time, Lennox is terrified that she’s slipping into the mental illness that took her mother from her.

REVIEW

The audiobook is easy to listen to, with a fast-moving storyline and lots of adolescent dialogue. One notable criticism is that there is too much repetition of Lennox’s internal rehashing of the night on Hicks Road and also the paranoid thoughts of her mind unraveling. On the positive, this constant repetition really makes listeners question Lennox’s mental sanity, even after the novel’s conclusion, allowing for multiple interpretations of what actually unfolded in the novel.

Narrator Renée Chambliss clearly demonstrates her immense talent in this audiobook, masterfully elevating the drama and suspense in the story above what is written on the pages while keeping her performance plausible and enjoyable. The story comes to a shocking conclusion that may give listeners a bit of a jolt, and then abruptly ends. Perhaps this was the intention of the author, but a bit more storyline to give clarity to the aftermath might have been more effective. If you’re looking for a quick and entertaining YA novel that is well narrated, this is a fine choice.