The thirteenth audiobook in the Silence Jones action thriller series has taken a small departure from its previous stories in the set. Although there is still plenty of suspense, mystery, and fun with Silence’s friends, including Baster the cat. There is less focus on raw action and more on storytelling and development. In my opinion, being a bit different from the other stories is a good thing as we get see a unique side of Silence. There is less brawn and brute force in solving this mystery and more brains and bureaucracy on Silence’s part. If you are a fan of the previous tales, you will still highly enjoy this one just as much. If you are newer to the series, I suggest you pick up some of the previous ones first to get a better idea of entire series. Because this one was a bit unique, I still found it just as enjoyable as the others. It is always welcomed when an author attempts to pivot as long as they do not depart to far from a good thing.

Where most of the previous audiobooks dropped you right into the action, this one opens with Mrs. Enfield, Baster, and Silence doing work around the house. Right from the start I could tell this one was going to be different in some way. I continue to enjoy the author’s focus on the importance of relationships and friendships with Silence himself. He is the kind of guy that would give nearly anything to help his friends. That may not go for Baxter the cat, but I think one day we may get to see even that relationship growing. Right after the events at home, we are next shown some mysterious and interesting incidents, and this is where things take a turn to the more distinctive side.

Silence is off to Saint Augustine Florida to track down a “confidence man”, or con man, who is praying on those grieving the loss of someone close. On his trip, we get a glimpse at his past relationship with his deceased girlfriend CeCe, along with a few new bits to add to the character’s lore. As rough and tough as Silence is when on a case, the author does a wonderful job letting us see small glints of his compassion and love for those close to him. We get to see more of his human side over just being a stone-cold killer with no emotions. It really gives a good juxtapose feeling as I’m sure he struggles with this internally all the time. What Silence discovers during his investigation is a bit darker and seeder than what he had first expected. Silence now needs to leverage both his amazing brawn and brain to find out what is happening and who is responsible for several missing people. He also will need to determine how this is tied to a snake oil salesman wanting to pray upon the grieving and faithful. As with most con man schemes, Silence needs to pull back the curtain and expose, or neutralize, the threat. One only needs to listen to the complete audiobook to learn more…

About the audiobook’s narration. The Silence Jones audiobook series is as good as it is because of both its great writing and powerful narration. Gary Bennett having over 200+ audiobook narrations behind him, still ranks up as one of my top narrators on Audible. Listening to a single narration from him displays his polish and professionalism. Yet, I have enjoyed many of his works and all of them have the same top quality when it comes to voicing characters, along with being able to remember each of them over so many different stories amaze me. His ability to make narration seem effortless is really a sign of just how good he is at what he does. Here, like with the others, Mr. Bennett hits a homerun and makes it easy for the listener to be pulled into the story. One listening always feels engaged.

For Parents and younger listeners, as with others in this series, this audiobook does contain profanity, drug use, and some adult themes along with graphic violence. If you are easily offended by any of the above, I would recommend you select a different series to listen to. However, if you are one who enjoys men’s action thrillers which often include such things, then I cannot recommend the series enough.

In summary, this is another wonderful take in the Silence Jones series. Even though it takes a sight deviation from the expected norm, there is still a great story to be told. Would I have liked to have had more action and thrills? Sure. But the story did not fail to keep me entertained and the inner portions still felt like a Silence Jones tale. I could not think of a better team to deliver such an experience then Erik Carter and Gary Bennett. Thank you both.