Warrior Music, written and narrated by Denise Kahn, is an action thriller that aspires to be an international thriller. The story begins with Samantha, an affluent teenage girl who loses everything when her wealthy parents die in a car cash. Thankfully she already won a scholarship to college where she embarks on a career in medicine. Flash forward a few years and the story picks up with another wealthy teenager, Max who is heavily into the party scene with drugs and alcohol nearly killing him. To help him recover, he enlists in the Marines. Shortly thereafter, the Twin Towers are destroyed, and he is sent to Iraq. Meanwhile, Samantha and a friend of hers from college enlist to be nurses and they are also sent to Iraq.
The writing is pretty good as I could easily imagine a post 9-11 world. I lived through that time and many people who had ordinary jobs enlisted in the armed forces after the Twin Towers came down. So, I could relate to how Sam and her friend took a break from college to lend a hand with the war efforts. Also, my own husband fought in Desert Storm and I recall the feelings I experienced back then. I particularly liked how Max and Sam were survivors and made each other stronger. I also really appreciated how music was weaved throughout the story, which added a richness to the story.
Having also listened to Hot Air, I can’t help but think these stories would be exposed to a wider audience if a professional narrator was hired to narrate them. While Denise Kahn is OK as a narrator, she is primarily reading the story and the quality of the recording is not a sharp as other professional narrators (it sounds a bit “fuzzy”). That said, Warrior Music was an enjoyable read that many will fall in love with.
Overall Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Story: 4 Stars
Narration: 2 Stars