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    Keeping Watch
    Keeping Watch
    Keeping Watch
    Audiobook16 hours

    Keeping Watch

    Written by Laurie R. King

    Narrated by Richard Ferrone

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Allen Carmichael came back from Vietnam a lifetime ago--but only now was he ready to return home. For years, he's lived on the fringes of the law, using a soldier's skills to keep watch over those too young to defend themselves. Some consider him nothing but a kidnapper for hire--the best in the business; others call him a hero. His specialty has been rescuing children from abusive parents and escorting them to loving homes. But after twenty-five years, he is ready to take on his final case--a case that could destroy him. The boy's name is Jamie: He believes his father is going to kill him. Allen is convinced that the twelve-year-old is right and devises a strategy to save him. His last job done, Allen heads back to Folly Island, where he plans to settle into a quiet life. But not long after his return, a small plane piloted by the boy's father's crashes, leaving behind debris--but no body. Now it is up to Allen to resolve whether Jamie's father is dead or alive--and to make sure Jamie himself stays out of harm's way. But a series of ominous events leads Allen to question whether Jamie's father is really the enemy after all. Or if the real threat is far more unspeakable...and the killer unimaginable. Riveting, harrowing, and unforgettable, Keeping Watch takes psychological suspense to its most dizzying heights and proves again why Laurie R. King has been called by both readers and critics an undisputed master of suspense.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJul 18, 2008
    ISBN9781436112338
    Keeping Watch
    Author

    Laurie R. King

    Laurie R. King is the Edgar Award–winning author of the Kate Martinelli novels and the acclaimed Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes mysteries, as well as a few stand-alone novels. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, the first in her Mary Russell series, was nominated for an Agatha Award and was named one of the Century’s Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. A Monstrous Regiment of Women won the Nero Wolfe Award. She has degrees in theology, and besides writing she has also managed a coffee store and raised children, vegetables, and the occasional building. She lives in northern California.

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    Reviews for Keeping Watch

    4/5

    143 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This was a fantastic book, both incredibly warm and chilling. Although it is categorized as a mystery, it is really a thriller, as the "bad guy" is known from the beginning. The time the protagonist spent in Viet Nam takes up about the first third of the book, plus excerpts throughout the rest of the book. Though I don't have a lot to compare this too, it was hard to believe that the author isn't a vet, as the description of the p's military experience, and the aftermath of the psychological impact on him, is so realistic.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this one - lots of suspense, damaged characters and interesting twists.
    • 5/5
      Taut thriller, good mystery, great characters. Allen comes back from Vietnam a damaged soul. He finds his redemption in rescuing threatened children. His last mission is Jamie who might turn out to be the threat.......
    • 5/5
      A suspense novel at it's best. Laurie R King really succeeds with this novel. The main characters are memorable and the plot holds your attention until the very end. The psychological abuse aspects might offend some, but essential to the story and character development. Excellent incorporation of a previous novel, adds to the reading enjoyment, but not necessary if you haven't read the other novel. Well worth the read.
    • 3/5
      Tough subject, tough book and it really got me down.
    • 4/5
      I've read quite a few of Laurie R. King's novels - particularly her series of Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I was at the used bookstore and I ran across this book for $1.00 and figured it was worth a shot. This book is a departure from the mystery genre. Keeping Watch is really the story of Allen Carmichael, a Viet-nam veteran who goes into the business of illicitly helping abused children and mothers get away from their abusers. The first section of the book details his experiences in Vietnam, to give a psychological backstory on why Allen gets into the business of helping children.

      His last case before retirement was supposed to be the rescue of 12-year-old Jamie, a boy emotionally victimized by his power-hungry father. The job was supposed to be very easy, but like all supposedly easy jobs in novels, there ended up being a lot more to the story than Allen realized at first glance. About two-thirds of the book is devoted to this particular case.

      I found this book to be very engaging. It's certainly not great literature, but it's a nice quick read and made for fast subway rides. I thought some of her descriptive passages were a little forced and I thought that the portion that took place in Vietnam and after he arrives back in America was too long. The book really hits its stride when Jamie and Allen finally cross paths. Overall, a good read and definitely worth the dollar I spent on it!
    • 4/5

      I bought this blindly because I love King's books and then discovered that the UK publishers weren't printing it here because the story has a lot to do with Vietnam and they thought that a UK audience wouldn't be interested. This kind of put me off reading it myself.

      I'm very glad I have eventually got around to reading it because it's an excellent story about a man who is totally damaged by his experiences in Vietnam but most of the story is about his later life in which he rescues abused women and children and the plot zooms in on his very last rescue. I'm glad to say that even the parts of the book set in Vietnam are captivating. A great read.

    • 4/5
      Allen Carmichael's story begins in Vietnam during the war. He is 19 when he gets set down in the jungle, "fresh meat." What he sees and experiences leaves him a damaged man who manages not to commit suicide by alcohol once he returnes to the States but not for lack of trying. To atone for what he feels were his "sins" in Nam, he begins rescuing battered women and abused children. He does this for years and is ready to retire when he takes his final case, an abused boy named Jamie. But is Jamie really abused or the abuser? Therein lies the mystery. Wraps up a little too quickly but still a good psychological thriller with a flawed but courageous hero.
    • 5/5
      This is the story of a Vietnam veteran who very nearly destroys himself after the horror of his service, until he finds a way to help the widow of a dead Vietnam compatriot, who has remarried, to an abusive husband. He devotes his life thereafter to the saving of abused children. There are flashbacks to his service in Vietnam, and I am in awe at how a woman who never served there or in any war could have written those tense, gripping, horror-filled scenes.
    • 4/5
      Laurie R. King has given us another excellent psychological thriller in this story of a disturbed veteran of the Viet Nam War, Allen Carmichael, who rescues children from abusive parents.Ms. King's exploration of what shaped and drives Carmichael was entirely convincing. While you cannot expect that you actually understand the Viet Nam experience from this reading, you do end up with a very real sense of horror at what an essentially moral man faced and did over there. I had read reviews that suggested that this back-story detracted from the novel—I could not disagree more. Without that history, the novel would have been a formulaic suspense novel, entirely plot-driven with no depth to the characters.Nor does the plot disappoint. The action moves along quickly, despite the flashbacks to Southeast Asia, toward the finale. Ms. King keeps you guessing right up until the end about which plot twists will actually happen and which will prove to be red herrings.I particularly liked that the author resisted the urge to tie everything up neatly and prettily for our sensibilities. The protagonist has not really found redemption, though he's found a measure of peace. Children are heavily conflicted over being removed from parents, even those who abuse them…and the damage done to them is not suddenly 'healed' for having been rescued.This is definitely a recommended read if you like suspense novels.
    • 4/5
      Allen Charmichael is an average American young man. That is, until he is put through the horrors of the Vietnam war. The things which he saw and did there twisted him and nearly broke him. Now he needs to find a way back home. Not physically, but spiritually and mentally. The atrocities come before his eyes again and again driving him to self destruction, until he finds a place of peace. A cave from his youth which for some reason keeps the horrors at bay. Now that he sees a possibility for life, what will he do with it?"Never trust a child." A mantra for him in Vietnam, now becomes an anathema in America. Suddenly, he sees a way out of his pain. A way back home, but will he be able to survive? Will he be able to make a difference in the lives of hurting children and their mothers?This was a difficult and painful book to read, I wasn't sure I could finish it. The descriptions of war and child abuse squeezed my heart. However, after he came home from the war, I couldn't put the book down. I wasn't sure until the very last pages how it would end and read it on pins and needles. I do not regret reading one page of it, in spite of how hard some of images were to see. There is the language of the soldier throughout, for those of you who are bothered by it, to me it did not seem overdone, but very fitting.. It is an entirely great sequel to The Folly, but if you haven't read The Folly, this is also a stand alone book.