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    Made to Be Broken
    Made to Be Broken
    Made to Be Broken
    Audiobook12 hours

    Made to Be Broken

    Written by Kelley Armstrong

    Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The author of the acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series returns with her latest novel featuring an exciting heroine with a lethal hidden talent. This time she' s hot on the trail of a young woman no one else cares about-- and a killer who' s bound to strike again. Nadia Stafford isn' t your typical nature lodge owner. An ex-cop with a legal code all her own, she' s known only as " Dee" to her current employer: a New York crime family that pays her handsomely to bump off traitors. But when Nadia discovers that a troubled teenage employee and her baby have vanished in the Canadian woods, the memory of a past loss comes back with a vengeance and her old instincts go into overdrive. With her enigmatic mentor, Jack, covering her back, Nadia unearths sinister clues that point to an increasingly darker and deadlier mystery. Now, with her obsession over the case deepening, the only way Nadia can right the wrongs of the present is to face her own painful ghosts-- and either bury them for good, or die trying. Because in her book everyone deserves a chance. And everyone deserves justice.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 14, 2014
    ISBN9781470383022
    Made to Be Broken
    Author

    Kelley Armstrong

    When librarians finally granted Kelley Armstrong an adult card, she made straight for the epic fantasy and horror shelves. She spent the rest of her childhood and teen years happily roaming fantastical and terrible worlds, and vowed that someday she'd write a story combining swords, sorcery, and the ravenous undead. That story began with the New York Times bestselling Sea of Shadows and continues with Empire of Night. Armstrong's first works for teens were the New York Times bestselling Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising trilogies. She lives in rural Ontario with her husband, three children, and far too many pets.

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    Reviews for Made to Be Broken

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    • 4/5
      When I read the first of the Nadia Stafford books, I was really wary. Stepping away from the supernatural tricks can be hard on a writer, and often it leads to the story suffering, or feeling the worse off for the constrained space. Thus, it came as a very pleasant surprise when Exit Strategy was really well done, with solid plotting to go along with the high level of characters and dialogue I'd come to expect from Ms. Armstrong.So my expectations were quite high coming into this one, and I have to say, I was disappointed through even the first hundred pages or so. I wasn't being drawn into the plot, I didn't care as much about the characters, and things were just looser. I was still reading it - I don't generally put down books before I finish them - but I was unimpressed, and getting annoyed. I was all ready to write this off as the first misstep in all of the works of Ms. Armstrong's that I'd read.But then... almost despite myself, I got drawn in more, both to the circumstances of what they find, as the plot comes together, and the characters themselves. Really, it's the characters here that sell it more than the plot, which has to do with solving the death of one of lead character Nadia Stafford's staff at her rural Ontario lodge. Even to explain the circumstances around it would start spoiling things, but the plot expands nicely as they look more into it, and the others involved on the wrong side of the exchange are clever enough to make it interesting up through the climax of the book.But while the plot does turn out better than I expected, it's really still the characters that sell it - specifically Nadia, her mentor Jack, and fellow hitman Quinn. I really enjoyed the growth of the characters within the story, and their interactions with each other. It all felt real, and it did draw me in strongly by the end. I can't give it as high a mark as the first one, just due to my feelings at the beginning, but I can say in the end that Armstrong still has it. I'm curious to see if she'll continue with the series now, but I'm glad to have the two of them that are out there now.
    • 4/5
      This is the 2nd book in the Nadia Stafford trilogy. I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first book in this series; I thought the pace was a lot slower and didn’t enjoy the mystery as much. However, it was still a very readable and engaging book.In this book a young teen mother who has been helping Nadia at the lodge disappears. Everyone in town assumes that she ran away, but Nadia suspects a more sinister plot. It’s up to Nadia to figure out what really happened to this poor teen.The mystery in this book was a lot more personal. Nadia takes on this case because of personal interest and because of events relating to Amy; her childhood friend who was murdered. I felt like this plot was a bit too convoluted and drawn out for the mystery presented here, I also felt like the pacing was slow at points. That being said I still really enjoy Nadia, Jack, Evelyn and all the characters we meet in the first book. This series continues to be engaging, and the psychology of the characters is interesting.Overall this is a great continuation of this series. I really enjoyed it, I plan on reading the final book and finishing up the series. I would recommend to those who enjoy murder mystery/thriller types of books with complex characters.
    • 3/5
      Liked it overall -- but definitely didn't love it like I loved the first one in the series. I'll still read the third (whenever that's going to be) but I was a bit disappointed with this one. :( Unsatisfying cliffhanger ending. Some good moments, though.
    • 3/5
      The next in the Nadia Stafford series. Nadia is a female “hit-person”. But she is not all bad! When one of her employees, a young teenage single mother, goes missing Nadia decides she needs to know what happened. This leads her down a road to a hit-man for adoption purposes. It was an interesting concept told in a very interesting and easy read.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I love Nadia. She is great character. I think Evelyn drives me as crazy as she drives Nadia. Still. It a big fan of Quinn's. I love Jack. I have just one question, why does every book have to a love triangle in it? This book is not a romance in any shape or form and yet we have a love triangle.
    • 4/5
      Liked this a lot; didn't want to put it down, got caught up in Nadia Stafford's concerns and passions and dilemmas. I hope the love angle doesn't stay too torturously unresolved in future books; I can see that Armstrong could keep it up in the air for a while if she carries on as in book 1 and 2.
    • 3/5
      While I like the premise of the series, I didn't think this was particularly strong. The villains, other than the initial one who was dispatched early, were bureaucrats - faceless and not all that compelling. The "love" "triangle" just isn't holding up for me, and the main character's deep dark subconscious secret was so obvious that it took me a book and a half to realize that it was supposed to be a secret. It is nice to read a noir-ish thriller written from a feminist perspective, but I certainly hope any sequels are more like the first book and not this one.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed Exit Strategy, the first in this series about Nadia Stafford, a former policewoman turned contract killer, but only so long as the jobs she's paid to do fit within her own principles. I suppose the fun was in the little details, like the professional courtesies between characters who were thrust together, but had a vested interest in their real identities remaining hidden; and the interactions between characters whose safety depends on maintaining a certain degree of professional paranoia. I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much. It's about Nadia's investigation of the disappearance of a young unwed mother and her baby from her small town community. The lack of concern from locals about the disappearance and ongoing investigation trigger some traumatic memories from Nadia's own past. But I wasn't really a fan of the mystery element to the story. I almost never complain about characters who vocalise their self-doubts (and indeed, I often quite like them), but Nadia’s constant feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt started to grate on me for some reason, and the relationship arc of the novel felt depressingly bland and predictable. Not as enjoyable as I had hoped.
    • 3/5
      In "Made To Be Broken", the second of the Nadia Stafford series, we finally get inside the head of this hitwoman-with-principles. I found this book much more compelling that the first, which had that Series 1 Episode 1 fell to it.This book reads alound much better than the first, the theme has more emotional impact and the backstory gets some real depth.I hope that there will be a third in the series soon
    • 4/5
      Continuing the story of Nadia Stafford, assassin and holiday cabin owner, and her invovlement with a gang of 'moral' hitmen and women. Nadia has been trying to keep the twp halves of her life seperate, but when one of her employees goes missing with a baby daughter, she ends up envolving them all. The employee is an teenage mum, from a bad family, but Nadia feels she has more promise than most of the town, and puts her to work. The girl tries hard to be a better mum than she expeienced, and cares desperately about her young daughter. When the pair are found missing most of the town shrug it off as no better than could be expected. But Nadia knows the girl would never leave behind her daughter's things. With a bit of help from Jack who's recuperating at her lodge, after a job went wrong, Nadia finds the girl's body, but no sign of the baby daughter. Nadia become siezed by a slightly irrational sense of revenge, and starts hunting for the baby snatchers.TBC
    • 4/5
      This is an unexpectedly charming and engaging book about a 33-year-old former policewoman, Nadia Stafford, who now operates a vacation wilderness lodge in Ontario, but works as a contract killer for extra cash: "There are many names for what I do. Want to channel your inner Godfather? Go for hatchet man or hired gun. Prefer an air of legitimacy? Try professional killer or contract killer. Add an air of mystery and intrigue? Use assassin. I like it plan and simple. Hitman. Hitwoman or even hit-person, if one wants to be PC, but if you ask me, ‘politically correct’ and ‘killer’ are two terms never meant to go together.”But Nadia’s willingness to take on new jobs is not automatic: "Where did I draw the line? What crimes did someone need to commit before I could justify taking a life? Where was the point where I could pull the trigger, and walk away with a clean conscience?”At Nadia’s lodge, Red Oak, she has a staff of three: Emma who cooks, her husband Otto who does handyman work, and a young unmarried mother from town, Sammi, who brings her baby Destiny with her and helps with chores around the lodge. Sammi isn’t a great worker, but Nadia wants to provide support and encouragement to her. The other people in town consider Sammi to be a slut and have no interest in helping her. But Sammi reminds Nadia of her cousin Amy, who was raped and murdered when they were teens. Amy’s assailant got off free, in part because of the same mentality the townspeople hold toward Sammi: i.e., that Amy didn't deserve any sympathy because she was “asking for it.” These are girls who were considered “disposable”; they were girls “made to be broken.” The lesson for Nadia was that “the only way to guarantee justice was to take care of it yourself.”Sammi doesn’t come to work one day, and no one in town seems to care. But Nadia does and goes searching for her. When she finds Sammi’s body, she becomes obsessed with finding her killer, and finding the baby as well. She is helped by the two men who are part of her life as a contract killer: Quinn, a “co-worker” with a linebacker’s physique and piercing eyes, and Jack, her laconic and perceptive mentor, both of whom seem to like Nadia as more than just a colleague. Nadia likes both as well, but a healthy relationship is hard to construct out of lives made up of secret identities and surreptitious movements.As Nadia pursues leads about Sammi, her search extends to other young “expendable” girls with babies, and the danger to her increases as she gets closer to finding out what happened. In addition, she has to juggle her regular jobs as proprietess of the lodge, and killer for hire. Evaluation: The characters in this book are incredibly interesting and appealing, and yes, make me want to be a contract killer when I grow up! The plot has a nice mix of serious issues, humor, and romance, without going overboard on any of them. I was pleasantly surprised and definitely would read another in this series.
    • 3/5
      Disappointing. I had read Exit Strategy years ago and enjoyed it and was looking forward to the next installment, but it didn't go anywhere further, there was no real character development and the plot was weak. So I was disappointed, I wanted more from Nadia and her gang.
    • 4/5
      The premise: ganked from BN.com: Nadia Stafford isn’t your typical nature lodge owner. An ex-cop with a legal code all her own, she’s known only as “Dee” to her current employer: a New York crime family that pays her handsomely to bump off traitors. But when Nadia discovers that a troubled teenage employee and her baby have vanished in the Canadian woods, the memory of a past loss comes back with a vengeance and her old instincts go into overdrive.With her enigmatic mentor, Jack, covering her back, Nadia unearths sinister clues that point to an increasingly darker and deadlier mystery. Now, with her obsession over the case deepening, the only way Nadia can right the wrongs of the present is to face her own painful ghosts—and either bury them for good, or die trying. Because in her book everyone deserves a chance. And everyone deserves justice. My RatingWorth the Cash: It's a good, solid read. We see more of Nadia outside of her hitman activities, and we get to see her take police matters in her own hands, which ends up digging up some SERIOUS issues from her past that she's still in denial about. She's still my favorite Armstrong heroine, and I'm quite tickled by her relationship with her mentor Jack, though I think that if another book is released in the series, something is going to have to break between them. The romantic tension between them is subtle, which I love, but it's frustrating because in some ways, that subtly is REALLY OBVIOUS and you want Nadia to figure it out already, though due to the nature of her character, there's good reasons why she's in denial. I'll happily continue with this series, though at this point, I've heard no news about a third book, which is sad, but these first two are still well worth the read. But note: this isn't Armstrong's usual stuff, so if you're looking for strong romantic subplots, this series is definitely not for you.Review style: there are some serious surprises in this book that are so subtle that either people are missing them or simply don't want to talk about them due to the fear of spoilers. But me? Hell no! I need to examine some SERIOUS ISSUES that seem to have come to light in this book, and I want people who've already read it to tell me whether or not I'm on crack. Aside from those issues, I want to talk that 0.05% of romance that's in this mystery, and then touch on a subject that Dirty Sexy Books brought up in her review of Exit Strategy, and that's whether or not the author should've used a pen name. SPOILERS AHEAD, so please, do not read the full review linked to my LJ below if you're trying to avoid them! Everyone else, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)REVIEW: Kelley Armstrong's MADE TO BE BROKENHappy Reading!
    • 4/5
      I quite liked this book whilst i was reading it, but on further reflection it's gone down from 4.5 to 3.5 stars.Why? Well the action is quite satisfying. Most of the people that get killed are, undeniably, wicked. Not sure they deserve to die, but they certainly deserve to be punished.I guess I have, however, an issue with hitmen going on a vigilante spree and that is what this series is turning into, with a sprinkling of romance for good measure.If there is a third book in the series, I'll probably give it a go, but I think the formula needs to change to be appealing to me.
    • 4/5
      I have never read any other of Kelly Armstrong’s books, although I am aware of her other world series. It was never my cup of tea, so I never had any interest. In fact, I never realized this was the same author when I brought the first one home. I can’t compare this to her other writing, just the first book in the series. I was attracted to this book at first, because of the female hitman angle. I wasn’t sure how they would keep this up in the second book, especially when it’s based around her home, where she prefers to remain anonymous. Although there are still hitman aspects to this book, I felt it was more a mystery/suspense type book. Good, strong interesting characters, although a few of them still don’t have much depth. Some old favorites are back, along with some new fresh ones. The love triangle started in the first book is continued in this book…I love the continuity of characters. I don’t know if I am saddened or encouraged that the author left a few loose ends for the next book. And it will open up so much territory for the new book. I can’t wait for the next installment, and hope we don’t have to wait long for it. =D
    • 4/5
      When I read the first of the Nadia Stafford books, I was really wary. Stepping away from the supernatural tricks can be hard on a writer, and often it leads to the story suffering, or feeling the worse off for the constrained space. Thus, it came as a very pleasant surprise when Exit Strategy was really well done, with solid plotting to go along with the high level of characters and dialogue I'd come to expect from Ms. Armstrong.So my expectations were quite high coming into this one, and I have to say, I was disappointed through even the first hundred pages or so. I wasn't being drawn into the plot, I didn't care as much about the characters, and things were just looser. I was still reading it - I don't generally put down books before I finish them - but I was unimpressed, and getting annoyed. I was all ready to write this off as the first misstep in all of the works of Ms. Armstrong's that I'd read.But then... almost despite myself, I got drawn in more, both to the circumstances of what they find, as the plot comes together, and the characters themselves. Really, it's the characters here that sell it more than the plot, which has to do with solving the death of one of lead character Nadia Stafford's staff at her rural Ontario lodge. Even to explain the circumstances around it would start spoiling things, but the plot expands nicely as they look more into it, and the others involved on the wrong side of the exchange are clever enough to make it interesting up through the climax of the book.But while the plot does turn out better than I expected, it's really still the characters that sell it - specifically Nadia, her mentor Jack, and fellow hitman Quinn. I really enjoyed the growth of the characters within the story, and their interactions with each other. It all felt real, and it did draw me in strongly by the end. I can't give it as high a mark as the first one, just due to my feelings at the beginning, but I can say in the end that Armstrong still has it. I'm curious to see if she'll continue with the series now, but I'm glad to have the two of them that are out there now.
    • 3/5
      I love Kelley Armstrong mostly for her credible characteriations, and think that her skill in keeping her characters plausible even in a supernatural setting - I don't think anyone but her could have believably pulled off a pregnant werewolf.While not featuring any supernatural elements, a cop-turned-hitwoman is almost as high on the improbability scale as werewolves, witches and vampires, and again one has to admire Kelley Armstrong's talent in being able to depict a heroine like Nadia Stafford without induding constant eye-rolling and teeth-grinding in the reader. Nadia as well as the supporting cast come across as tough and professional in what they're doing (not too much though - there is still room for them to screw things up occasionally, which of course only adds to the feeling of realism), and while I (of course!) wouldn't know the details she gives about how professional killers go about their job and avoiding notice seem utterly plausible - I'm almost tempted to say, well researched.On the downside, what the novel lacks is some momentum to its plot - it meanders along in a leisurely manner, without any feel of urgency, and without really generating much of an interest. The whodunit isn't nearlly as gripping as the way it ties into Nadia's past and how she will come to terms with it, and I for one was keener to find out with which of her love interests Nadia would finally settle than to know who killed the girl.So in summing up, this is more of a character study than a thriller, more of a relaxed read than a pageturner, but, in my opinion at least, no less enjoyable for that.
    • 5/5
      I couldn't wait for a library copy to get to me, after enjoying the first book in the series, "Exit Strategy", so I ended up going out and buying it.Hours spent reading when I should have been sleeping: 2. Nadia's assistant house keeper at the lodge goes missing and starts her on a trail that leads to some unexpected places. The relationship between her and Jack gets more page time, and Quinn is back and still interested in her. Nadia tries to deal with her past traumas, with Jack there to support her and Quinn as a sounding board, but it's still wrenching watching her tear herself up inside with guilt and regret and grief. The story ends fairly abruptly, but I was enjoying it so much I didn't want it to end at all. We got to see more of her Lodge and more of the action takes place in Canada this time.
    • 5/5
      "Made to Be Broken" is a taut read by Kelley Armstrong. It's book two in her series about a female contract killer and is a far cry from her 'Underworld' paranormal urban fantasy series. These books are a combination of murder, mystery, action, and suspense that grab you from the first page and carry you along as you delve into, not just the mystery, but the psyche of the lead characters and their decision-making processes. As a fan of her 'Underworld' books, when I picked up "Exit Strategy", the first Nadia Stafford book, I was taken aback by how different it was from what I was expecting. But Armstrong's sharp writing and keen character building kept me turning page after page. I just couldn't put the sucker down! With "Made to Be Broken", I knew what I would be getting into and was curious as to whether the author could keep me reading about a character whose morals and motivations are so different than the norm. In this book, Nadia becomes involved with the disappearance of a local unwed, teen mother and her baby. Other than one friend, nobody in the small town expresses real concern about her disappearance; after all, she's the Canadian version of 'trailer trash'. But for Nadia, this disappearance brings back memories of a tragedy in her childhood and she'll have to face the demons that still haunt her while struggling to come to terms with what her life is now and what her future will look like. I was riveted to the scenes of Nadia's equivalent of soul-searching. So far, all her kills have been 'bad' people. But to be a contract killer and protect her 'other', normal life...will that have to change? Can she justify killing on demand? And if not, where exactly does she draw the line?All this is wrapped up in the mystery of the teen mom and baby. Nadia's also dealing with two men, both of whom she has feelings for...but different feelings. Both men can accept Nadia for what she is, both now know about her two separate lives, and both want something from her. But figuring out what they want and what she herself wants is part of this story, so I'll just leave it there.I wasn't in the least disappointed with book two of Nadia's story. In fact, I'm greedy now for book three. If tense, pseudo-psychological murder mysteries interest you, I highly recommend Kelley Armstrong's Nadia Stafford series.