
The Pain Scale
Long Beach Homicide, Book 2
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $13.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mel Foster
-
By:
-
Tyler Dilts
About this listen
Long Beach homicide detective Danny Beckett can’t escape the pain. It’s everywhere: in the injuries that earned him a year-long medical leave; in the suffering of every victim he’s ever encountered; in the agony of his past. But he must keep the pain at bay to prove he still has what it takes to do the job. So it’s only fitting that his first major case back is a gruesome one: A California congressman’s daughter-in-law and grandchildren have been brutally murdered, and the carnage is some of the worst Danny’s ever seen. Is it a mob hit? Political retribution? A random sex crime?
Nothing quite adds up…until Danny and his partner, Jennifer Tanaka, begin scratching at the surface of the congressman’s picture-perfect family. Beneath the shiny, camera-ready veneer, Danny discovers a dark, twisted tale of suffering - even as the pain of his own past threatens to derail the investigation.
©2012 Tyler Dilts (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Mercy Dogs
- By: Tyler Dilts
- Narrated by: Tyler Dilts
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 16 years, Ben Shepard loyally served the Long Beach Police Department. Then he took a bullet to the head, and his life was shattered. No one expects much of anything from him anymore - except his father, an old man receding into a fog of his own. And except maybe his tenant, Grace, who's been a warm and friendly constant in his and his father's bleak lives. Until the day she vanishes. After an official investigation stalls, Ben moves forward on his own. But stepping into Grace's past - and all she was hiding - is a dangerous move for a man who can't trust his memories from one day to the next.
-
-
A Deeply Moving Book With a Satisfying Mystery
- By Jan on 04-29-18
By: Tyler Dilts
-
The Black Echo: Special Edition
- Harry Bosch, Book 1
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Titus Welliver
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit.
-
-
Titus Welliver has really stepped in it!
- By George Moneo on 04-08-20
By: Michael Connelly
-
Fresh Air
- Laughs
- By: Terry Gross
- Narrated by: Terry Gross
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this special compilation, you'll hear exhilarating excerpts from classic interviews with 14 stars of comedy, including Tracey Ullman on her zany characters, Chris Rock on growing up small and black in a white neighborhood, Carol Leifer on the inspiration for her brand of cabaret comedy, and Henny Youngman on his famous line, "Take my wife, please."
-
-
Confused and disappointed
- By N. S. W. on 04-22-10
By: Terry Gross
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
Yesterday's Echo
- By: Matt Coyle
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unable to escape his own past, Rick Cahill risks his life for a woman who is hiding her own. Rick Cahill was never convicted of his wife’s murder, but he was never exonerated either. Not by the police. Not by the media. Not even by himself. Eight years later, police suspicion and his own guilt remain over his responsibility in his wife’s death. When he meets Melody Malana, a beautiful yet secretive TV reporter, he sees a chance to love again. When she is arrested for murder and asks Rick for help, the former cop says no, but the rest of him says yes, and he grasps at a chance for love and redemption.
-
-
Good read...
- By Amazon Customer on 08-22-15
By: Matt Coyle
-
The Naturalist
- The Naturalist, Book 1
- By: Andrew Mayne
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Professor Theo Cray is trained to see patterns where others see chaos. So when mutilated bodies found deep in the Montana woods leave the cops searching blindly for clues, Theo sees something they missed. Something unnatural. Something only he can stop. As a computational biologist, Theo is more familiar with digital code and microbes than the dark arts of forensic sleuthing.
-
-
Fantastic! I loved this book!!
- By shelley on 10-02-17
By: Andrew Mayne
-
Mercy Dogs
- By: Tyler Dilts
- Narrated by: Tyler Dilts
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 16 years, Ben Shepard loyally served the Long Beach Police Department. Then he took a bullet to the head, and his life was shattered. No one expects much of anything from him anymore - except his father, an old man receding into a fog of his own. And except maybe his tenant, Grace, who's been a warm and friendly constant in his and his father's bleak lives. Until the day she vanishes. After an official investigation stalls, Ben moves forward on his own. But stepping into Grace's past - and all she was hiding - is a dangerous move for a man who can't trust his memories from one day to the next.
-
-
A Deeply Moving Book With a Satisfying Mystery
- By Jan on 04-29-18
By: Tyler Dilts
-
The Black Echo: Special Edition
- Harry Bosch, Book 1
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Titus Welliver
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit.
-
-
Titus Welliver has really stepped in it!
- By George Moneo on 04-08-20
By: Michael Connelly
-
Fresh Air
- Laughs
- By: Terry Gross
- Narrated by: Terry Gross
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this special compilation, you'll hear exhilarating excerpts from classic interviews with 14 stars of comedy, including Tracey Ullman on her zany characters, Chris Rock on growing up small and black in a white neighborhood, Carol Leifer on the inspiration for her brand of cabaret comedy, and Henny Youngman on his famous line, "Take my wife, please."
-
-
Confused and disappointed
- By N. S. W. on 04-22-10
By: Terry Gross
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
Yesterday's Echo
- By: Matt Coyle
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unable to escape his own past, Rick Cahill risks his life for a woman who is hiding her own. Rick Cahill was never convicted of his wife’s murder, but he was never exonerated either. Not by the police. Not by the media. Not even by himself. Eight years later, police suspicion and his own guilt remain over his responsibility in his wife’s death. When he meets Melody Malana, a beautiful yet secretive TV reporter, he sees a chance to love again. When she is arrested for murder and asks Rick for help, the former cop says no, but the rest of him says yes, and he grasps at a chance for love and redemption.
-
-
Good read...
- By Amazon Customer on 08-22-15
By: Matt Coyle
-
The Naturalist
- The Naturalist, Book 1
- By: Andrew Mayne
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Professor Theo Cray is trained to see patterns where others see chaos. So when mutilated bodies found deep in the Montana woods leave the cops searching blindly for clues, Theo sees something they missed. Something unnatural. Something only he can stop. As a computational biologist, Theo is more familiar with digital code and microbes than the dark arts of forensic sleuthing.
-
-
Fantastic! I loved this book!!
- By shelley on 10-02-17
By: Andrew Mayne
-
Earth Song
- A First Contact Thriller (Earth Song Series, Book 1)
- By: Nick Cook
- Narrated by: Chloe De Burgh
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lauren didn’t ask to be a hero. But one night during the graveyard shift at Jodrell Bank, she captured an astonishing fast radio burst from an alien race. And just like that, the fate of the world was thrust into her hands. Now she’s put everything on the line to blow open the conspiracy of silence surrounding UFOs. She's on the run from MI5 and a secret organization determined to stop her. After a year of dead ends and a heart-breaking personal tragedy, she’s on the verge of being forced to abandon her personal crusade.
-
-
Boring
- By Tipz on 01-14-22
By: Nick Cook
-
City of Fire
- A Novel (Lena Gamble, Book 1)
- By: Robert Ellis
- Narrated by: Renée Raudman
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a vibrant young woman is found in bed by her hotshot businessman husband, carved from belly to throat with a very sharp knife, the elite Robbery-Homicide Division of the LAPD responds in full force. Best-case scenario for lead Detective Lena Gamble: Nikki Brant's husband killed her, case closed, and on to the next crime scene before the ravenous Hollywood media can get their lurid tabloid machinery up and running.
-
-
incredible
- By A. Koren on 01-29-09
By: Robert Ellis
-
Hot Springs
- Earl Swagger, Book 1
- By: Stephen Hunter
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earl Swagger is tough as hell. But even tough guys have their secrets. Plagued by the memory of his abusive father, apprehensive about his own impending parenthood, Earl is a decorated ex-Marine of absolute integrity — and overwhelming melancholy. Now he’s about to face his biggest, bloodiest challenge yet. It is the summer of 1946, organized crime’s garish golden age, when American justice seems to have gone to seed for good.
-
-
Good start to a series
- By Jonathan on 09-25-12
By: Stephen Hunter
-
The Poet
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Death is reporter Jack McEvoy's beat: his calling, his obsession. But this time, death brings McEvoy the story he never wanted to write - and the mystery he desperately needs to solve. A serial killer of unprecedented savagery and cunning is at large. His targets: homicide cops, each haunted by a murder case he couldn't crack. The killer's calling card: a quotation from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. His latest victim is McEvoy's own brother. And his last...may be McEvoy himself.
-
-
Great Villain Mystery
- By Chip Atkinson on 08-10-14
By: Michael Connelly
-
IQ
- By: Joe Ide
- Narrated by: Sullivan Jones
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A resident of one of LA's toughest neighborhoods uses his blistering intellect to solve the crimes the LAPD ignores. East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the neighborhood's high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, lost children unrecovered. But someone from the neighborhood has taken it upon himself to help solve the cases the police can't or won't touch. They call him IQ. He's a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence.
-
-
Finally! Something new and original ;
- By Midwesterner on 11-29-16
By: Joe Ide
-
Blood Work
- Terry McCaleb, Book 1
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Graciella Rivers steps onto his boat, ex-FBI agent Terrell McCaleb has no idea he's about to come out of retirement. He's recuperating from a heart transplant and avoiding anything stressful. But when Graciella tells him the way her sister, Gloria, was murdered, Terry realizes he has no choice. Now the man with the new heart vows to take down a predator without a soul. For Gloria's killer shatters every rule that McCaleb ever learned in his years with the Bureau-as McCaleb gets no more second chances at life...and just one shot at the truth.
-
-
A Darn Good Book
- By Andrew Stone on 12-17-08
By: Michael Connelly
-
The Short Drop
- Gibson Vaughn
- By: Matthew FitzSimmons
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A decade ago, fourteen-year-old Suzanne Lombard, the daughter of Benjamin Lombard - then a senator, now a powerful vice president running for the presidency - disappeared in the most sensational missing-person case in the nation's history. Still unsolved, the mystery remains a national obsession. For legendary hacker and marine Gibson Vaughn, the case is personal - Suzanne Lombard had been like a sister to him.
-
-
Incredibly wonderful thriller! Magnificant!
- By Wayne on 03-15-16
-
The Authorities
- By: Scott Meyer
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sinclair Rutherford is a young Seattle cop with a taste for the finer things. Doing menial tasks and getting hassled by superiors he doesn't respect are definitely not "finer things". Good police work and bad luck lead him to crack a case that changes quickly from a career-making break into a high-profile humiliation when footage of his pursuit of the suspect - wildly inappropriate murder weapon in hand - becomes an Internet sensation.
-
-
If you liked Magic 2.0, get this book
- By Elizabeth J Grogan on 02-10-16
By: Scott Meyer
-
The Prettiest One
- A Thriller
- By: James Hankins
- Narrated by: Bon Shaw
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Caitlin Sommers finds herself alone in a deserted parking lot with blood on her clothes and no memory of the past few months, it seems like one of the nightmares that have tormented her for years...but it's all too real. Desperate to learn the truth about where she's been and what has happened to her but terrified of what she may find, Caitlin embarks on a search for answers.
-
-
Good Suspense Thriller
- By Promote STEM on 01-24-16
By: James Hankins
-
Linger: Dying Is a Wild Night
- A Linger Thriller, Book 1
- By: Edward Fallon
- Narrated by: Susanna Burney
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every crime scene has a smell. A look. A trail of DNA. It also has a feel. A lingering residue that floats unseen, like bacteria in the air, just waiting to be absorbed. To be felt. To be interpreted. And the man and the boy are the only ones who know this. Veteran major crimes detective Kate Messenger has a problem on her hands: six bodies - father, mother, three children, and the family dog - all slaughtered in their own home, with not a single clue or a shred of DNA that points to the butcher who killed them.
-
-
Still lingering in my mind
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 03-11-16
By: Edward Fallon
-
Company Man
- A Novel
- By: Joseph Finder
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nick Conover, the son of a factory worker, is the CEO of a major corporation in a company town. Nick, once the most admired man in Fenwick, Michigan, is now, having presided over massive layoffs, the most despised. A single parent since the recent death of his wife, he's struggling to insulate his 10-year-old daughter and angry 16-year-old son from the town's hostility.
-
-
Nail-biting suspense
- By James on 04-20-05
By: Joseph Finder
-
Guilt by Association
- By: Marcia Clark
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Los Angeles D.A. Rachel Knight is a tenacious, wise-cracking, and fiercely intelligent prosecutor in the city's most elite division. When her colleague, Jake, is found dead at a grisly crime scene, Rachel is shaken to the core. She must take over his toughest case: the assault of a young woman from a prominent family. But she can't stop herself from digging deeper into Jake's death, a decision that exposes a world of power and violence and will have her risking her reputation - and her life - to find the truth.
-
-
EXCELLENT!
- By TexasLady on 04-21-11
By: Marcia Clark
What listeners say about The Pain Scale
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tara S. Scherner
- 03-06-15
I love a twisty mystery!
Dilts knows how to craft a good character, and I love getting to know this damaged, observant detective in each book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pam W
- 08-12-14
A lesson in chronic pain
A good title for this one, as the author gives us plenty of insight about chronic pain while solving his second murder mystery. I liked the book and wished I would have read it instead of listening. The narrator changed from the first installment and I had trouble with following this guy. Much of the time, all the voices sounded the same, which turned out to be a bad thing when there were so many characters to keep track of. The characters also had foreign names that were hard to keep track of. All and all it was a good crime story, but I would recommend the Kindle for this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Amazon Maggie
- 09-20-16
Good story line
It was a well thought out plot with some unexpected twists. Didn't care for some of the language, but I am from a generation that did not need that, I guess. I liked the narrator all right but felt his voice and delivery would be better for comedy or westerns, both of which are great possibilities.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Laurie
- 08-09-15
good read.
one of the very few stories that deals with chronic pain. It is the underlying theme, and does't follow the overdone story of addiction. The main story is also well written and entertaining, a must read for those who like a good mystery and also suffer, or know someone with chronic pain.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- William
- 03-04-13
Synchronization did not work
Would you consider the audio edition of The Pain Scale to be better than the print version?
No
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Not really. It was good but not that good
What about Mel Foster’s performance did you like?
He didn't overdo things with the female voices or accents or excessive attempts to differentiate the characters so that it came out forced
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No,But very few books do.
Any additional comments?
My title says it all. I am not an experienced user (this is my first one) however, this was a total failure and synchronization. I spent far too much time trying to find my place when I went from one to the other, most especially going to the audio version. In fact, I generally gave up and settled for close enough, listening to the same thing I had read for several minutes. Not only did it not synchronize but fine-tuning was impossible as far as I could determine. Basically, it was not worth the effort.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Aisha
- 10-04-14
Solid Dialog, Characters, and Pace
This was the second of the Daniel Beckett series I read it because I enjoyed the first one so much. Though written in the first person, the other characters are supporting, not add-ons, and they're a tight-knit group. Beckett's partner (no romantic theme) also has a life and Dilts weaves it into the story in a way that I didn't find distracting. It's refreshing that none of the cops is the typical ass of an idiot. If you're the kind of reader who enjoys off-plot ruminations that let you into the mind of the protagonist, such as Beckett listening to and thinking about NPR segments (Garrison Keillor's Writers Almanac and Terry Gross's Fresh Air), you'll find these add a lot of depth to the book. Though I figured out who dunnit before Beckett did, that didn't detract from the story. As soon as I finished listening to this one, I went straight to Audible and bought The Pain Scale. It isn't necessary to listen to them out of order. Dilts doesn't repeat aspects of Becketts day-to-day life so much that I felt irritated. Also, I was relieved that there aren't any "after a long moment" fillers. Two comments about the production: there's a lot of dead space between chapters that I had to get used to, and some dialog is read to sound like a run-on sentence. As I wrote in the headline, the dialog is good (as in natural, not so-so) and has shadings of subtle humor, strong opinions, and space to let the reader read between the lines.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Raymond
- 03-03-15
Narration is terrible.
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I'm sorry, but Mel Foster is simply too boring. He reads the text in such a flat, monosyllabic tone and draws out the words so painfully that I just can't get into the book at all. The "pain scale" of the narration is just too much to overcome to enjoy this story.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
First, Tyler Dilts included too many anecdotes about totally irrelevant material - who cares about the character's drinking, how much pain he's in, and about his playing the banjo? Boring nonsense. Distracts from the story. I was forgetting what the story was about.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Just plain too much to endure. Couldn't finish the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 04-28-16
love this author
This is the second book I have listened to from this author. I'm looking forward to the rest.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chip Atkinson
- 10-07-14
its a Zero with the circle rubbed out.
This story started off strong, but quickly became convoluted and ended in a whimper. There's are truly horrible triple murder and the introduction to what seemed like a great police team. However, a far fetched government conspiracy of sorts begins to reveal itself.
It's enough to say I am grossly disappointed with this novel.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful