
Town Without Mercy
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Narrated by:
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Cecilia Marie
About this listen
Is it nature or nurture that drives Adele Baxter Warren's teenage daughter, Mercedes, to become a mass murderer? Town Without Mercy, a complete novella, is contemporary women's fiction dealing with current event drama of mass shootings and gay marriage. Told through the eyes of the mother, a TV news correspondent, Adele must find the answer, even as it takes her away from Mercedes' deathbed where she lays in a coma from the police bullet that stopped the carnage. If Adele follows the leads, the cost could be her 17-year-old marriage to same-sex partner, Jodi Warren. The townspeople of Concord Park wants revenge. They blame Adele and Jodi's lifestyle as the cause of their daughter's actions, but are they innocent of all blame?
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Maddy is a devoted stay-at-home wife and mother, host of excellent parties, giver of thoughtful gifts, and bestower of a searingly perceptive piece of advice or two. She is the cornerstone of her family, a true matriarch...until she commits suicide, leaving her husband Brady and teenage daughter Eve heartbroken and reeling, wondering what happened. How could the exuberant, exacting woman they loved disappear so abruptly, seemingly without reason, from their lives? How they can possibly continue without her?
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Loved it! Don't let the suicide issue put you off
- By SLuzaz on 03-01-17
By: Abby Fabiaschi
Listener received this title free
Great story told well.
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good
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Listener received this title free
Tough subject handled well
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Listener received this title free
There were warnings about the triggers in this story, but I decided to go through all the way. That was the right decision. Having a shooting told from the shooter’s parents point of view, gives a complete and different perspective. Also, after knowing the reasons for the girl to do such a horrific act is definitely as I mentioned before an eye opener. Shows how flawed humanity is. Gives us a clear view of how much tolerance is needed. I'm really ashamed of humanity. Hate is a very awful feeling. They said she was a monster. But, who were the real monsters at the end? Ignorance and hate mixed together make a terrible combination.
Is not a read for the faint of heart. But it is something as humans we should be aware of. It's easy to point and judge others, but we never look inside and see our own mistakes and take responsibility for them.
When I finished this book I had to pause and reflect. This book invites to reflection, deep, wholehearted reflection. There are so many lessons to learn. I insist, this is a book everyone should read.
Communication is the key, always. Learn to listen; learn to talk about your concerns.
Narrated by Cecilia Marie, she did an extraordinary job voicing the feelings and what the author meant to transmit. I was moved beyond words and must admit I cried in a number of places.
It is a tough one, but undoubtedly a great one as well.
A very important book everyone should read
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Wow!!
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Wow
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Listener received this title free
I’m not American. I don’t understand the obsession with weapons of war being possessed by every day people. Each time I hear of another shooting, my heart breaks. I live in Canada and although we have gun deaths and suicides, they don’t come close to the level of violence in the States. I look at New Zealand and how it took one mass shooting to ban the assault-style weapons. Too late to save the victims, but a way to honor them and to try to make sure it never happens again.
In this book, Adele Baxter Warren is the mother of a mass shooter. She wasn’t even aware her daughter knew how to shoot, let alone is able to fathom why her daughter would do such a horrible thing. As her daughter lies in a hospital bed – shot by a cop in an attempt to prevent further deaths – Adele has to examine both her life and her daughter’s. How did this happen? How did she not see it? Is she a bad parent? Did the fact she’s married to a woman play a part in this hideous event?
Man, she had a tough journey. As a reader, I was pulled along for the ride. I also wanted to understand what could make a seemingly moody but otherwise healthy young woman snap. But is snap the right word? These things rarely come from nowhere. There might be a precipitating event, but the perpetrators often leave behind clues as to why they did this. Not everyone leaves a manifesto, but often, in retrospect, fractures in their lives can be found. My question was, even if Adele finds why her daughter killed all those people, would it really make a difference?
This is a tough book to read. No two ways about it, if you embark upon the journey, you’re in for a tough ride. But I was glad I read the book. Glad I immersed myself in the life of a mother desperate for answers. Glad I asked myself the same ‘what if’ questions she asked herself. We believe we know the people in our lives, but what if we’re wrong? Doesn’t every person have the ability to turn violent in the right circumstances.
This is not a happy book and it does not have a happy ending. How could it? Everyone loses in this situation. Even with understanding comes great sorrow.
I liked how the same-sex relationship between Adele and Jodi just is. They go through all the same struggles as any other couple would but they do have the added question of whether their unconventional family helped lead to the tragedy or was their daughter always destined to be a killer?
Cecilia Marie is a new narrator to me and I loved her. She handled the entire book with grace and her French was bang-on. She brought sensitivity to the story and I appreciated that.
This book is a tough book. It’s also a book everyone should read. There are no easy answers but it does prompt many of the right questions. It makes you think and that’s what all great books do.
A book you need to read
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Listener received this title free
The narration was great and really pulled you in!
The name is programm!
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Town Without Mercy review
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Listener received this title free
This book was heartbreakingly beautiful. I went through the full spectrum of emotions while listening to this story. Anger, Sadness, Grief, and Joy… I experienced it all.
I loved this story and the topic is more important than ever! With the amount of active shooter situations that happen on a daily basis, I cannot think of a more important story that could be told. On top of this, adding in the aspect of the shooter coming from a household with 2 moms takes the story to another level completely. We are so quick to place blame on the parents when something like this happens… sometimes we forget that those parents are human and hurting as well.
I loved it! Wonderful story.
Emotional Rollercoaster
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