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Still Summer (Abridged) Audiobook
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(3.00) - 1,413 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Mitchard's Still Summer plunges into terror
By Carol Memmott, USA TODAY
Secure your life preserver. Tie yourself to the mast. It's late August, but it's still summer, and Jacquelyn Mitchard is taking you on a thrill ride you won't forget.
Mitchard made her mark in the literary world in 1996 when The Deep End of the Ocean was chosen as the first pick for Oprah Winfrey's now-legendary book club. Since then, she has written six other novels, but none matches the suspenseful pitch of Still Summer.
It's a tale of terror on the high seas, but this is no Pirates of the Caribbean wannabe.
Readers know something terrible is going to happen, but Mitchard ratchets up the suspense by allowing her story to unfold at a leisurely pace. She painstakingly fleshes out her characters, because as readers will discover, their temperaments and personalities are as crucial to the story as the mounting disasters.
Tracy Kyle, Holly Solvig and Olivia Montefalco, lifelong friends in their early 40s, charter a yacht and two-man crew for a sailing vacation that will take them from St. Thomas to Grenada.
The trip starts out as an innocent adventure in paradise until two accidents in quick succession strand the women without their crew. What else can go wrong? In a word, everything. The engine conks out, the sails are torn, lack of electricity spoils their food and limits their drinking water - and then there's the injury to Holly's leg.
Nature's fury, murderous drug dealers and, possibly most deadly of all, their own frailties and secrets are added to the list.
Readers will wring their hands with frustration, weep with sadness and second-guess the choices these women make. But since characters must do the bidding of the authors who create them, we can only sit back - or sit on the edge of our seats - and let Mitchard's terror-filled tale wash over us.
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"I quite liked it. Definitely not what I expected from Mitchard. More suspense and action type plotting. Still, it had some issues and some of the characters were not all that developed. Some of the actions taken were a little dumb at times and left me wondering, but overall I did enjoy it."
— Jennifer (4 out of 5 stars)
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“This fast-paced novel borrows qualities from several genres—suspense, survival epic, coming-of-age—and mostly succeeds in melding the better aspects of each…Mitchard’s fans will appreciate this high-stakes adventure.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Susan Ericksen masterfully portrays childhood friends Tracy, Holly, and Olivia and their enduring friendship.”
— Audiofile -
“Fans will enjoy this mix of seafaring adventure and romantic suspense.”
— Booklist
Still Summer Listener Reviews
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" Not a bad book. Had an element of suspense I've not seen in some of her other books. "
— Cindy, 2/19/2014 -
" From the jacket description of this book I expected an amazing page turner. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment. The characters were transparent and the plot was very thin. You could see the direction this misadventure was taking chapters before the author arrived at the dock. "
— Liz, 2/16/2014 -
" I can't get past the first 75 pages. I have started (and restarted, and restarted) this book a few times, and it's like a mental block. I will finish it this summer... "
— Jessica, 2/11/2014 -
" Jacquelyn Michard's books usually hold my attentiona nd it is no different with this book. SHe takes 3 friends and the daughter of one on a journey they will remember for the rest of their lives. 4 best friends from HS get together 20 years later to console one who just lost her husband. They decide to take a trip to the Islands on a private boat captained by Lenny and Michel. One friend backs out when her husband needs minor surgery...she's the lucky one! Tracy takes Cammie her 17 year old daughter in her place. Lenny and Michel meet with disaster and the 4 women have to man the sail boat on the high seas on their own. They run into Ernesto, Carlo and the American friend who are murderers and drug dealers. This proves to be an interesting story..... "
— Fran, 2/9/2014 -
" Ugh! Too many things occured that defied reason and/or just weren't believable--forgetting about the existence of a rescue-signaling device and actually having the charaters say something like "The rescue beacon---why didn't we remember this before?". This is a very bad Lifetime movie waiting to happen. The only positive thing I can say about it is that it made my 30 minute sessions on the elliptical go by more quickly. "
— Becky, 1/30/2014 -
" Boy, does it take a while to get into this book. It is relatively worth the effort. This is a good book about selflessness, selfishness, motherhood and crisis management! There were a few loose ends and I'm still trying to figure out the significance of the can opener, but I enjoyed it anyways. "
— Amy, 1/11/2014 -
" I loved this book!!! The suspense was what kept me turning page after page after page. And yes, we all know someone like Olivia--who we wish we could throw overboard!! "
— Stephanie, 12/30/2013 -
" pretty good story. I liked this - although i wanted to smack the daughter! "
— Bridget, 12/29/2013 -
" this was an entertaining fast read, good story although quite predictable. Nothing earth shattering but kept me reading. "
— Donna, 12/24/2013 -
" Poorly written and poorly edited. Character development severely lacking and no sense of the relationships connecting the characters. Skip this one. "
— Kelly, 12/15/2013 -
" I enjoyed this book. There were parts that made me tear up, and all in all it was a good summer read. "
— Jacqueline, 12/12/2013 -
" Bad plot, terrible characters. "
— Rachel, 11/26/2013 -
" Enjoyed it, was an easy summer read. Some tense moments, some tender moments. If I learned anything from this book, it would have to be that we all have the power to survive if we dig deep enough. "
— Patti, 11/24/2013 -
" A great book! Don't read this on a cruise:) "
— Pia, 11/10/2013 -
" Probably should rate 2-1/2 stars. The middle of the book with the tragedy unfolding at sea was pretty gripping but the characters and their lives and relationships were uninteresting. "
— Karen, 11/5/2013 -
" Great yarn that has the girl family side and adventure. First half of the books has the hint of something to come in the eerie background. "
— Susan, 8/19/2013 -
" Really enjoyed this book. About real women in a frightening catastrophic situation that brings out the best for three of the characters and the worst for one of them. unforgettable characters. "
— Catherine, 4/14/2013 -
" UUUGGGHHH....I couldn't even finish this book. Sooo many useless words. Ms. Mitchard definately owns a thesaurus and she intended to use every descriptive word in it for this horrible book. If i had twenty thumbs they would all point DOWN! "
— Rhonda, 10/17/2012 -
" A good read!! Interesting characters, adventure, suspense and somewhat sexy!! "
— Trisha, 6/1/2012 -
" Four women go on a Caribbean (small boat) cruise, and bad things happen. It felt a little contrived, and unrealistic, but was a quick read. "
— Linda, 2/15/2012 -
" A little unbelievable/overly dramatic for my taste- and definitely more violent than I was expecting from Jacquelyn Mitchard. Definitely not one of my favorites of hers. "
— Jill, 2/8/2012 -
" Long story of semi-friends stuck on a boat together. Not the best thing I've ever read. "
— Lindy, 1/7/2012 -
" Was a very good book. Couldn't stop thinking about it for days afterwards. Was a bit slow initially, but stick with it! "
— Courtney, 11/1/2011 -
" I thought it was an ok book through most of it, but I was sobbing through the last few chapters..... "
— Jen, 9/28/2011 -
" The abridgement of the audiobook was so choppy I had to get the book to figure out what was going on. Turns out that wasn't really worth the effort since everything was pretty predictable. "
— Jill, 9/3/2011 -
" LOVED it. Laughed and cried. Definitely recommend it. "
— Deanna, 7/20/2011 -
" Great action read for women! It's a thriller and a story about relationships. The everyday woman put in an unbelievable situation and overcoming the odds. I recommend reading this book. "
— Liz, 4/18/2011 -
" First Jacquelyn mitchard book I have not loved "
— Kim, 4/17/2011 -
" I can say yet, b/c I haven't gotten very far. "
— Gwen, 3/24/2011 -
" I would have given it four stars had it ended one chapter sooner. I was actually in tears at the end of the second last chapter. And then came, what I feel was an unecessary and flat last chapter. Very suspenseful read though. "
— Lori, 3/21/2011 -
" Did not care for this at all. I really have to stop buying clearanced books. "
— Mandy37, 1/27/2011 -
" LOVED it. Laughed and cried. Definitely recommend it. "
— Deanna, 1/18/2011 -
" Don't waste your time. "
— Ndecamp, 1/18/2011 -
" This would make a great movie! "
— Joelle, 12/17/2010 -
" It was one of those books where I was intrigued by the story, yet frustrated. The characters were not very likable, and everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, which I don't like. "
— Teresa, 11/22/2010 -
" This book started out ok but then it really grabbed me. "
— Liz, 10/31/2010 -
" I read the author's Deep End of the Ocean years ago on Oprah's recommendation and really enjoyed it. I haven't read anything else by her over the years but thought I would give this one a try. What a disappointment. I can't believe I read the whole plodding thing! "
— Raidene, 10/1/2010 -
" very good book, a little violent but a good read "
— Linda, 9/30/2010 -
" After a loggy start, this turned into a powerful and moving story! "
— Nancy, 9/3/2010 -
" about a 3rd of the way in, I can really relate to the mother/daughter conflict. And feel something ominous brewing on the water. "
— Carol, 8/28/2010
About Jacquelyn Mitchard
Jacquelyn Mitchard’s first novel, The Deep End of the Ocean, launched Oprah’s Book Club and became an international bestseller, hitting #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Her other works, including The Most Wanted, Twelve Times Blessed, The Breakdown Lane, and Cage of Stars have also been well received. Mitchard has appeared on the Today show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC, and numerous other local and national television and radio programs. She was a contributing editor for Parenting magazine and wrote a weekly syndicated column until 2007 which appeared in more than one hundred newspapers across the country. Her articles have appeared in Newsweek, Life, Reader’s Digest, TV Guide, Ladies’ Home Journal, and many other publications. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and nine children.
About Susan Ericksen
Susan Ericksen is an actor and voice-over artist. She has been awarded numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. As an actor and director, she has worked in theaters throughout the country.