Audio Book Review: Missing Max

Missing Max

By Karen Young

Read by Laural Merlington

The book opens with the abduction of six month old Max Madison during a Mardi Gras parade and moves quickly into the conflicted relationships that are left in the wake of the kidnapping.  Kyle and Jane and Kyle’s sixteen year old daughter Melanie are each struggling in their own ways with feelings of responsibility for the missing child.  Family communication breakdowns add to the frustrations as each family member struggles to deal with the loss, while maintaining hope for reunification.

Ms. Merlington does a wonderful job of voice fluctuation between characters, moods and emotions that draws the listener into the drama.  There was one particular point during a heated conversation where the narration was rapid and was not clear between a character’s speaking voice and the character’s thoughts.  After a moment of listening in context, the confusion was cleared up, but it did give this reader pause.

Without giving away too many details, I will say that Missing Max follows a typical Christian fiction cookie cutter and was rather predictable.  I also found parts of the story line to be far fetched and out of character for the characters as they were written. It served well for “brain bubble gum” to occupy my mind while my hands were occupied with the tasks of the day.

Disclosure: I received this audiobook free from Oasis Audio as part of their Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.