ICU: The Killing

By: J.D. Black

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A mother knows her children… or does she?

Bonita Gray has the perfect life until tragedy strikes and she is left to raise her two boys by herself.

Like all other single parents, she, too, endures many challenges and fears before her little ones are all grown up.

However… parenthood as she knew it is flipped upside down when one obstacle that Bonita thought she’d never have to face arises. One that may force her to choose life or death for one child over the other and lead her to fear for her very own livelihood.

What if one of your children did something so horribly wrong and the other child was blamed for the crime, but you, the mother, knew the truth? What… would… you… do?

So much potential

I enjoyed the book but just felt like I needed more. I enjoyed the writing style so I will definitely check out more books from this author

AI generated narrator

The storyline is ok but what I really don't like is the AI generated narrator. it doesn't make it sound realistic for me to imagine the book.

3.5 ⭐️

There are 3 parts to the overall story and this short story is part 1. Parts 1 & 2 end on a cliffhanger much like they do in comics, making you eager for the next issue to be released. I would've preferred that all parts were recorded together to make one book instead of having to download and listen to them separately, but I listened to all 3 parts in one sitting so it still kinda read like a regular short story with a brief intermission lol I'm rating all 3 together as one short story.

1️⃣ Part 1 is hard to rate on its own since not a lot really happens until the end.
2️⃣ Part 2 has a lot more going on, and is a very quick listen.
3️⃣ Part 3 ends pretty abruptly, and I would've liked to have had something a little tidier.
✅️ Overall though, not a bad little story, and the lesson is to never trust twins! Lol I fully support indie authors, and I would read other writings from this one.
⛔️ Virtual voice is a no-go! The MC is a women in her early 40's or possibly older, but the voice used sounds like a young woman in her late teens/early 20's... Virtual voice can be good for reading textbooks or something fact-based, but when listening to a character tell their story we need emotion and tonal inflection to help us understand how they're feeling in the moment or as they recall feeling at a certain time in history. I do understand the use of Virtual voice though since it costs money to have a book recorded in a studio (voice actor, editor, producer, sound engineer, etc.)... just think a different voice could've been used to make the listening experience better.

Unfinished

Good story but left without a real ending. I was waiting for what happened and it was never told. Very disappointing

This short story is flat as hell

This is one of the worst short stories I have read or listen to in a long, long time. ICU:The Killing written by JD Black is as flat as a flat tire. It’s just an hour and 15 minutes so I kept reading, waiting for the mystery the author promised.
Virtual voice was used on this one and unfortunately that was a mistake. It sounded like a child talking. But again, the book seems to be written by a young teenager. No big words or twists in this audiobook. I am still wondering what was in the letter Missy gave her to read ASAP. Maybe it wasn’t important. 🤷🏻‍♀️ There are 2 follow ups after this one I believe… I pass.