• Rip Tides

  • (Paradise Crime Mysteries Book 9)
  • By: Toby Neal
  • Narrated by: Sara Malia Hatfield
  • Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (162 ratings)

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Rip Tides  By  cover art

Rip Tides

By: Toby Neal
Narrated by: Sara Malia Hatfield
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Publisher's summary

Surfing in Hawaii can be fame, talent, and...murder.

Poised to win the prestigious Triple Crown of Surfing, Maui surf star Makoa Simmons washes up tragically dead. Detective Lei Texeira plunges into a high-profile case whose dark and tangled motives reach deep into the elite world of professional surfing on the North Shore of Oahu. Lei must follow her instincts into new territory even as husband Michael Stevens struggles with heartbreak of another kind.

©2015 Toby Neal (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Another fantastic mystery featuring Lei Texeira and the wonderful, deftly drawn characters populating the Lei Crime Series. Toby Neal just keeps getting better, and Rip Tides is my new favorite." (Emily Kimelman, author of the Sydney Rye Mystery Series)

What listeners say about Rip Tides

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Keeps getting better & better

Rip Tides (Lei Crime Series Book 9) continues the personal stories of Hawaiian police detectives-- Lei Texeira and her husband Michael Stevens -- as well as the latest homicide case in which a surfing star has drowned under suspicious circumstances.

I can't get enough of Lei, Michael and their extended family. Narrator Sara Malia Hatfield enhances the experience with her wonderful performance, capturing the characters and the island dialect.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A remarkable return to form.

The difference between this book and the last one is like day and night. This book is a complete return to form, a strong, interesting crime with some personal stuff going on around it – like the earliest books, before the melodramatic vendetta that increased as the books went on. Even the over-dramatic stuff about the ‘Shroud Killer’ is barely mentioned. From the extreme change in tone, I’m guessing the author is reacting to the criticism of the previous book. The result is one of the strongest books in the series so far, a stellar example of why this series is worth reading, and the series worth following.

Another welcome correction is the relationship between Michael and Lei – in the previous book, it had gotten to outright toxic, both disturbing and unhealthy. That’s also disappeared which is a relief, it was very unpleasant.

Having an alcoholic mother myself, I understand and appreciate the hard stance the brothers take with their mother. Trying to be supportive only gets you so far, eventually you need to draw the line and live your own life, stop letting them ruin yours. Forcing someone into rehab almost never lasts so Michael and Jared shouldn’t get their hopes up. My mother went in three times and the longest it ever lasted was 3 months. If the person doesn’t want to get sober, then you can’t force them to – it has to come from their own desire to change. If they make a genuine effort, then you can be supportive. Makes me wonder if the author has experience with this – it’s completely accurate.

Loved the final interview sequence – putting conflicting people in a room and seeing what happens. It’s amazing what people will blurt out in passion when someone says something that makes them look bad. The police barely have to do anything but light the match then stand back and watch the explosion.

The reader does her usual excellent job, her accents create the immersion.

I’m extremely relieved. After the last book, I was about to abandon this series – now I’m completely back on board. Maybe the author was having personal issues and it came out in her writing, but thankfully, the ugly tone that contaminated the last book has stopped. This is quite possibly the strongest of the series so far.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Another hit in this series.

The series continues, expanding the characters. Sara Malia Hatfield does a great interpretation of this story, providing entertainment with the reading. Hawaii is depicted as the tourist never sees it. This is a series I look forward to listening to or reading and am looking forward to reading the next in the series.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

What a tradegy. A surfer at the prime of his career is murdered

Throughout this book the maincharacter dies right away and people who were his lovers, friends, amd enemies are investigated. It goes to show as the song says, "There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate."

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

This title caught my attention quickly. Great title for this story.

Such a great ending. I never seen that coming!!!!!! I love the Hawaiian setting and the Hawaiian tongue used.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good crime story

A good crime mystery with interesting characters. The plot is believable starting with the possible murder of a celebrity surfer. SGT Lei Texeira and her partner skillfully solve the crime despite lack of strong evidence.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Novel

This was my first Toby Neal novel and I was not disappointed with this "new to me" author. The novel had wonderful visuals that brought back my own time in the islands, and the plot was not only interesting, but kept you guessing right to the end. I'm looking forward to more from this author.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

Interesting plot but not a page turner.

Too many side issues detract from the main storyline and don't add anything substantial.


The performer's voice is indistinct and often hard to understand, especially when doing male voices. When she does her gravel voice male characters with Hawaiian accents, she is almost impossible to understand.

Would not recommend it in audiobook format.




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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not bad

Unknowingly I picked up book 9 in a series. This put me at a disadvantage as I didn't know the back story which was referenced often. I thought the narrator did a good job with female voices, however her native Hawaiian male voices sounded guttural and mumbling. I rewound frequently trying to understand. Lei's husband was referenced as "Stephens" even by her. I thought this odd later finding out his first name was Micheal. Fairly interesting story, don't know If I'd rush to pick up another unless it was a bargain price.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

OK book.

Did not like the narrator accent. I don't think I would like another book by this author. I would like to remove it from my library.

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