Tranquility

By: Dave Creek

Narrated by: Kristin James

Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

An explosion in Tranquility City on the moon kills 14-year-old Dacia Stark's parents and sends her on a quest to find Julian Walker, the terrorist who admitted to the crime. Now a detective on Tranquility's police force, Dacia has seen more than her share of blood, death, and grief. But that's only stiffened her resolve - not just to track Walker down, but to kill him.

©2015 Dave Creek (P)2016 Dave Creek

Wonderful Listen

Would you consider the audio edition of Tranquility to be better than the print version?

Did not read the printed version

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dacia, Her life changed when Tranquility City was bombed and she lost her parents

Which scene was your favorite?

When Dacia finally caught the killer of her parents

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, Very much so

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher

Moments in one woman's life as she grows.

Would you try another book from Dave Creek and/or Kristin James?

I do enjoy Kristin's voice acting. When the moment is explosive and needing to move quick, Kristin brings that rush to her voice yet she's still clear and easy to understand. Kristin puts the feel into Dacia's voice along with others that are present in Dacia's small group of friends.

As for a Dave Creek book... I'm not sure. Maybe.

Any additional comments?

*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

Right at the beginning we see a huge turning point in Dacia's life, when Tranquility City was bombed and she lost her parents. Though, here we meet her doctor. I really don't like the doctor. Dr. Portillo has no bedside manner with a 14 year old girl, telling her point blank that her parents are dead then what is/was wrong with her. Harsh. They want to keep her from feeling overwhelmed, but they hit her with all the terrible things. Though we learn that Dacia's emotions are muted, so telling her these things abruptly won't affect her at this moment. Then a week later she goes to the Memorial Service for all lost in the bomb with Dacia. The doctor feels contradictory to me this early in the book. Though as we get to see the doctor later in the story, she's a nice person and wants well for Dacia.

Dacia... Living through what she did and having the drive to find the man who did it is wonderful. But she's living her life on this obsession. She's kept her emotions muted until she finds Julian Walker and feels her hands squeezing his throat. She misses all other things in life by living this way. Eventually Dacia realizes this and with the help of her friends makes a big change in her life.

I think this story is to short. There are times where there's a lot of information that feels important and I was noting like crazy. Then there were times that I felt we were being told about Dacia instead of living with her, in this case I think the story could be better and longer if we got to live these short sections with her and through her actions.

The format of telling this story feels like it's an anthology of short stories in Dacia's life. We see different times in her life and different cases she solves. All don't feel to connect except that she's always got in the back of her mind, in each short section, that she will always look for Julian Walker. In the end, mostly they come together as to why those moments were selected to be shared.

Basically, I wanted more from the story. Bring me into the world and make those cases Dacia is working connect to what is happening and finding Julian. I feel like I'm getting news clips of Dacia and her life. (are they all important?) Even to show the rules of Tranquility a bit more clearer by living through them.

This story felt a bit rough for me going through the first time with the connections and quick glimpses in Dacia's life over a large span of years. All the moments are important in the end though, that's what saved this book from a lower rating.

Vengeance takes many forms

4.5 out of 5 stars

How far would you go to avenge your parent’s deaths? For 14-year old Dacia, it would drive the next 10+ years of her life. After watching her parents die in an explosion, she vows to avenge their deaths by finding and killing their killer.

The narration for Tranquility was done by Kristin James who does a pretty nice job. The range wasn’t all there (a few times she tried to be other characters that just sounded weird and forced). Other than that she had a really great narration voice, and I found it really easy to listen to.

The story was one of vengeance. It was like an old school detective story mixed in with a modern day thriller. Dacia as a character felt very one-dimensional, but that is most likely due to the fact that for most of the story her emotions are “muted.”

The scenes that Dave Creek painted were both that of familiarity (the lunar landing site) and brand new areas. I thought he did a really nice job weaving in things that we would recognize with new things that only a science fiction book would hold.

The science in the book (there wasn’t too much) was believable and a little out there (it is sci-fi). And I thought that overall, Tranquility was an enjoyable book. The length felt just right to me, and I’m really glad that I took the time to read it.

This book was given to me at no charge, in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom

Police Procedural on the moon

Earth has made it to the moon, with a colony set up there, and they are on the brink of expanding further into space. But terrorist forces on Earth are wanting to stop that from happening, believing that humans should stay on Earth only. Dacia Stark is a victim of the terrorist, having lost her parents in an explosion, she has grown up wanting to get revenge.

While the major theme of the book is about this terrorist and getting revenge, large sections of the book are not about this but are about Dacia as a police officer, solving crimes on the moon. Because of this the book actually feels disjointed, like two stories (the police investigation and the revenge story) crammed together.

The story opens with Dacia as a child and with the death of her parents then proceeds to jumps forward in time, through several key events in her life, focusing on terrorist. This quick move through key points then jarringly settles into a police procedural following one case that is pretty much unrelated to the terrorist storyline. This creates a jarring effect when the police procedural comes along . I think it would have been better to just follow adult character and tell history in flashbacks/memories.

Dacia also has her "emotions repressed" during most of the book, making her an unemotional character. She thus is one of the least interesting things going on in the book because she barely reacts and barely cares about things, making it hard to care what happens to her.

The main bad guy comes across as a mustache twirling one dimensional character. Eventually some backstory is added to the character, which then gives the promise of elevating him, but in the end it's just more of the same. It doesn't give him reasons for his actions, just shows how and when he started and just makes him more unhinged.

All that said, the setting earth vs the moon, the moon station, the cusp of space travel etc is an interesting setup. I just wish something more had been done with the characters in the situation.


The Narration by Kristin James is really enjoyable. She provides distinct voices for each character, carrying the action and emotion. It is well paced, and clear.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of audiobookboom dot com.

Interesting storyline

I never thought of how different the perfect crime would have to be in a space vacuum. This book had many twists and turns, I can not say it was at all predictable.

"I just have stuff to do"

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

When just 14 years if age, a terrorist bomb in the Moon city of Tranquility leaves Dacia Stark seriously injured and her parent dead. To help her recovery from the joint trauma, she is given a temporary muting of her emotions. She decides to stay emotionless permanently the better to track down and kill the bomber. This story follows her life as she grows, joins the police and searches for him.
Perhaps the lead character is deliberately kept one dimensional to fit with the idea of muted emotion but how much more enjoyable this book would have been had she, and the other protagonists, been more fully rounded. As it was, it felt more like a Tom and Jerry cartoon being enacted on the moon. There were so many potentially exciting science fiction possibilities touched upon, nano technology for example, to explore further, but these were mostly ignored in favour of the simplistic police pursuit.
The narrator has a clear and pleasant voice for the text. She carried the story well. But in dialogue her range was very limited, unable to give convincing male speech and sometimes employing outrageously poor accents of a totally undetermined variety. Had she been paired with a second, male reader this audio would have been greatly enhanced.

I cannot with honesty recommend this book. I'd expected a science fiction based detection thriller but instead found a vengeance tale set on the moon, visual, yes, and with a good story line, but unfortunately bereft of living people. It would probably make a good film allowing the actors to fill out the characters they play.
I received a complimentary copy of Tranquility from the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom, in expectation of an honest review. This I have given.

Wonderful Listen

This book was a great story to listen to with some plot twists being expected and others not so much.

I listened to this story without ever a dull moment though do not see too much openings for a future book. If they decide to continue I wonder how they would do so.

I was given this book free to give an unbiased review by the Author or a representative of the book.

Murder, Mystery, and the Moon

I was a bit confused by the story and direction of Tranquility. The book’s description made me think it would be a Young Adult (YA) or coming of age science fiction/space story with a specific goal the main character needs to complete. The story includes nano-meds for healing, memory wipes (snips), emotion inhibitors, and some other fantastically futuristic technology. Not only some great technology but we also have a colony of people, with its own government, on the moon. Bring in some alien lifeforms to assist with the story’s goal and you have what appears to be the type of science fiction I like to read. wrapped into this rather short story. It sounds like a great tail told in just over one hundred pages.

However, read below for the reasons I would not recommended this book to young readers.

The book itself is really more a detective action/thriller story that takes place on the lunar surface. It includes acts of terrorism upon the lunar colony and a girl’s journey to find the person who murdered her parents along with hundreds of other lunar citizens. The book follows her and her alien co-worker as they try to unravel the mystery and clues needed to catch this person.

I found the author was able to describe well the scene and action taking place which allowed me to more easily visualize this lunar facility. However, I found the characters overall to be a bit flat. I wanted so much more that would make me care for the key characters of the story. More background about her parents and their times together, more history of the lunar colony and their struggles, and more around the aliens than what was provided. Providing some extra details on life and technology for these people living on the moon would have gone a long way for me. I want to be able to live out the story along with the author. Take me on a journey that I never want to leave, etc.

As I became comfortable with the opening story and the direction the author was taking me, I was settling in for a good fun coming of age story with a murder mystery twist until the author derailed me with a few speed bumps. First off, there were a few limited uses of vulgar language that was completely unnecessary to the story or plot. Seemed to just be dropped in for shock value. I counted 3-5 times the author uses explicit language in the book. There are conversations involving the use of alcohol; mostly beer. Lastly there were a few places where what I would call “light” adult material is brought up including some sexual acts, dating, etc. Because of these items, I would not recommend this book the young readers, however the story itself, I’m sure, would have been interesting to this age group had the author just left out the above items. Nothing in these categories was required nor did their use help to move the plot along.

The audiobook narration was done by Kristin James and I will say she does a great job in telling this story. She has narrated over 40 other titles and many of the books on her list are ones I would enjoy listening too; the highest number in the sci-fi category. She is able to voice the characters well and the audio itself is clean and crisp having no pops, clicks, or swallows. The volume was level throughout the recording. I will be listening to more narrations by her in the future.

After listening to the book, I wanted more depth, character development, and story. Again, I liked the plot, the twists, the mystery, and all. I just wanted more to better know the people involved.

More Thriller than YA

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com.

The narrator did a great job.

I had some mixed feelings about the story, but overall it was enjoyable. I was expecting something more YA, but I'd characterize it more as a thriller with a sci fi background. The setting and technology are all sci fi, but they weren't really crucial to the story. There were a few sexual/intimate scenes which I thought didn't really fit and could be cut as they didn't really help round the character IMO. Despite having her emotions muted, the protagonist still comes off very emotional in her quest for revenge.