Musings of a reading addict

Keywords: podcast thriller, missing persons mystery, dual narrative, audiobook thriller

Genre: Thriller

Length: short medium long

Country: Spain

REVIEW

My latest read was This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum, and honestly… it was an experience!!! I listened to it as an audiobook, and I can say without exaggeration that this is the best audiobook production I have ever come across. If I’m ever to recommend one audiobook, this is it!

The story follows two best friends, Benny Abbott and Joy Moore, who run a podcast together. One day, Benny goes to visit Joy and her husband, only to find the house empty, with glass shattered and clear signs that something is very wrong. This is not a casual disappearance. From there, Benny teams up with his ex-wife Luna, along with family and the police, to try and piece together what happened.

All podcast scenes are actually produced as a podcast. You hear the shift in audio, the microphone quality, the setup, it all feels real. At some point Benny announces over their podcast the disappearance of Joy. When responses come in, they’re not just read by a single narrator; you get different voices, different tones, different people. It’s immersive in a way that I honestly didn’t expect, and it fits the story perfectly. It’s not just narration, it’s performance!

As for the story itself, this is a mystery/thriller, and I genuinely enjoyed it. I did suspect the reveal fairly early on, so I can’t say the ending completely blew me away, but interestingly, that didn’t take away from the experience in this case.

The book works on a dual narrative. On one hand, you have the present-day search for Joy. On the other, you have Joy’s manuscript, a kind of biographical account of her relationship with Benny. Through this, you gradually learn about their past, how they met, how the podcast came to be, and what happened after they gained fame.

Something the author handles really well is the timing of information. You get pieces of the past exactly when you need them to make sense of the present. Not too early, not too late. It’s very controlled, very intentional, and honestly, that’s harder to pull off than it looks.

Character-wise, I also appreciated the restraint. Let me tell you what I mean by that.

Joy has narcolepsy, which is something I don’t think I’ve encountered often in fiction. However, it’s handled with care, it adds depth to her character without becoming a cheap plot device. It doesn’t take over the story, it just exists as part of who she is. Same goes for Benny, his past, his family, his issues, all are there but they never feel like they’re being used to artificially drive the plot. They remain what they should be, character-building elements, not narrative crutches.

Otherwise, don’t expect “Dostoevskian” characters. To be fully honest, if I met Joy in real life I don’t think I would have liked her – but then again, I’m from Eastern Europe. However, they work for the story and that should be enough.

Overall, this was exactly what I needed, especially after finishing Don Quixote, which was, uhm, a commitment. I wanted something lighter, something purely entertaining. And this delivered.

I know I’m repeating myself but if you’re going to pick this up really go for the audiobook. Seriously.

PS. If you are looking for some REALLY GOOD thrillers/ police/detective books, go for anything written by Helen Fields. I will try to review her books soon enough, but until then just trust me, her books are IT when it comes to the genre (D.I. Callanach series to be more precise)