Dead Silence is a Christian suspense novel that has a strong faith element but Elise Carmichael doesn't display it at first. She is the widowed mother of a seven-year-old deaf son and she has experienced great heartache, leaving her with a faith that has been diminished by troubles and loss. It is her sister-in-law Mary Ellen who becomes Elise's strong support system and creates the change in Elise's thinking, leaving me with a strong admiration for Mary Ellen's unwavering belief and her Christian witness. As Elise frantically searches to find who has kidnapped her son her prayer life is revived and she finally begins to believe and trust in God once again. But will she find her son and will he be safe?

"Elise nodded, but she knew if anything happened to her son, she wouldn't make it. She'd have no reason to live, and just thinking that scared her."

Intrigue, deceit, and murder are all a part of Dead Silence and I was touched by Elise's strong determination to find her son alive. She is even able to teach the FBI agents a thing or two as they race to find Sawyer! If you are looking for strong female characters and heart-racing adventure, you will want to read this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

Elise's life is turned upside-down when she lip-reads a threat on the life of her mother-in-law, a US senator, and the woman is killed that night before Elise has a chance to warn her. Someone is clearly afraid of what she knows, because she receives escalating threats as she helps the FBI with their investigation. But when her son Sawyer is threatened, things are taken to a whole new level. Will they uncover the murderer in time, before innocent lives are lost?

On the up-side, it's well written and clean, it has suspense without violence, and the characters feel like real people. On the not-so-up side, I felt that it was obvious right from the start what the files were about, and as far as Elise's faith was concerned, it felt more like she decided finally to turn back to God as a last resort rather than from any particular conviction - though perhaps I'm not being fair. Overall, though, an enjoyable story and I hope to read more by the author.

Note that I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.

Dead Silence was a gripper! It was difficult to put the book until I was finished. Definitely a book I want to re-read!

Your heart will go out to Elise, a young widow of a Marine, with a seven year old deaf mute son, Sawyer. Elise has not felt like God cares after her husband's death and Sawyer's disability. Elise's mother-in-law, a US Senator, is murdered and Elise discovers files that she has sent to Sawyer's i-pad shortly before her murder! What are these files and what do they mean? You will fear for Elise as boxes with warning messages begin appearing! Can the FBI be trusted? Then Sawyer is kidnapped! What does it all mean? If you enjoy suspense and no romance, you will love this book by Robin Caroll! I received a complimentary e-book of Dead Silence through NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest opinion.

Stayed up way too late last night finishing this one! But I couldn't leave 7-year-old Sawyer in the position he was in overnight! This suspense story held me glued to my kindle from the opening scene to the last page. It's really nice to read clean, heart-pounding suspense without worrying about language or other unnecessary filler.

Stories where a child is in danger are the hardest to read as a mother, but this one was so well-written and makes me as the reader feel fully invested which is a real treat. (I could have done without the scene with the rattler in the boy's room, personally, but otherwise, no complaints)

Single mothers have a hard lot, but there are a couple of incredible single moms in this book (for different reasons, and both beyond their control), and I feel proud to 'know' both of them.

*I received a copy of this book from #netgalley, and chose to review it here. All thoughts are my own.

Dead silence was well-written and engaging.

An excellent addition to the genre.

Great option for Christians seeking a strong, yet clean, mystery.

Ms. Caroll does not disappoint in her latest engaging, fast-paced suspense novel. Readers will be in a race to the finish to discover what is going on. Elise Carmichael's son is deaf so she can read lips and works as a sign language interpreter. Her mother-in-law is a prominent senator. She unintentionally witnesses two people talking and realizes they are talking about killing her mother-in-law. However, right after this she receives a phone call that her son is injured. Once she reports what she witnessed, she will be in a race to discover what is going on to ensure that her son is protected. This novel provides readers with suspense throughout the novel. This is a Christian suspense book and there are many references to God and a person's faith explained throughout the book. I have always loved Ms. Caroll's books and enjoyed this latest release immensely. I highly recommend this book and her other books. I was given a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. This is my honest opinion. Even though I received this copy free, I have purchased her books before.

I enjoyed reading Dead Silence. The premise is intriguing--Elise, a lip reader who works in the courthouse learns of a plot to kill a senator who is her mother-in-law. She gets a call that her son has been injured and rushes to the hospital. I could not believe that Elise forgot about the plot over her son's broken arm. The FBI agents had the same problem. The FBI is portrayed very poorly, which I disliked. I did enjoy the faith aspect in the book. The ending is satisfying. I would read more from Robin Carroll.
I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley.

This was a fast paced, interesting mystery. The premise of a lip reader who works in the courts and realizes that she has "heard" a threat is a good hook for the mystery. The action is good and there are some good characters too. A good read, all in all. There were some draggy parts but stick with it. I think you'll be glad you did.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher and voluntarily chose to review it.

Elise Carmichael, an interpreter for the deaf, witnesses, by lip reading, one side of a phone conversation threatening her mother-in-law, Senator Lillian York. Efforts to silence her put both her life and her son Sawyer's in extreme danger. Robin Caroll has created a wonderful mystery without any romance to weave into the plot. While reading chapters one through thirty-two I was fluctuating between a four and five star rating due to the plot, dialogue and pacing. Chapters thirty-three through thirty-six almost seemed like they were written by a different author. The story became rushed and less believable. Enough so that my final rating is three stars, as I close the book feeling just a little let down.

I received a copy of Dead Silence from Barbour Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review, and received no monetary compensation.

Title: Dead Silence
Author: Robin Caroll
Publisher: Shiloh Run Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:

"Dead Silence" by Robin Caroll

My Speculation:

'Dead Silence' was a heart-rending mystery, thriller, suspense, with some Christian elements that gave the reader one exciting story. Elise Carmichael was a widowed mother with a dead son where the story starts with her being able to read lips of a man discussing a murder plot.. of her mother-in-law, who happened to be a state senator. However, as the story moves, Elise will learn of her son's [seven-year-old Sawyer's] accident that sends her to the hospital. As the story continues, we will see what happens next. Before Elise can address anything to anyone about what she had heard, her mother-in-law, who was a United States senator from Arkansas Lillian York, is murdered.

The story will take a lot of twists and turns as the FBI become involved. Several people who will come after Elise and her son once they realize she was a witness. What I didn't care for was the way the FBI did their investigation, which showed that somebody in their organization was sharing information. One could see why Elise was so upset with the FBI, and that was why she resolved herself [with the help of ours] to uncover the truth of what was going on.

I enjoyed the characters of Elise's family and friend relationship that this story had especially with Elise, son, Sawyer, babysitter Hallie, sister-in-law Mary Ellen, and father-in-law, Noland. And I don't want to leave out the journalist, Wesson Kelly. I enjoyed how all of these characters were well developed and defined, giving the story much substance of the story.

After all is said and done this mystery, thriller, the suspense wouldn't have been that hard to solve if the FBI had handled things somewhat better than the did. With all that was going on from the murder, threatening gifts received mysterious e-mail files, stalking to even the kidnapping it seemed like the right people who were heading up this investigation did not know what they were doing. OK, I will stop here and say you will have to pick up this good read to get it all. It was quite an exciting read.

Thank you for the read that I received through NetGalley for my honest opinion of the read.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a different take on the normal suspense type book. I love how she infused the life of a deaf mute child into the book. There is even suspense to leave you guessing but no in excess. I enjoyed how the main character struggled with everything that had happened in her life, yet was still open to listening to others about how faith in God is the only sure thing in life.

The exquisite cover appealed to me to want to read the book, as did the description of signing and sign language. Many people will be drawn to this book because of the clean content. In fact, by and large, there is little language or situational elements to find offensive. The story began quickly.
I, however, could not connect with the story. After the quick beginning, there were many lagging episodes and too much repetition for my taste. I just couldn’t give this a 3.
This is a time I wish I could give a 2.5. Mind you, this is a positive 2.5, not a negative 2.5.

A Mother Protects Her Deaf Son in a Murder Investigation

Elsie Carmichael, a court sign language interpreter, is just finishing a case and rushing off to pick up her son, Sawyer, who is deaf. On the way out of the building she sees one of the guards speaking to a man she doesn’t know. Reading their lips she fears they are planning a murder. Just as she is about to go to the police with what she learned, she gets a call from Hallie, her son’s sitter. He has broken his wrist and is being taken to the emergency room. Elsie forgets the police and rushes off to be with her son.

The next morning she learns that indeed a murder has been committed. Her mother-in-law, a state senator has been assassinated. Because of her lip reading, Elsie and Sawyer become part of the police investigation of the crime.

This murder mystery is filled with twists. It’s hard to guess who killed the senator and why until the very end. Elsie and Sawyer are appealing characters. Sawyer is a brave little boy and his mother does everything she can to protect him.

The use of lip reading and sign language in the story was interesting. I enjoyed learning more about the deaf and how children, deaf from birth function. The story is Christian fiction. Elsie’s character prays a great deal, but it is a realistic part of who she is.

If you like a suspenseful, Christian mystery, this is a good one.

I received this book from Barbour Publishing for this review.

This was a wonderful book full of suspense and lots of twists and turns. I really loved the characters and love how they all worked together to solve all the problems that came their way. I did not want to put this book down. I received a copy of this book from Barbour Publishing for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

Elise Carmichael is sign language interpreter for the court system and one day while at work she reads the lips of someone in the courthoudse and realizes that they are talking about a US Senator who just happens to be the mother of her deceased husband. Elise is concerned, as she thinks what she "heard" was a death threat. Before she can tell someone, she gets a call that her deaf and mute son has had an accident so she rushes to the hospital. Once everything calms down and she is back home, she learns from the news that her Mother in Law has been murdered.

What follows is a story full of suspense as Elise and her sister in law and her mother in law's husband try to find out who killed the Senator and why. Definitely didn't figure it out until close to the end.

Another good thing about this story in the Christian theme that is threaded through the story.

I highly recommend this book!

I was drawn to Dead Silence by Robin Carroll because it involved a deaf character, which I thought offered a different angle. It is an excellent choice for the reader who wants to avoid violence and bad language and doesn't mind a few prayers incorporated into the story. Thanks to NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this wonderful book. The opinions are my own and given freely.

The premise of having a deaf/mute child made this a very interesting story. The child is kidnapped. As the mother and the FBI are trying to find him, the suspense builds. At one point, the mother and a friend were traveling in a car. The author wrote that the driver was speeding up. I thought, "If the author has them have a wreck, I'm not going to be happy about that." Well, the author got them home safely. I was glad for that. The ending had an interesting twist that I think the reader will enjoy. This is a writer that I plan to follow. Well done.

This book was good! Not great, jut good. It followed a woman whose son was deaf and whose mother-in-law was murdered in her own home. Elise lip-read a man planning the murder, but when her son got hurt she rushed to his side and forgot all about it (understandably so). Then, when she finds out the next morning, she ends up talking to the FBI and that sets the books events in motion. I liked that while this was a Christian-based book, the God stuff doesn't come on abnormally strong. The elements are definitely there, but it's not what the book focuses on. The story is very well told, very suspenseful. I hope that this book turns into a series. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

Court sign interpreter Elise lipreads a threat to eliminate her mother-in-law. Before she gets to report the danger to the authorities, Elise receives a call that her son was injured in a playground accident and has to rush to the hospital. Elise forgets about the danger to her mother-in-law until the next morning when Elise hears that she was murdered. Threats against her family soon follow. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgallery. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. Even though the premise was so good, the story felt flat to me. I never really engaged with the characters or the danger they were in. I loved the Biblical quotes that were used to give Elise hope and comfort. That the FBI agents brought even more danger to Elise and her son was not believable to me. They seemed too caught up in procedures and were inept. The story was okay, but I didn't really care for it.