Kaitlyn, professional radio DJ, is haunted by both a childhood secret and a stalker in the present. At first it was just a few threatening letters, then things escalated, and Kaitlyn’s life, and everyone’s around her, was in danger. She hasn’t told her secret to anyone, even her husband, so who is out their risking their own life to expose her secret?
Listening to this as an audiobook, the first thing I have to say is that the narrator’s voice seemed very false at times which took away from the enjoyment of the story. She struggled with the men’s voices but did well building tension with description. I feel the book was successful in building suspense and the alternating between narrative voices of characters was perfect for having a break between the action. I did find it hard however to sympathise for Kaitlyn when everything could have been avoided by her contacting the police right at the beginning or just telling the truth. Yes, she felt she didn’t want to taint her view of Jessie by admitting that he tried to rape her, but as he was dead, she wasn’t in contact with his family, and she had changed her identity, it would have been okay to reveal the secret to the police.
Despite there being a good build-up of tension, easily working out who the stalker is very early on puts a downer on the suspense. Overall, was entertaining and a good concept for a book, just needs to be executed better with more depth and improved narration.

I really don't like giving bad reviews because the author went to a lot of work to create something personal and vulnerable in the hopes that people would like it and enjoy it. I appreciate Netgalley allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Regretfully, this book goes down as the worst book of the year for me. It gets one star because that's the lowest rating possible, it gets another star for the plot and writing style. I almost wish I had reviewed the ebook version because then I could have done a word count of the times the word "shallows" was spoken. It has to be astronomical. I believe Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper sang the word less times in the making of the movie "A Love Story".

The story itself was the worst crime story/ series of events I could have imagined. Since I couldn't fast forward I set the speed of the audiobook to double time around chapter 30. By this chapter I felt no empathy towards Katlyn and began rooting for her stalker to succeed and put the book to its death along with Katlyn's. By the time the book ended, all I felt was immense relief that it was over and I didn't care what happened to anyone but the poor guy on the garage floor who was tied up.

I don't usually include anything that could spoil the plot but these were quite ridiculous. For those of you not wishing to spoil the book (good luck!).

<spoiler>After the stalker attempts to take Katlyn's life, Brad lets her go into her dark house, alone, at night while he waits in the car and looks at his phone.

After Katlyn receives call from her stalker while in a "safe" place overnight, the police allow her to go home, alone, and return to her house where the previous crime took place.

Once Katlyn finds something missing from the drawer in her bedroom, she decides to go for a run, alone, outside... where the stalker might be.

Once again with police she is finally going to talk about what happened at "the shallows"... never mind she decides to give the lie she told the authorities the night of Jessies' death.

Hey there's a letter on the house from the stalker; let's go in and have a drink or three.

The sliding glass door is broken, "stay away from the windows and stay in the house!" Hmmm look it's Julie who just happened to have seen the whole thing happen and couldn't chase the suspect down.

Rodney gets ready to call the forensics team but no, poor Katlyn is tired of having people in her house and wants Rodney to work out of his job description and collect the evidence himself.

The slider is shot out, but with nothing available (that we know of), Rodney states he secured the door and nobody is getting in.

How about some whiskey and wine while I reads out loud the book "50 Shades of Gray" until the killer returns.

You remind me of my daughter
my fiancé was just murdered and lies dead in a drawer at the morgue
want to make out and have sex?

The next morning I am filled with regrets and desire. Let me continue to lie her naked because I'm afraid to be alone. Wait, there's someone in the cemetery, let me go investigate without waking up the police detective asleep in my bed.

Here's an iPad with video surveillance that police agencies use, let me tell my partner, who drives a beetle who Katlyn will be staying with tonight.

I can smell stale cigarettes on the suspicious DJ but not on my partner who has taken up chain smoking in her spare time.

I hear someone moaning in a garage, let me investigate without calling for back up.

I find a body on the floors, let me untie them without calling for back up.

The killer gets away, let me chase them without calling for backup.

I made bad choices while intoxicated last night, got anything to drink?

Now that 5 people are dead because of me I guess I should tell the truth of the shallows.

Who cares...
</spoiler>

I really enjoyed this. The characters are well though. And it’s a real page turner. The narrator was very good & portrays the novel amazingly. Can’t wait to read more by this author.

While I am very grateful to Michael Bradley and CamCat Publishing for giving me and ARC of this audiobook, I agreed to do so in exchange for an honest review so honest I must be...

The premise was fantastic but the plot was scattershot and the characters were flat.

The narration was kind of creepy and not in the good way.

Again, I am grateful for the opportunity to read and review this audiobook via NetGalley, I just wish it had worked for me.

This is a great book! I don't recall reading any of Michael Bradley's books but this one I truly enjoyed. It was well-written and kept my interest. I kept going because I wanted to know what was going to happen. I do recommend this book!

An interesting murder mystery told from both points of view of the pursued and the pursuer. A nice mix of characters and suspects that keep the reader guessing for the first half of the book and then ramps up the action and tension for the remainder which rises to a terrifying climax at the Shallows

I found the added narration from the perpetrator gave the book an interesting twist and this provided extra clues for those of us that love to work out who the killer is before the grand reveal.

Although this is set in the world of radio broadcasting there is very little of the plot that is involved with the radio station or the process of broadcasting itself - rather it is the characters outside of the station that take centre stage.

I feel that the added sub-plot of the GBT Killer was superflous to the main story and could've been removed without any detriment to the main story.

Are you meant to guess who the stalker is 25% into the book or do I just watch too many cop shows? Part of me feels like this should have been aimed at a YA audience but then given how detailed some scenes are it’s definitely more adult.

I do think however it’s a great introduce into the ways a thriller can be. It shouldn’t be complicated but it should be suspenseful, enticing, engaging and this book was all of those things and so much more.

This book was also very well written. I knew what was happening clearly in every scene, but I also didn’t feel like I was patronised or treated like an idiot while reading, I was told something once or twice and trusted to remember the information.

This was read as an Audiobook Arc from NetGalley and it’s been a wonderful experience and a whole lot of fun.

I just admit I hadn't heard about Michael Bradley prior to listening to this audiobook, but this will not be the last book of his I will read.
The book is a well-written mystery. A radio host is getting increasingly creepy and scary messages, but something from her past is preventing her from letting her boyfriend, colleagues, and the police know what is truly going on. About halfway through the book, I realized what was going on, but there were some interesting twists, I didn't see coming.
Highly enjoyable and recommended.

*received audiobook for free from netgalley for honest review* Overall a pretty good book, some parts were like kinda repetitive? ngl didn't want to put it down though!

I had to take a few days before I reviewed this book. I was trying to find anything that I liked about it at all. I went through a list of everything I would write a review about. Then I went through a list of everything I would talk to my students about. I am still sitting here grasping to find something. I was actually angry many times reading this book. I just can't find a redeeming quality to it, so I will go through one thing at a time.

Characters-
The characters were flat and simplistic. The so called heroine was weak and whiney. She had this great secret about the great "love" of her life and she changed her entire life because of it. She waited helplessly by while things just happened around her. Even when we think she may have actually done something we realize she really didn't. Who makes out with a cop right after their fiancé is murdered?
Then there's the cop. Who spends all of their time thinking about how much someone looks like their daughter and then makes out with them? Yuck! Really yuck! And then when someone tells you about being assaulted you don't recognize the assault AT ALL!

Plot-
All over the place and ridiculous. Even if I take out the apologist slant (that is not how personality disorders work) and the weak females I am still left with people making decisions that make no sense. I feel like every example I make, other than those above, would be too much.

Narrator-
I have to put this in here because I really thought I might be disliking this book so much because of her. The male voice were weir and creepy and the female voices were often whiny and annoying. I don't think it was the entire cause, but it didn't help.

I finished this book because I hate to leave things unfinished.

The atory grabbed me from the start and I needed to know about The Shallows and what happened there. As I read on, I figured out a lot of things, most were correct but, every once in a while, it was an unexpected surprise. I correctly identified the antagonist but it didn't spoil the atory. Kaitlyn got on my nerves real fast so I didn't care about her any more.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I was intrigued enough to want to read it - or to listen to it. Unfortunately, I couldn't be more wrong.

Dead Air is about a girl, Kaitlyn, that hides a big secret from her past. That secret finds its way to her present self and starts to ruin her life, coming to life in the form of someone who wants revenge for whatever happened in The Shallows. Then there is a detective, that I honestly can't bother to remember his name, who is such a walking cliché that I can't even, who is determined to help Kaitlyn. Will they figure it all out before Kaitlyn falls victim to her secret past?
I was enjoying this book until the detective showed up... then, it all went so cliché and meaningless that I truly didn't care what happened next. His relationship with his family, the way he and Kaitlyn got involved, what was the big secret, everything just piled up into a big bag of not-a-single-fuck-was-given. I only kept on listening out of politeness towards NetGalley and CamCat Books. The story itself became unbelievably cliché, the characters were empty and dull, and when the killer is discovered, even a toddler could see it coming.

Oh and yes, the meaning of the title appears by the end, but trust me, it's nothing you could hope for. Not even cool.

So I was hoping to be baffled by this book and kept on my toes as the suspense was built, but that was not what I got. I'm sorry Michael Bradley, but as a reader who doesn't read a lot of thrillers and still finds Dead Air way too cliché... that has to mean something.
Read at your own risk: might not be my cup of tea but it will certainly delight someone out there.

Thank you Netgalley and Camcat for the arc.

It was an entertaining book, but lacked some some depth.
The story follows a radio DJ with a secret past and identity who starts receiving anonymous letters about her past, which then escalate to threats, deaths and a lot of tension. The book also tells of the police officer investigating her case and his own past troubles.
I felt like I was watching one of those 90’s suspense thrillers movies that were all somewhat similar, thus it was a bit cliche and predictable. Still, I enjoyed it and the ending answered for the most part the questions that arose during the story.

Caitlyn Ash is a night DJ in the Philadelphia area who keeps getting requests to play REO Speedwagon...which greatly upsets her because this reminds her of an incident in her past that she wants to forget in a place called The Shallows. This person later proceeds to stalk Caitlyn in every way imaginable for revenge of this past incident. Lots more is revealed as story progresses but I enjoyed in very much. Good thriller. I wanted to keep listening to the narrative. I also enjoyed hearing about places in a story that I live near. I did figure out about half way thru who the stalker was, but still like this very much.

Oooh that was gripping!!

I did work it out and had a good idea how it was going to end, but it was well narrated and I flew through it - definitely happy to listen to this author again.

Thanks Net Galley!! So happy you're doing audio books as well now!

This was okay. Pretty middle of the road as far as thriller/mysteries go for me. I liked the main character and that she was a radio personality. I also liked the anonymous notes being sent to her and them escalating. My biggest disappointment in it is that I could tell half way into the book who the culprit was going to be and I was right. All in all okay.

This is a riveting, cat-and-mouse psychological thriller , and the suffering withing story line enhances this suspenseful tale. From the onset, fans will welcome the lies, deceit, and secrets as each round and well-developed character struggles to keep from being unearthed. The main character is then caught up in a slow-burn thrill ensure here childhood secret remains just that.

The narration was enjoyable. Recommended for psychological suspense audiobook fans.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It has been published in June 2020.

"Dead Air" by Michael Bradley is just another tired story about a mysteryous stalker and the proverbial victim, a hopelessly passive woman who for the whole duration of the novel never acts, only reacts. Lucky for her, there's a male cop around to save the day, because left to her own devices, Kaitlyn is only capable of standing there, waiting to be rescued. She doesn't even *try* to save herself.
I think Rodney, the detective, would have made a better protagonist, since he actually *does* something during the story, rather than Kaitlyn, who is completely useless--the epytome of the damsel in distress.
The book is short, but it still feels too long.
The story is slow, with too much talking and too little action. Starting with the villain, who spends way too much time gloating in a very clichéd way, to finish with how long it takes for the characters to get up to speed and discover the villain's secret identity, which the frustrated reader has already guessed way earlier. Even the final showdown between the villain and the protagonist is full of pointless chatting, when each of them tries to talk the other to death.
So many of the characters' choices made no sense at all, making it impossible to empathise with them: somewhere along the way the villain, who is normally so attentive not to leave any trace for the police, just casually drops cigarette butts on the crime scenes, and that's just as fine, apparently, because the incompetent police never even notices. Rodney must be one of the most unprofessional cop I've ever read about, just handing out his gun to an untrained civilian and then *forgetting about it* until a colleague tells him that same gun has been used for a double murder. Kaitlyn holds information from the police (not just little details, but just about EVERYTHING), and she keeps her silence even when her stalker starts killing off the people she loves.
And then the part that really grossed me out... I can't believe the woman who just found her fiancé gruesomely murdered is French-kissing the police detective who repeatedly said (both before and AFTER the French-kissing) that she reminded him of his estranged daughter. That's wrong and off-putting on SO MANY levels!

I love this. I enjoyed listening to the narrator and enjoyed that Kaitlin kept going even tho there was so much going around her. I 100 % recommend this book.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

Such a great description and I have been LOVING audio books lately, but this just did not cut it. It felt like it went on forever talking about the same thing over and over. Was there ever any new material? At the end, I decided I actually really didn't care what happened.

I liked the narrator's voice but she she impersonated male voices it was actually really kind of, well, ridiculous.