Cover Your Tracks is an intense and twisty thriller with tons of suspense and surprises.
I really enjoyed the complex characters and thought the narrators did a fantastic job portraying them. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance copy.

<Giant sigh>

If you’re going to write a book about man vs. the elements, you should probably do some research on said elements first.

This book had a great premise and so much potential, but it’s so unrealistic that it’s practically sci-fi and it’s unrealistic in an irresponsible manner.

PSA for anyone who made the mistake of looking at the environmental factors dealt with by the characters in this book as real: If you are stranded on a mountain after an avalanche, roving bands of murderous coyotes are not your main concern. They’re not even your 603rd-ranked concern. And here’s why: Coyotes do not form gangs to murder and eat humans. They just don’t. Any sort of coyote attack on a human at all is actually exceedingly rare and perpetuated by a sick or starving animal.

If you’re writing fantasy, fine, do whatever you want, but if your book is supposedly “realistic” as this one purports to be, it is incredibly irresponsible to put this kind of information out there. It causes readers to potentially believe that an animal such as a coyote is a real threat, and thus possibly attack and injure or kill an animal that is of no danger to them.

The situation in which Nick and Margo find themselves is perilous for many reasons. But being mauled by wild animals is one of the least likely to occur. If your train derails and strands you in the Rockies, your primary concerns should be freezing to death, dehydration, starving, avalanches , disease, and complications from any injuries sustained in the crash. NOT coyotes.

There are plenty of dangers an author can use in a story like this to make the narrative exciting that are real and legitimate. And if you’re going to have a When Animals Attack! moment, at least pick something that might actually attack humans, like a grizzly bear.

A lot of other reviewers have also complained about the author’s insensitive approach to Native Americans. I’m not sure this was *as* bad as many were arguing that it was, but it still smacks of poor judgment. Surely an author should know that the response would be like this? You would think so. But the lack of research and desire for factual accuracy with regard to the hilariously cartoonish murder coyotes tells me that the author doesn’t value accuracy or responsibility in content at all.

What a waste of a great premise for a book.

This book was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed it via audio book on my way to work. The unexpected twist at the end was a great turn of events and one I wasn't expecting.

I love a good psychological thriller. This one is fast paced and builds the suspense as the main characters' secrets are revealed. I do wish it was more believable though.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

That twist, though! Cover Your Tracks by Daco Auffenorde, is set mostly in present day on a cross country train and in the wilderness somewhere in the Rockies. It also has flashbacks to the main character's back stories. This book starts off and you are immediately in the suspense and action. To the point that it is almost a let down when the author starts going back to the main characters history's and upbringings. But, as I read, I started enjoying those parts too. It was a great suspense-background-suspense push and pull that ended up keeping me reading; wanting to know more and more as the characters developed and the present day situation unfolded. I don't want to give too much away but I was truly not expecting that twist at the end. If you enjoy suspense, read this book! 4 stars.

This was a fun, quick thriller that is perfect for a fast winter read. You can feel the cold and setting of the Rockies. Margo is pregnant and traveling by train, when an avalanche hits and she escapes with a fellow passenger, a former Army Ranger. The two try to find safety but encounter obstacles along their way. This was a fun thriller.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read/listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
It started very promising and got me hooked, but by the ending reveal it became apparent that the reason behind all that build-up is quite silly. The narration was pretty good non the less.

A train crashes in the wintry, mountainous middle of nowhere and two strangers—Margo, a heavily pregnant doctor traveling alone, and Nick, a mysterious man with a wealth of wilderness survival skills—manage to survive, only to then have to battle the elements until they are rescued.

This frigid winter psychological thriller had me completely absorbed—I could not stop listening. Right from the beginning scenes, the action and suspense didn’t stop. I was horrified by Nick's increasingly controlling and misogynistic behaviour as the story progressed, and dismayed at Margo’s growing self-doubt as he led her to question whether her hormones were making her illogical and incapable of decision-making. The concluding chapters were equally engrossing, and I teetered on the edge of my seat with fearful anticipation before it all came to a close.

I tend to feel some psychological elements like gaslighting in a pretty visceral way. The entire time I listened to this audiobook I kept thinking back to Robert C. O’Brien’s 1974 tome "Z for Zacharia”. In both cases, the reader increasingly finds themself wondering whether the guy’s controlling behaviour and gaslighting are rooted in good intentions or in something sinister. In both books, there’s no one else around to check the woman’s perspective nor to help her out of the situation, forcing her to “play nice" with the potentially dangerous, possibly unhinged strange man with whom she is isolated in order to survive, and it seems more and more like he does not have her best interest at heart. Perhaps the one thing worse than being the only survivor is not being the only survivor.

Whew! This one is suspenseful from the very beginning until the end. The book begins as a crowded train is traveling through very snowy mountains, and a gigantic avalanche is spotted coming right for them. Nick and Margo are the only survivors, and the scenes with the avalanche set up the story really well in terms of survival and suspense. There is a frantic feel throughout that really works because of the high level of suspense. As he and Margo traveled through the remote, snowy forest toward safety, Nick used his advanced military skills to save a very pregnant Margo time and time again. I never fully trusted Nick, and I think this made the story more suspenseful for me. I absolutely loved the descriptions of weather and nature and snowy conditions.

Audiobook Notes: I chose to listen to this audiobook because of the narrator, who I have heard before and I'm a big fan. Another of my favorite audiobooks with narration by Allyson Ryan is a survival thriller, so I was extra excited to see what her performance would bring to Cover Your Tracks. I was pleased that I listened to the audio format of this book because Ms. Ryan narrated wonderfully, and I would love to recommend that readers listen to this story on audio because the level of suspense is just so much fun.

Title: Cover Your Tracks by Daco Auffenorde
Narrator: Allyson Ryan
Length: 7 hours, 50 minutes, Unabridged
Publisher: Dreamscape Media

I would like to thank Dreamscape Media for sending me a free copy of this audiobook for review via NetGalley!

This is a good psychological suspense.

Margo, an ER doctor, is eight months pregnant but has an important reason to travel to her childhood home. She had struggles with family as a young woman and hopes this visit may be a time for reconciliation. As the train travels through the Rockies a blizzard brings an avalanche threatening the train.

Rejecting the conductor’s orders to remain seated, Nick, a former Army Ranger, insists that the passengers must move to the back of the train to survive. Margo is the only one to listen and they are the only survivors when the train is caught in the avalanche.

Margo rushed off without even her purse or phone, although it is unlikely there would be cell service. The pair are stranded with no rescue expected soon. Nick seems to have a plan for shelter and survival and Margo has little choice but to follow. Although Nick is reticent about his own past and plans, he seems to want to help Margo and protect her unborn child.

Nick helps fend off wild animals, provides game for food, and finds alternate shelter. But as the days pass with more storms and no apparent effort to get to civilization, Margo becomes more stressed and concerned. Margo has secrets from her past but hers may not be as strange and intense as Nick’s secrets.

I was impressed with the tense and chilling (not cold, but fearful) atmosphere that the author creates. The story is told with flashbacks to develop the damaged and determined characters. There are hints of issues in the personalities and it was interesting to see how these played out. I suspected trouble and was gripped as the past history was revealed and the collision course of the characters explained. I recommend this to fans of psychological thrillers.

Audio Notes: Allyson Ryan does a fairly good job with the narration. She made an effort to provide distinct voices although it seemed a bit of a strain to get the male voices. Still, I appreciated that she conveyed the chilling tone of the story and the story moved quickly for me as an audio presentation.

Source: Received from NetGalley.

I was excited when I saw this book and read about the author. The author is a hometown girl and I wanted to support local talent. I wasn't disappointed. The story opens with a very pregnant Margo on a train traveling to see her estranged family in Washington for the holidays. What she wasn't expecting was the train to be derailed by an avalanche. Or that a handsome stranger, Nick, would save both her and her unborn child. That's when things take a dramatic turn. Nick, who started out acting like a hero, but then there is something about him that just doesn't seem right. The story unfolds with both characters giving their stories through flashbacks. Will they survive the snow storm? Will they be rescued? Will they fall in love like a Hallmark movie? Stick around until the end because you have to read it to believe it.

I did not get to listen to this book before it was archived. I was really excited about this book. I will wait until it comes out in paperback.

This book kept me guessing until the very end! When an avalanche puts two survivors on a journey into the wilderness, numerous twists and turns keep this story moving unexpectedly. A very pregnant doctor and a veteran reflect on their lives as they fight to stay alive! If you're looking for a good mystery, this is a great one to keep you guessing!

This story certainly kept me enraptured. You read up the 2 main characters and how their childhood growing up was like. You are drawn in to feel sympathy for both characters they brave a train wreck and avalanche. They both brave the cold snowy mountainous ares to get to civilization. The surprising shift at the end is a bit jarring because as a reader you always wish that eve8ends on a happy note.
In any event, I enjoyed listening to this book as it keep my interest. Thank you #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia for this free.copy.

I just reviewed Cover Your Tracks by Daco Auffenorde. #DreamscapeMedia #NetGalley

This was for sure a 4.5 stars for me! The twists and turns the constant drama! I couldn’t stop listening! I loved the narrator in this story, as well.


Margot has the strength and courage of a superhero.

When on holiday to visit family during her 8month of pregnancy, Margot and her fellow passengers on a train are taken by surprise when an avalanche booms towards them from above. There isn’t much time to react, and Margot is unsure what to do; a fellow passenger Nick is all too eager to help everyone by telling them to head to the back of the train; nobody follows but Margot. Nick saves their lives while the lives of her fellow passengers perish. From then, Margot knows she needs Nicks to help her to survive and her baby to survive. But along the way, she starts to wonder who this man is, and can she trust him?


Every step of the way, I wanted more and more. The author did a fantastic job of giving enough details and leaving us wanting more. This story was a stunning piece of thrills and action. I thought I saw where this might go, and then the ending was not what I had expected in the beginning. I wish I knew more of the conclusion of Margot and her baby’s life after everything unfolded; that’s probably my only negative. This was an easy, enjoyable, thrilling, compelling read.

The back and forth between Nick's past and Margot's past, and the present was perfectly written. I never had the feeling of confusion. It was perfectly detailed to understand each character but not the point of boredom.

I was on the edge of my seat multiple times!! It seemed long, and I don’t know how long the page count is, but I burned through this one pretty quickly.

There are multiple trigger warnings regarding pregnancy, babies, war, and cruelty towards animals.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to "Cover Your Tracks", but the story just DID NOT do anything for me. The narrator was also no to my liking, rather dull. Hard for me to believe that an 8 month pregnant, educated doctor would travel by train by train across half the country..The novel was bizarre and and unbelievable at times.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I read 10 chapters of this book (audio version) and stopped. I know from other reviewers that the story is told from two perspectives - the two main characters. The first eight chapters are told by Margo, the 8.5 months pregnant woman. This woman has to be one of the stupidest main characters I've ever read about. I was thinking that maybe it was going to be a romance novel. A helpless woman who continues to make one bad decision after another saved by Army Ranger. The next two chapters were a back story of Nick, the army ranger. Both had domineering fathers and both seem unrealistic. If they had been real people, I suspect they would never have
made it past the first 48 hours of being stranded in the forest snowstorm. But, it's true, that people with a will to live survive in the most amazing situations. But I have only so much reading time and I couldn't listen to Margo's continuing chatter of her responsibilities as a doctor that outweighed caring for her own unborn child. And making yet one more stupid decision.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for my Advance Listeners Copy of Cover Your Tracks in exchange for my honest opinion.

I had a hard time getting in to the story with this one. I am honestly not sure if it was the actual story or the narration though that didn't work for me. The story felt slow and the narration was very stiff and lack emotion, and between those two things I just had a hard time with it. Unfortunately, I have stopped listening to it at 32% after several attempts to listen to it.

I will not be sharing my view of this one beyond my review here on NetGalley for this Audiobook.

3.5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscapes Media for this exciting character-driven adventure/survival tale. I listened to the audiobook.

Margo is an ER doctor who is eight months pregnant. She is travelling through the Rocky Mountains by train to attend a family wedding. She is estranged from most family members, so she is already uneasy about the trip. The train stops suddenly and unexpectedly in its tracks. The passengers are ordered to remain seated. A stranger, Nick, a former Army Ranger and expert survivalist, contradicts this order, telling the passengers to move quickly to the last train car. An avalanche is hurtling down the mountainside towards the tracks. Only Margo believes Nick and follows him to the more luxurious last car. Nick bravely uncouples this car from the rest of the train. They watch in horror as the avalanche hurls the main section of the train down the mountainside, burying it and killing its passengers.

Margo, heavy with her unborn baby, now depends on the domineering, gruff Nick to survive. He has saved her life a couple of times and reminds her that she must listen to him to save her baby. She finds him rude, and he asks intrusive personal questions. Nick has injured a leg, and although he is aware she is a doctor, he will not allow her to examine or attend to his leg injury. Nick ignores any idea Margo expresses that might help them.

As the blizzard worsens, their shelter is in danger from further avalanches. They must flee in the deep snow into the cold forest. They need to forage for food and are at risk of freezing. Fortunately, Nick is a skilled hunter, but they are in peril from hungry coyote packs.

I felt there were far too many flashbacks to Nick and Margo's former lives detracting from their survival story. Later, I found these backstories were essential to the plot, which concluded with an unexpected, brutal, frenzied ending. It became doubtful whether Nick, Margo and her baby had any hopes for surviving the weather, the wild animals, or each other.

Cover Your Tracks
Daco S Auffenorde
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was a landslide from the start to the end! Literally it starts off with an avalanche and all hell breaks lose along the way. This book is told from two perspectives, Margo and Nick, and while you are in real time, they both have memory flashes that walk you thru who they are in present day and how they got there.

There is a lot of survival themes in this book, and all that it entails. I don’t want to give anything away, but want you to know they are in survival mode. This book is chilling in both weather, read while sitting by the fire it helps, and in a sense of thrilling and sometimes eerie.

I love thrillers and survival books, so this was totally my jam! This book isn’t for the faint hearted. So bundle up and get ready for an adventure thru the snow covered mountains of Washington, as well as Nick and Margo’s pasts, all while they are trying to survive the elements and each other’s wrath!

I really enjoyed this audiobook the narration is good too! I was given an ALC on @netgalley, from the publisher @dreamscapemedia.