I feel as if I need to add a warning to this review. There is some stereotyping and language in this book that I found culturally insensitive and offensive and though I recognize the author was referencing times when certain language may have been used and even acceptable, a few changes would have still had us understand what she was portraying without come off as racist, and ignorant to the harm and ill will her words and at the very least unaware, thoughtless and or uncaring.

So two people are traveling on a train… sounds like the opening line to a joke, but it isn’t. It is the beginning of a well crafted journey that is fraught with suspense, peril, imminent life and death weather and some incredibly deep secrets. We are who were are based on our personal journey. Every experience takes us to where we are in every moment. We also have the ability to make conscious decisions about how we process those experiences. When I first started listening the movie “The Mountain Between Us” came to mind. Then it veered off to an entirely different creepy direction. Margo is on her way to her nieces wedding. There will see her family, who are a horrible group of people. Mean, judgmental hypocrites at best so we understand somewhat why Margo was who she was…mostly. Then there is Nick, an Army Ranger, on a personal mission that we discover later in the story. He was military through and through and desperately in need of some help for his PTSD. He manages to save them, but has an agenda. There are times when I liked them and then couldn’t stand them. Neither of them are stellar people and at times you root for one then the other and the neither! Its a hard book to review as I don’t want to give anything away, but know you’ll be left feeling quite unsettled when it ends, which I believe was truly the point. It isn’t a HEA romance after all. I can say that I probably would have given a higher rating if the language had been more sensitive and kind.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this. Told in 2 POV and well done. Well developed characters, I loved Margo. Loved the ups snd downs and the ending. Will definitely read more by this author

Sometimes when books are unbelievable it’s OK because they are entertaining enough to keep the reader intrigued. That is not the case with this book. It did not ring true at all and I found the narrators voice to be on the whiny side which only amped up my dislike. Unfortunately this one did not work for me.

I am reviewing the audio version of this book. I did not enjoy the voice of the person reading this book at all and couldn’t finish it. I think the story is interesting and I would probably like to read it on my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the gifted audiobook.

I really loved the dual perspective and the present and past points of view. Margo did annoy me at first but by the end I learned to love her. Nick intrigued me. First you’re captured by the train crash, then you’re taken into a survival mode, then you’re captured by these characters and their histories. It was an easy listen.

8 months pregnant, Margo Fletcher finds herself stranded in the wilderness after an avalanche destroyed her train, with only one other survivor, Nick Eliot, a former Army Ranger The two must endure the snow, wild animals, and hunger, if they want to stay alive.
'Cover Your Tracks' captures your attention from the very first chapter. Auffenorde weaves the high stakes survival story with the complicated pasts of the lead characters in a way I've never read before. You can feel the desperation of Margo as she wills herself to survive for her unborn child.
Allyson Ryan does a fantastic job narrating, keeping the flow of the story steady yet attention grabbing. She captures the different voices of the characters while keeping the tone of the story.
With the heart stopping survival scenes and dark secrets, 'Cover Your Tracks' has something in it for every reader.

This review of the audio is a bit of a struggle for me. When I read this story, I was so busy turning pages and caught up in the mystery and suspense that I hopped over things that now concern me. And to be clear, they bothered me then too, but I ignore them.

The fast-paced story again grabbed my attention as I listened to the audio. It begins quickly. Immediately it leaves you asking what will happen next. Two people are up against the forces of nature. And to make it even more interesting, one is pregnant and due to deliver any time. Will they survive? Will a search party locate them? It’s hard to find a place to turn the story off.

Nick, one of the two survivors is a former Army Ranger, so far so good. But then, of course, we have Margo, 8 and a half months pregnant and not in any condition to traverse snow and freezing weather. But will she and Nick become great friends? After all, Margo is going to be a single parent. Or is Nick a bit shady? Again, the audio keeps rolling. Gotta have some answers.

But the story doesn’t keep going at break-neck speed for too long. Interspersed between what is happening on the mountain to the two are flashbacks. So little by little, we do get to know more about these survivors.

This thriller goes from this direction to that. Parts of it, especially the last of the book, are not for the weak. It is graphic and some might call it a bit over-the-top gross. It’s a tale that’s hard to stop listening to, but at the same time, I had concerns.

My Concerns
The part I was referring to earlier, regarding my first read and listening to the audio, is the fact that the reference to Margo being pregnant felt completely overdone. Most readers will find pregnancy hard to ever forget since it adds such a concern to what they are going through. And if I had been reading a Kindle I would have counted how many times the word belly was used. But since I can’t, I will just say way too many times.

Though she was easy to understand, I really can’t say that I cared too much for Ryan as the narrator. Something about her voice didn’t quite click with me, and the variance in female voices was minimal, only a higher pitch. I’m sure it is nothing more than personal preference, however. Her voice was very easy to understand.

What I Liked
I loved the fact that this audio kept me listening almost from the minute I started it. The story captured my attention and wouldn’t let up.

My thanks to #DreamscapeMedia and #NetGalley for this audiobook. My review was not influenced by this review copy.

If I were rating this on the action, I would give it four stars. The action kept coming. There is something intense about listening to a story about two people escaping an avalanche that hits the train they were on while listening to a thunder snow storm, The mood was perfect.

If I were rating this on the story it would be a three star book. I liked parts of it but it got more and more ridiculous as time went on. Neither of these people had a great backstory so it is no wonder they would be messed up people, but I did a lot of eyeballing over the actions of the characters throughout.

If I were rating on the narrator, I would have gone with a 2 star review. I found she took me out of the story with her over-acting choices. Very distracting.

Cover Your Tracks was intense at the start. It immediately places the reader in a situation of discomfort right from the beginning. However, it transitions into more of a slow burn, character driven story rather than an edge of your seat thriller I was hoping for.

The story flashes back and forth between the present perilous situation and the past of each of the main characters. The present involves two strangers, Margo and Nick, who are stranded in the snow in the middle of nowhere...with hungry coyotes. Scary, right?! Well, let’s just add in the fact that Margo is super pregnant and Nick is is shady AF. Fun stuff 😬

I felt like this story had a ton of potential and it did deliver in some aspects. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of the author’s writing style and felt like there were some redundancy issues that didn’t feel natural while reading. This book does get pretty dark at times, so beware.

While an original -ish plot line, I am pretty disappointed with this book. Lots of triggers and non-necessary story lines. A lot of talk about abortion, animal mutilation and controlling woman’s bodies. I had really high hopes for this book, but after halfway I feel like it shifted gears unnecessarily.

I enjoyed the suspense. I knew that the parallel of their lives was going to intersect at some point, but didn’t realize it would be so diabolical. I listened to this book and found the descriptions very graphic, sometimes too much so.

I loved this book! There was a lot of suspense in it and I was constantly worried about Margo and Nick. Theres definitely some cliff hangers and parts of the book near the end that I would have loved a tad more follow up about what happened and reactions to certain events. I listed to the audio book version. The narrator was good and her voice was fine.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for my advance copy of the audiobook. This story is told from the perspectives of Margo and Nick, the only survivors of a train crash. These characters are fighting for survival in more ways than one. Suspenseful, unpredictable and adventurous perfectly describe this well paced mystery.

Okay, there is no doubt about it - this book is intense!

--about
Margo Fletcher, eight months pregnant, is traveling by train from Chicago to Spokane, her childhood home. While passing through an isolated portion of the Rockies in blizzard conditions, the train unexpectedly brakes. Up ahead, deadly snow from a massive avalanche plummets down the mountain. Despite the conductor’s order for the passengers to stay seated, former Army Ranger Nick Eliot insists that survival depends on moving to the back of the train.
--
Right off the bat, I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy listening to this book. The narrator is very echoey at the start of the book, but the sound dampens as the book goes on so don't let that discourage you. I will be recommending this book to folks who are looking for a suspenseful read.

Cover Your Tracks had me placed on the train with the character from the very start of the book. I enjoyed how the author weaved both Margo and Nick's stories together. This was a book I couldn't figure out as I was listening. I kept waiting for the "shoe to drop" and with how short this book is (less than 300 pages), I felt like a lot of the "good stuff" didn't happen until the very end.. Each perspective of this story is wildly important to the book.

Read if you like:
Suspense
Strong female characters
Multiple POVs

Trigger warnings:
Army/PTSD, animal mutilation, forced adoption/birth

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I was pleasantly surprised by this audiobook! The beginning seemed to drag a little and I wasn't sure if I would eventually get into the story or not, but once the narration began to switch between the two main characters, I was hooked and could not stop listening, Fantastic twist at the end. Not too long and just enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat.

COVER YOUR TRACKS was sent to me by Net Galley, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review.

Saco Auffehorde is the writer of COVER YOUR TRACKS. This fiction novel was narrated by Allyson Ryan, who did a good job. However, I did not appreciate the filthy language nor the erotic content...nor do I believe they were necessary. I believe something in the description should have stated that these were included in this audiobook. I wouldn’t have chosen to listen to it.

COVER YOUR TRACKS began on a train going through the mountains during the winter. The train began to tremble as if they were in an earthquake. Army Ranger Nick Eliot urged all to leave the train, but the conductor came over the intercom telling them to stay in their seats. Margo Fletcher, an ER doctor that was eight months pregnant, was on her way to a family wedding. She decided that Nick knew what he was talking about, so she went with him. He took her to the last car and disconnected it from the rest of the train. There was a huge avalanche that overtook the front of the train and no one from it survived.

Margo and Nick had to find their way to safety. Through their journey, we continued to flashback to both of their less than happy childhoods...meeting some of their friends and their family. Do Margo and/or Nick survive? Do they find their way to safety? Do they fall in love, or become romantically involved? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

This book was interesting...As I said, I believe it would’ve been a much better story without the unnecessary language and erotica. If you are a mature adult, and do not have the same aversion as I do, you might enjoy this book. I’m sorry. I cannot, however, recommend it.

Cover Your Tracks by Daco S. Auffenorde - 2.75/5

S U M M A R Y
Margo Fletcher and Nick Eliot are on a train from Chicago to Spokane when a devastating avalanche hits the train while it is passing through the Rockies. Nick, a former special forces soldier, has the foresight to know the back of the train is safest, but Margo, 8 months pregnant, is the only one who listens to him, and thus they are the only 2 to presumably survive the calamity. But as they struggle in the wilderness afterward, nothing is really as it initially appeared, and Margo starts to have paranoid thoughts surrounding the man who saved her life.

C H A R A C T E R S
For all they seem to be fleshed out, they still felt somewhat superficial to me. I never really connected in any way to either of them. There was always a feeling of distance and remoteness even as you learned about some of the dark secrets of their respective pasts. We were repeatedly hit over the head that Margo is a doctor, Margo is a doctor, she's pregnant, she's pregnant, and those were her defining characteristics as a person. For Nick, it was that he was a soldier, a soldier, he had to know what he was doing, right? I never particularly liked either of them, though I did admire Margo in the end. 

I also feel that there were various threads having to do with mental health were left dangling but never resolved or addressed in any way. The word crazy was thrown around a few times, but truly, I don't think it was truly accurate or appropriately used. Nick was truly disturbed, but it was never truly touched on - despite Margo BEING A DOCTOR. Ahem. 

P L O T
Honestly, I feel like most of this book was an exercise in the suspension of disbelief. I can buy that there are coyotes in the Rockies - but to have a random, rabid one show up? In the middle of a blizzard? Honestly, I don't buy that. And then to have an otherwise intelligent woman like Margo buy that there was a leopard stalking them? Excuse me, we don't have leopards of any size that far north. Literally almost any other predator could have been named.

Too, I found it hard to swallow that no one had ever caught on to how disturbed Nick was? Since childhood? He was never caught, no one ever suspected, even in the military? Really? Pretty sure special forces has psych evals that would have turned something up.

Leaving aside those things, I suppose it was decent book, if a little overfilled with ingrained misogyny that you would think a single woman doctor like Margo would have overcome at least partially. I mean, I understand hormones, but ... sheesh, lady, you're supposedly a put together, confident doctor. 

Those things aside, there was rarely a dull moment, things kept moving forward, and I really enjoyed the last 10% or so as it climaxed and things fell into place. 

N A R R A T I O N
The narration was good, I have no issues with the narrator or how things were voiced. Good job.

O V E R A L L
If the first two thirds had been as well edited and paced as the last 10% or so, this would have been a really good read. As it stands, though, my above nitpicks kept nagging at me and throwing me out of the story, and I kept going "really?!" at Margo. But if you're good at suspending your disbelief, I'd say you would quite enjoy this thriller.

The premise of survival in the snowy wilderness while eight months pregnant was gripping. I wanted to know more right away. The book is packed with plot twists and suspense. This book was in duel perspectives- Margo and Nick are two passengers traveling on a train to Washington State. The two of them end up trying to survive in the snowy wilderness, while the book uses many timelines to help the reader learn more about them and their past.

The narrator does a good job of conveying appropriate emotion and is easy to listen to.

In today’s age of awareness and appropriateness, the book might be offensive to readers and could contain triggers for some (reference to Native Americans as “Indians”, teenage pregnancy, forced adoption, child abuse, and animal cruelty). I’d definitely recommend the book to people that can see past these triggers, but I’d recommend a hard pass for anyone that may be offended.

Cover Your Tracks is a fast paced thriller.

Margo, 8.5 months pregnant, is traveling across country on a train, when an avalanche is encountered. Nick, retired army ranger persuades her to move to the back of the train, and she and Nick are the only survivors.

Lost out in the wilderness with only their own skills for survival, there is a lot of tension between these 2 characters. Through flash backs from both of them, we learn of their complicated lives and the reasons that they are both on this train. They both encounter several terrifying moments, and have to figure out ways to survive in the freezing environment.

The first part of the book had me on the edge of my seat, and the action was well done. As we headed towards the end of the book however, I found some of the behavior of the two, particularly Nick, just hard to fathom. There was a lot of focus on the actions of one of Nick's childhood 'friends' and I wasn't quite sure why we needed so much focus on that part of his life.

Some of the actions attributed to both character, in their past and in the current situation, just didn't sit right with me. There was something just 'off'. All is wrapped up well at the end, but the book didn't fulfill the promise of the opening sections for me.

I listened to the book, and the narrator did a great job with the characters and plot. It was easy for me to determine when we were in flashback and when we were in current time - something that doesn't always translate well in an audio book.

I was captivated by the book's description but it turned into a dark timeline version of the Mountain Between Us. I can't point to one big flaw about the book but rather little things that bothered me throughout:

1) The narrator: This was probably 50% of the problem. The narrator sounded robotic and tinny (maybe it was the app?) but it made it hard to empathize with Margo, which I think is critical to liking the book and its outcome.
2) The characters: Everyone but Margo and Nick were one dimensional. They were good (Andy and Blanche) or bad (pretty much everyone else).
3) The pace: I did enjoy how the back stories are told, alternating POV, but felt little happened in the moment, just a sense of general weirdness and premonition.
4) The end: While thrilling, it was too twisted. It was predictable and threw in every twist that would apply.

I would consider another book from this author because this is a debut novel and it held interest but I can only say it was okay for me.

Thank you Netgalley!