Im going to be honest when I say I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel about this book. I was not sure how a thriller that included 9/11 would be but wow did Twenty Years Later surprise me. The book involves two crimes, one in the past that connects with one in the present and both are extremely engaging.

The book follows Avery Mason who is a tv reporter who is still trying to increase her creifbijity after a promotion. Due to new technology she decides to investigate a crime from 20 years ago after the body of Victoria Ford, who was convicted of murder is found.

I loved the mysteries and honestly was guessing till the very end. The book starts a little slow but picks up as you start to unfold the mystery. I loved all the characters, especially Victoria sister Emma who I found to be immensely interesting.

As I received an ARC of the audiobook I also want to shout out Vivienne Leheny who did an amazing job.

*I received a audiobook copy from NetGalley for my honest review.

Great story, great characters, great twist and turns. Definitely a book worth telling all my friends about.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this audio ARC. #Netgalley #twentyyearslater

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 @netgalley 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚊𝚕, 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍.

𝙰𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚓𝚘𝚋 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝟸𝟶 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘. 𝙸𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚝, 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙵𝙱𝙸 𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗!

𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔! 𝙴𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎. 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚎𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔.

While I enjoyed the story, for the most part, I found listening to the audio a bit confusing due to all the directions this book took.

I also had a hard time connecting to any of the characters, though I did find Walt to be the one I connected with the most, but, even he left me with questions on his past when the book ended.

The story was a slow start for me, my mind kept wandering, it could have been the 20 years difference in the timeline I don't know, but it really picked up toward the end, which I thought was totally surprising and great.

Honestly it was the ending that saved this book for me.

Super well written and a great story. Listened to the audio but I want to get the book to read as well. Great plot and sure to be one I'll think about for while.

This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2021/12/30/%f0%9f%8e%a7-twenty-years-later-by-charlie-donlea/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

Wow.  I always enjoy this author.  I found the mystery aspects to be elusive and twisty.  There are a couple storylines which eventually connect and intertwine later.

I liked the characters well enough, although they are not the people I would meet in my everyday life.  I understood and empathized with their feelings.  Avery was a strong character and I wanted her to succeed.  Walt was a bit sad and I was glad he found a new lease on life.  Victoria was betrayed and I wanted her to be alive and proved innocent.

There are a lot of characters hiding things about their lives and about their pasts. It's not always bad things but some of the facts are uncomfortable.  There are plenty of sketchy, awkward or even disgusting facts here.

I don't want to spoil this story.  It's a fascinating ride.  I did figure out one thing, but it didn't matter because everything else was a surprise. There was adequate closure to the mysteries.  I loved reading <strong>Twenty Years Later</strong> and I recommend it.

<h4><strong>Narration:</strong></h4>
I have listened to this narrator in the past. She does a great performance with distinct voices with males and females sounding appropriate in tone.  I listened at my normal 1.5x speed.

<strong>Listen to a clip:  <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Twenty-Years-Later-Audiobook/1705026044" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HERE</a></strong>

This book is worth ALL the hype my friends! A new to me author, I took a chance based on all the glowing reviews I've been seeing and boy did it not disappoint! Full of twists and multiple interconnected mysteries with red herrings and false identities. Utterly enthralling, compelling and unputdownable. I also really enjoyed how the plot revolved around the events of 9/11. Perfect for fans of true crime/cold case podcast books like The night swim or A good girl's guide to murder. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC!

Thanks to Netgalley and RB media for the audiobook version of this story prior to publication. As an avid reader of Charlie Donlea’s prior novels, I was keen to try this audiobook and it did not disappoint. The story of Avery, an up and coming journalist on a hit show, as she seeks to uncover the background story of a woman recently identified as deceased in 9/11, twenty years after the fact. Avery is on a professional mission and is also trying to hide secrets from her past that threaten to be uncovered in her present.
Another great story with unpredictable twists and turns, some developing romance and a sense of not knowing who to trust as a reader/listener. There was a bit of repetition that I may not have noticed if reading instead of listening.

2 stars
This is the second time I have felt misled by the synopsis of a Charlie Donlea book. What I thought was going to be a mystery about a murder suspect who died in 9/11 ended up being about the boring personal mystery about one of the main characters.

We spend so much time on the characters' backgrounds but, they just aren’t interesting. A former FBI agent, boring, and a television presenter who grew up rich but lost it all, unsympathetic, who flirt and tell their backstories to each other while trying to solve a cold case.

As the book goes along it spends much more time trying to build up their chemistry and personal mysteries than focusing on the original crime. I just don’t like heavy romance elements in my thrillers. The family backstory mystery/romance was predictable and I just wasn’t invested.

I used to love Donlea’s books but they just aren’t for me anymore.

I liked this book. I thought the twists and storyline were well-plotted. The writing and the characters kept my attention throughout the novel.

However, there was so much going on. I had to keep reminding myself who some of the characters were and their storylines. I also thought the book was maybe 30% too long. Twenty Years Later is a multiple POV book, but I felt each character's POV repeated what was in the last chapter. These things took away from the experience of the book for me.

Overall, Twenty Years Later was an enjoyable and well-paced novel.

*I received an ARC of the book. All opinions are my own.

This was a unique and engaging thriller/mystery. There are multiple storylines to start (but it’s not confusing) and about a quarter into the book, you find out how everyone is linked. I loved the short chapters and pacing—it wasn’t super slow, but wasn’t action packed. A few things that seemed a little too “easy” during the investigation ended up making sense in the end—that’s where it got a little intense and a couple of really good twists came! Overall, I really liked this book— the intriguing/different storyline kept me curious throughout my reading/listening experience.

The narrator did a great job of bringing this book to life— she had great voice for a police procedural book like this.

5 Stars! I absolutely loved this book. Fantastic twists keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout the book! This book follows a mystery occurring right before 9/11 and a man hunt. While I was concerned that all of the threads wouldn't be wrapped at the end, they came together perfectly leaving me without any loose ends. This book had so many twists that I didn't see coming that made it a perfect read for a chilly night.

This book is great for anyone who loves a twisty mystery.

I'm so sorry. I applied for this without realizing it's only available to listen to through a cellphone. My cellphone is too old to download the app, so I won't be able to read/review it at this time.

It felt like it took twenty years to finish this thing! I listened to the audiobook. It wasn’t until the 70% mark that I became slightly interested in where this story was headed.

In a nutshell, a new DNA technology has made it possible to identify victims of 9/11. One of the victims identified is Victoria Ford. Ford was accused of murdering her very married boyfriend. She called her sister on that fateful day professing her innocence. A television reporter, Avery Mason, believes that she has struck gold with this twenty year old mystery

Victoria’s sister Emma and a gaggle of supporters work to unravel a twenty year old mystery. This is one you just have to read for yourself.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for this ARC.

I was torn on this one. I loved all of Charlie Donlea’s books, but I am not a fan of 9/11 books or movies. I was pleasantly surprised. It really isn’t like his other books and doesn't entirely focus on 9/11, but actions that occurred around 9/11..

Avery is a television newscaster with a past she would like to keep hidden. Walt is a retired FBI agent with his own secrets. They end up working together to shed light on a previous case of his, while Walt has another agenda. This is a complicated plot with many intertwined storylines and twists that don’t seem overly complicated as you progress through the story. And everyone has huge secrets they are trying to keep hidden.

I connected with both Avery and Walt and listened to this one over a short period of time because I really wanted to know how the mystery would unfold. And at one point I was sure I had it all figured out and I was right on a small piece, there was so much more to the ending that I didn't see coming.

An interesting aspect of the book is it is based upon finding a new technology using DNA that helps to identify 9/11 victims, which is happening in real life. Another thing I thought was unique instead of just switching back and forth from the present to the past, when you read about the previous investigation, it comes to life as Walt reads the file.

The audiobook is narrated by Vivienne Leheny and she does a great job. Drawing you in without taking over the story.

I’d recommend any of his books for a suspense lover, but this one especially for the crafty way he intertwines the layers of this story.

This is a mystery in a mystery in a mystery. I loved all the twists and turns the story took, moving between current day and the past. I also really enjoyed the characters and learning more about them as each new piece of information unfolded. They felt real to me, and each of them had done honorable and questionable things in their lives and were living with the results of their decisions. I don't want to say too much for fear of giving anything away, but I really enjoyed this one and if you like a twisty mystery I'd definitely recommend Twenty Years Later.

I really enjoyed the audio narration. It's performed by Vivienne Leheny and is just under 11 hours. I recognized her voice from several other audiobooks I've listened to recently and will definitely be looking out for more books performed by her.

Happy pub day to this thriller! Thanks to @netgalley and @RBmedia for my ARC! Wow this thriller was so unique in the premise and the ways the story fit together!

Amazon’s Overview: Accused of a brutal murder, Victoria Ford made a final chilling call from the North Tower on the morning of 9/11. 
Twenty years ago, no one listened. 
Today, you will. 
TWENTY YEARS LATER, to understand the present, you need to listen to the past...

There is a lot going on in the best way possible - multiple POVs, past and present storylines, and so many layers. The characters are well developed and able to support the craziness of the story. A great thriller with a great ending 😱

This is my first book by Charlie Donlea and I am an instant fan. Twenty Years Later is the story about an author's murder and the innocence of the woman accused of murdering him. Or is it? Charlie expertly weaves two separate plot lines that bring together Avery Mason and Walt Jenkins together in a book that I couldn't listen to fast enough. When the book started I didn't want to like Avery or Walt, but both characters really grew on me. Their research into the murder of Cameron really sucked me in and had me trying to decide if Victoria was indeed guilty, or if she had been wrongly accused. Along the way we learn the backstories and histories of both Avery and Walt, and I found myself rooting for them to be a couple despite the obstacles that seemed to be facing them both.

There are a lot of details and plots in this book, but I didn't have a problem keeping track and I found the complexity to be a puzzle that my brain loved and couldn't wait to solve. I was surprised by several twists at the end of this book and loved the clever ending.

A BIG thank you to NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for the audiobook version of this book in exchange for my honest review. The narrator, Vivienne Leheny, did a fantastic job at bringing this story and all of its characters to life with vivid detail.

Review posted to:https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend.com/

Reading this, a sense of Déjà vu came over me.

I read this with Kaceey - no surprise there.. and as we got into it, I told her that the plot felt a lot like one of Charlie Donlea’s earlier novels: Don’t Believe It. I recounted the plot of that one to her (it didn’t ring a bell - turns out she had read it when it first appeared on NetGalley years ago, while it was the last book of his I’d read, a few months ago now. Hence why I remembered it so well and while there are some differences, the plot is quite similar - see my review for that book here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2694670653). I, therefore admittedly, didn’t quite love this one and found it to be somewhat tired and overdone. Shocking? Not shocking.

Had the plot not felt familiar, would I have loved this? I asked myself that time and again…. (as often plots regurgitated by authors and I obviously do like some of them as I am an avid reader) but I think the answer is still a hard no. There were way too many things going on for me to honestly care and as Kaceey astutely pointed out there was a TON of repetition, which got kind of boring. The last thing of course was the surprise ending, which came out of left freaking field. Like WTH!?!?

So for me, that is all. Have I recounted the plot of the book here? No. Simply because you don’t need me to. There are lots of other reviews out there that already do that. The end result is that I didn’t dislike this one, I just didn’t love it.

A buddy read with Kaceey.

Thank you to Edelweiss, Kensington Publishing Company, RB Media and NetGalley for the alc and arc.

Published on Goodreads and Twitter.

𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦!

Omg, I loved this book and I have no idea why this is my first book from this author.
It starts a little slow, but hang on because you won’t be able to put it down. It kept me at the edge of my seat and blew my mind. Loved it.

Thank you NetGalley and Recorded Books for this gifted copy.

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.

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