
A Fault Against the Dead
The First Quarto, Book 4
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Narrated by:
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J.F. Harding
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By:
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Gregory Ashe
About this listen
Drugs. Sex. Murder. And, if they can squeeze it in, graduation.
When Auggie Lopez returns to Wahredua for his senior year of college, he’s excited about the future: He’s growing his brand as an influencer, he’s almost done with school, and he’s building a life with his boyfriend, Theo. Then Auggie gets a phone call from Howard Cartwright, Theo’s ex—and Cart tells Auggie he’s being framed for murder.
As Auggie and Theo begin to look into the death of a local parole officer, they realize something isn’t right. A gang of armed men almost catches them while they’re searching the victim’s home, a threatening message spray-painted on the victim’s home suggests a personal vendetta, and everyone wants to know about a missing cache of money. The trail leads Auggie and Theo into the dangerous world of the Ozark Volunteers—the local white supremacists who control the region’s drug trade.
After Theo and Auggie are attacked at home, they learn that the stakes might be much, much higher: Someone is determined to put a stop to their investigation, no matter what it takes. And the killer, Theo and Auggie suspect, is hiding behind a badge.
©2022 Gregory Ashe (P)2023 Gregory AsheListener received this title free
As usual, the narration was flawless and excellent!
Amazing!!
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Listener received this title free
The mystery plot here kicks off when Auggie unexpectedly gets a phone call from Howard Cartwright, Theo’s late husband’s partner on the job and Theo’s former f/buddy, who tells Auggie he’s been arrested for the murder of a local parole officer. Their visit to Cart in jail is awkward to say the least, but boils down to the fact that someone has framed Cart for murder – and he needs Theo and Auggie to find out who and why.
The devious mind of Gregory Ashe has come up with a real doozy here as Theo and Auggie are plunged into the murky world of the local drug trade while the complicated web of lies, blackmail and murder becomes even more tangled and the threats to life and limb pile up. And while all this is going on, they're still dealing with some intensely personal issues that are impacting their relationship. They’ve both been through such a lot in their relatively young lives, and Theo’s largely untreated trauma, specifically, is continuing to throw up barriers between them. Whereas in the previous book, the conflict was about Theo's massive protective streak causing him to disregard Auggie's feelings and wishes and him learning to treat him like an adult; here, it's the clash between Theo's fatalism and the fact that his trauma response makes it hard for him to envisage a future of any kind where Auggie's dysfunctional family life means he is driven to want security and committment and to want to make plans. It's an impossible dilemma - and one which is going to take a lot of love, understanding and compromise to resolve.
JF Harding delivers yet another outstanding performance - every emotion and expression is relayed precisely and flawlessly, and his portrayals of Theo and Auggie are pitch perfect, the intensity of emotion that ties them together coming across strongly. He's at the top of his game here, and I honestly can't think of any other narrator who could have done as fantastic a job in this series.
A Fault Against the Dead is a superb combination of complex plot composed of lots of moving parts with some really profound character and relationship development. and despite the gritty subject matter, there's still room for plenty of humour. It brings The First Quarto series to a satisfying close by way of a tense, nail-biting climax which will have listeners on the edge of their seats and then follows it up with a beautifully understated and hopeful HEA. Theo and Auggie have become two of my favourite Asheverse characters, so while I’m sorry to see them metaphorically riding off into the sunset into a much quieter life, I’m delighted they’ve been given the happy ending they deserve.
Ashe & Harding at their very best
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Listener received this title free
This book is essential listening to really get to the bottom of why Auggie and Theo are the men they are today. I admire that despite the ups and downs in their own lives and the evil they know exists in this world they are still willing to help others and put themselves at risk.
It starts with a missing girl which takes us down a path of drugs, sex, murder and corruption. Who can you trust? Even John Somerset, who is at a low point in his life is not to be relied upon.
It takes a lot of strength to be there for others when their worlds jointly and separately seem to be falling apart. Is it love alone that can keep them together?
I recommend joining Auggie and Theo on this rollercoaster of a journey.
As always J. F. Harding's narration is not to be faulted. But then again he has Ashe's excellent writing that enables him to embody the characters.
Life is a roller-coaster
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Listener received this title free
Another fabulous title from Gregory Ashe
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A great end to the series
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Enjoyable Story
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What an ending!
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Great final book in the series
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Big surprise.
Auggie, of course, refuses to be left behind. In the first, I don’t know, hour, they’re already in trouble. First by the cops and then by the gang whose toes they step on. Then life intervenes – including plans by Theo’s former in-laws to take his daughter to Florida, far away from Missouri, as well as, you know, classes. Oh, and Auggie’s brother Chewie is in some serious trouble and older brother Furr is trying to hold everything together.
As graduation draws near, after Auggie got involved with more of his Instagram people, the mystery rears its ugly head. In the end, I only saw part of the dénouement coming. Gregory likes to keep me guessing. And, of course, more violence.
I really enjoyed this book and although I’m happy to see there’s one more book, it’ll break my heart to let these guys go. I can only envision the mayhem they’ll get into next time.
Quick shout out to JF Harding who’s doing a fantastic job narrating this series. From Auggie’s earnestness to Theo’s world weariness, he always gets things just right.
Didn’t see that coming
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Truly outstanding narration from J.F. Harding...
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