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    Fatal Error: A Novel
    Fatal Error: A Novel
    Fatal Error: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Fatal Error: A Novel

    Written by J.A. Jance

    Narrated by Karen Ziemba

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    When an old friend is accused of murdering a sociopath who courted women over the Internet only to steal all of their money, Ali Reynolds steps in to investigate in this white-knuckled mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The A List.

    Ali Reynolds begins the summer thinking her most difficult challenge will be surviving a six-week-long course as the lone forty-something female at the Arizona Police Academy—not to mention taking over the 6 a.m. shift at her family’s restaurant while her parents enjoy a long overdue Caribbean cruise. However, when Brenda Riley, a colleague from Ali’s old news broadcasting days in California, shows up in town with an alcohol problem and an unlikely story about a missing fiancé, Ali reluctantly agrees to help.

    The man posing as Brenda’s fiancé is revealed to be Richard Lowensdale, a cyber-sociopath who has left a trail of broken hearts in his virtual wake. When he is viciously murdered, the women he once victimized are considered suspects. The police soon focus their investigation on Brenda, who is already known to have broken into Richard’s home and computer before vanishing without a trace. Attempting to clear her friend’s name, Ali is quickly drawn into a web of online intrigue that may lead to a real-world fatal error.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateFeb 1, 2011
    ISBN9781442335509
    Author

    J.A. Jance

    J.A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of the Ali Reynolds series, the J.P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, and the Walker Family series. Born in South Dakota and raised in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington. Visit her online at JAJance.com. 

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    Reviews for Fatal Error

    4/5

    196 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      As always, she keeps you on the edge of your seat.
    • 5/5
      I loved it, as always, it was a real "page turner".
    • 4/5
      Computer dating takes a new twist, in Jance’s “Fatal Error”. Richard Lowensdale is a despicable man who preys on vulnerable women in an online dating scam. Using fake names he has several fiancés around the country until he becomes bored with their particular neurosis and cuts loose, usually dropping them right after he has had them pick out their engagement rings. When he is murdered and several of his girl friends suddenly show up at the same time to check on him, there are suspects aplenty.
      The protagonist, wealthy widow, former Los Angeles TV news anchor and aspiring cop, Ali Reynolds finds herself smack in the middle of the investigation when a former colleague, now down-on-her-luck recovering alcoholic, Brenda Riley goes missing. Brenda had been the target of Lowensdale’s particular cyber-sociopathic behavior and was in the process of writing an exposé to blow the lid off his cover. Using her boyfriend’s security company to gather behind-the-scenes information, Reynolds teams up with over-worked homicide detective Gil Morris to ferret out the truth behind her friend’s disappearance and the death of Lowensdale.
      “Fatal Error” takes us beyond just cyber-stalking to the warped mind of a victim of the Bosnian wars who applies her own sociopathic skills to gain untold wealth by dealing with cartel criminals in the drug-smuggling wars of the Mexican borders. As Reynolds and Morris discover the depths of depravity, it all boils over as they find themselves stumbling into the middle of an FBI sting in San Diego. Can they rescue Riley before she gives the ultimate sacrifice in reporting a news story, in which she has become the unwitting pawn?
    • 4/5
      Fatal Error by J. A Jance is a 2011 Touchtone Books publication. I will admit after reading Beaumont and Brady novels for so long the Ali Reynolds series didn't make a big impression on me at first. It was OK, but nothing like the other two series. However, after reading the next 2 book is the series, I found myself feeling excited about touching base with Ali again. This sixth book has Ali looking forward to a new chapter in her life. She has a new boyfriend, she is about to become a grandmother, and is training to be a cop. However, when an old acquaintance looks her up out the blue asking for help with a background check on a shady online boyfriend, Ali agrees to help her out. But, Ali never dreamed she would find herself in the smack dab middle of a collision between her old friend, B. Simpson, the FBI, military drones, and a greedy and twisted killer. I love how Ali never rest on her laurels when she could take life at her leisure. I admired her courage to go through the police academy even though she was a few years older than the average recruit. She always challenges herself and refuses to allow her difficult past to dictate her future. I loved touching base with the Arizona crowd I've come to know and love as well, although some characters really were in the background in this one. I am also happy to see the blog Ali spent so much time on the first two books, has slowly died out. I didn't really miss it and the stories flow much more evenly now as a result. This mystery was very different from anything Ali has dealt with previously and although she was not officially a cop, she showed she has what it takes to be a great investigator. Drones are a very hot topic these days and Jance may have actually been a few years ahead of time with this one. A very interesting take on the use of drones and one we should certainly be paying attention to. I do think that I am warming up to Ali more and more each time I read a book from this series and I am dying to see what she will get up to next. 4 stars
    • 4/5
      Synopsis: Ali Reynolds has completed the six-week course to become a police officer, but the economy keeps her out of uniform. However, that doesn’t keep her from becoming embroiled in a murder mystery that has her running all over the country tracking down clues. This multifaceted story begins with the unexpected arrival of an old acquaintance who requests Ali’s help in locating her fiancé and ends with multiple police and FBI involvement.Review: This was an enjoyable read with lots of interesting character studies. Throughout you wondered if the ‘bad guy’ would or would not get away. While I like most of the characters in this book, the boyfriend still seems rather lame, probably because he goes by B. rather than his actual name.
    • 3/5
      It's been a while since I read a JA Jance novel, and I don't know if my memory of previous novels is just overlaid with uncritical rosy delight or if this newish one is more simplistic than the ones I recall. Sure seemed more simplistic. But the suspense holds well, the characters have a bit of depth, the villain is suitably evil and grotesque...
    • 4/5
      I like the character of Alie Reynolds. She's passed through the police academy but because of budget cuts wasn't picked for the force. She is asked for help by a friend who has been in an internet relationship with man to look into his situation since she believes he's missing. The man is scamming a bunch of women as a hobby while working at illegal off the books computer programming. Alie's friend is missing, there's a murder or two, a busybody neighbor's help, a local cop, a retired cop, Alie's boyfriend's security firm's help all before she becomes a grandmother.
    • 3/5
      In “Fatal Error” Ali Reynolds, the primary character, takes her training in the Arizona Police Academy. She is older than the other candidates and is also a woman, so although her training is not without challenges, she is successful and on successful completion looks forward to returning home and working as a police office when budget cuts begin to have an impact of local police forces. At the same time a former acquaintance Brenda Riley, a former colleague contacts her and then goes missing. She has become an alcoholic and comes form a very dysfunctional family. Is she missing on a drunken trip which is her history? This is a story that combines the issue of computer relationships, misrepresentation during dating, cyber-stalking and old fashioned mysteries combined with police work and is full of action and fun. It is a light and good read and I finished it easily.
    • 4/5
      I read this book, and enjoyed it. I gave it a 4 star rating (which was probably 3.5 stars, rounded up). I thought I'd come back and write my review in a few days, like I often do. It was almost a week later when I came back, and realized most of the details (of the story, of the characters, of what I did and didn't like) had all slipped my mind.As I read through the description again, it started coming back, but I'd have to say it was a fast fade, even for me.So, I came in mid-series on this one, so there are several things that I just accept as being part of the universe. A forty something year old woman deciding to go to the police academy to become a police officer is part of that. Her having very large amounts of money to throw at any problems that arise is another. Both are very convenient, and I chose to just accept them and move on.I really liked Ali, once I accepted the above, and in the end, that's what made the book work for me. She's a strong, gutsy lady.The thriller aspect made for an interesting cat and mouse game. I love it when there is intrigue within the bad guys, and this set were not a united team.One of the things I was looking forward to in this book was the technological aspect, and I was a little disappointed. Once I suspended disbelief, it was fine, but I knew enough to know some of it doesn't completely hold together.Still, it was a fun read, and that's what I was looking for.
    • 4/5
      J.A. Jance is building a great new character to follow in Ali Reynolds. Ali is attempting to further her career as media relations for the police dept. by attending officer training. Budget cuts leave without even the media job, but she doesn't sit still. Between covering her parents work at the family restaurant while they are on a cruise she ends-up helping another former newsgirl, Brenda Riley. Brenda did not handle her job loss as well as Ali. Between drinking to excess and falling for a man over the internet she is at the bottom of the bottle and her life. But it turns-out, through Ali's help, she wasn't the man's only internet fiance nor was he on the up and up in his business dealings. It all comes down to Ali to save the day and thankfully her parents are back so she doesn't have to work the morning shift anymore!
    • 4/5
      A complicated tale involving a cyberstalker and a corrupt former government contractor. Ali Reynolds is drawn in by a former colleague, now fallen on hard times, whose fiance is not what he seems.