Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts

Abridged Audiobook on 5 CDs

I've become addicted to listening to audiobooks on compact disc this year! I've always enjoyed listening to a well read audiobook, but in the past I have usually stuck to reading a book---Not listening to one!

This year though, roughly one third of the books I've read so far have actually been audiobooks... Or rather I've listened to audiobooks verses reading the physical book.

I began listening to audiobooks more frequently last year, when I was randomly drawn/selected as the surprise winner of the International Audiobook Sweepstakes, hosted by another Bookcrosser from Bookcrossing website. I began receiving audiobooks from readers here in the USA as well as from readers overseas. It was a wonderful experience to receive and listen to so many different audiobooks that I may never have listened to or discovered on my own... Since then, I've been participating in an online audiobook exchange through Bookcrossing with several readers here in the USA.

Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts is the most recent audiobook that I've listened to and it was an enjoyable one to listen to at that... Even if was the abridged version. I prefer unabridged audiobooks as I usually want to listen to the book in its entirety, but I am willing to make sacrifices! ;-)

Shoot the Moon is my first encounter reading anything written by Billie Letts. I'm familiar with the names of three of her novels, but hadn't read any of them until now. 

I enjoyed listening to Shoot the Moon. The storyline and characters were interesting enough and the novel itself captured my attention from the onset. I also thought that actor, Lou Diamond Phillips, did a superb dramatic reading of Shoot the Moon, a much better than I'd anticipated he'd render. Overall, I'd rate this book 7 out of 10 stars.

The following is a synopsis of Shoot the Moon, which I found on the Reading Group Guides website: 

In 1972, the town of DeClare, Oklahoma, was consumed by the terrifying murder of Gaylene Harjo and the disappearance of her baby, Nicky Jack. When the child's pajama bottoms were found on the banks of Willow Creek, everyone feared Nicky Jack was dead, although his body was never found. Nearly thirty years later, Nicky Jack mysteriously returns to DeClare. His sudden reappearance will stun the people of DeClare and stir up long-buried emotions and memories. But what Nicky Jack discovers among the people who remember the night he vanished is far more than he, or anyone, bargains for. Piece by piece emerges a story of dashed hopes, desperate love, and a shocking act with repercussions that will cry out for justice...and redemption.

Full of the authentic heartland characters that Billie Letts writes about so beautifully, Shoot the Moon is a hypnotic tale filled with suspense and emotional truth. It further establishes Billie Letts as an American writer to be reckoned with-an original storyteller whose words go straight to our heart. 

Until my next post, happy reading!!