Bedlam

The is the third book in the Alexander Gregory series and for me the best so far.  It finds the forensic psychologist going undercover in the Buchanan hospital to discover what has happened to missing Mafia wife Lorena.  Is she genuinely mentally unwell or has she gone permanently missing before she can give key evidence as an FBI informant?  Not knowing who he can trust Gregory must find the answers, whilst playing the role of patient.  
You can tell LJ Ross does her research and there’s always something interesting to learn from her stories.  I’m really enjoying the psychological insights from this series.  She also has a wonderful way of describing locations, in this case the Catskill Forest that makes you want to visit them in person.  

I listened to the audio version of Bedlam and for me, Richard Armitage bought this story to life.  His narrative is clear and the character voices believable.  I really hope he’ll be narrating any further books in this series.  

I highly recommend this book, which you will enjoy even more if you can find some delicious cannoli to eat whilst reading.

This is the third book in a series, I had not read the first two but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this episode.  Whilst visiting the FBI at Quantico, Dr Alexander Gregory and Professor Bill Douglas are asked to assist on a case involving the Mafia which requires Dr Gregory enter Buchanan Psychiatric Hospital posing as a patient.  From that point on my head was in a spin, the story was horribly realistic and quickly descended into a situation which is one of my personal nightmares!  I was so absorbed in the story I had to listen in one sitting, feeling a sense of disquiet the whole time.  Superb writing and excellent narration.

Wow, that's how I would sum up this audiobook. It was a real joy to listen to and in my opinion the best narration of an audiobook that wasn't done by a celebrity reading their own work. Using Richard Armitage for the narration was a stroke of genius by the publisher as it brings real life to the story and it had a sense of "grit" in the telling. 

As someone who has not read any of the Dr Alexander Gregory books I was a little worried that picking book 3 as my first may put me at a disadvantage, however I did not feel this at all and the story can easily be listened to as a standalone title. 

The story is actually quite simple, Dr Gregory is in America and at Quantico when some agents enlist him to help work out what has happened to a mafia bosses wife who is needed to testify. In order to do this he needs to go undercover at a private psychiatric hospital, which his standing as a leading psychiatrist and criminal profiler make him the ideal person to do so. The story develops in a predictable enough manner and whilst there are some twists there is nothing really unexpected that develops, which is actually something I enjoy in an audiobook. The ability to listen to a story play out and not be confused by sudden changes in direction or wildly elaborate schemes is a joy and listening to Richard Armitage narrate it almost felt like a friend was in the room telling me about his recent adventure.

I felt the ending was perhaps a little rushed in comparison to how the rest of the story moved, as though the author had realised the story whilst enjoyable hadn't really had much action so they squeezed it in before the pages ran out. Overall though I enjoyed the audiobook and would recommend it, I will also be keeping an eye out for future titles narrated by Richard Armitage as I feel he really added some extra star quality and I found myself wanting the story to continue, which I am sure it will in future titles.