Oh man, was I ever thankful to get an ALC copy from the Gay Romance Reviews, because I absolutely recommend any murder mystery book lover to get the audiobook version of Jealous of the Clouds! I didn’t know what to expect, as it’s my first time reading/listening to a Rick R. Reed book. Nevertheless, he did a masterful job!
It’s part Thriller, part Murder Mystery dramatization and part True Crime podcast. Sounds like a lot? But it wasn’t, this trio completely works together and kept me invested throughout the whole listen! The prologue, set many years in the past, kind of set’s the mood, low-key helping us understand the main antagonist Joshua Kade. If you’re paying attention that is. Fast forward to the story’s present time, and we learn Joshua was accused of murdering his boyfriend Reggie, 10 years earlier.
Now, Joshua is dating Ted Cornish. They are seemingly a loving and happy couple, that is until Josh decides to confess to the alleged allegations of the decade earlier crime. Josh let’s Ted know that there’s a podcast that believes he is the murderer and still continues to investigate into this ten year old cold case. It obviously scares Ted and despite home trying to act like it doesn’t affect home, he now keeps a weary eye on Mister Red Flag.
Not long after, the podcaster Bailey, calls Ted for an interview. A little resistant, Ted decides to go. After a brief interview that Ted asks Bailey not to share to the public for fear of his life, Bailey confesses he is the brother of the murdered man. This make Ted struggle with his love and loyalty to Josh but still wants to know about what really happened all those years ago. In the meantime, begins to notice Josh’s jealous and abusive nature.
Ted wants out and slowly keeps his distance from Josh, but Josh is in his Fatal Attraction era, because HE WILL NOT BE IGNORED!! Ted starts suffering from nightmares and begins missing work, trying to hide from Josh, who he feels is following him. How can he escape? There’s only one person he knows who can help him. But I won’t tell. As we near the end of the story with it’s twisty twistable twists, you’ll come to realize no one is ever who they truly seem!
The entire listen has a noir mood to it, which I loved. I could have listened in one day, if I hadn’t fallen asleep. As I mentioned earlier, it’s part Thriller, part Murder Mystery dramatization and part True Crime podcast. A brilliant assemblage for an audiobook, making such a great listening experience. The narrator, David Allen Vargo, did such a fantastic job here! There’s maybe like five different characters, both male and female, he created clearly distinctive voices. Not many narrators can pull that off.
With all that said, I highly recommend this book, which you can get as paperback and ebook as well. Although, audiobook is so much fun for this dark thriller. Just picture yourself driving, working, laundry or mundane errands as you listen to Jealous of the Clouds. You’ll be so consumed with listening, you won’t even realize how much time has passed. Because at the end of the day, no matter what you’re doing, you just have to know, did Josh really do it?