A bit different

Overall not a bad story, although it did take me a while to work out who was who. Nice to listen to something a bit different and there was a nice twist at the end

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Great family drama

I loved listening to the audio version of this book. It is a emotional family drama with a great storyline. The narrator was brilliant and brought the characters and plot to life. The story was believable and easy to listen to. I would highly recommend this book.

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Brilliant suspense, thriller, a page turner

Really enjoyed this book it had me in tears in places, and couldn't wait for the next chapter to see what was going to happen, it was a sad ending but understandable, brilliant. Narration was fantastic and added to the story

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Amends

The narration of Michelle Babb , so perfect for this amazing book

This book is about the lives of two families intertwine around a tragic kidnapping, enduring the pain through the years in their own ways. Amazing

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Well Paced, Unfolding Story

This is a book I knew nothing of going into it and I come out of it having enjoyed the journey.

In some ways it's not like other books as it resonated with me more than some. The next paragraph will talk about a minor plot point, consider it a spoiler but just be warned in case!

**Potential Spoiler** The resonating part for me was the characters of Ben and Vonn. Ben has Dementia. This felt like a sensitive topic to explore in a book without making it overly silly. People who have dealt with sufferers of this condition know that it's not easy, not for the person or the family around them. I tip my hat to the author, Melinda Clayton, for approaching the topic with real sensitivity. She gives us insight into Bens struggles. Moments of clarity, moments of living the past, and the struggle for Vonn to have to deal with this. For such a sensitive topic it was very well done and very real. I just wanted to highlight that. **End of Potential Spoiler*

With that out of the way, the story is very well paced, characters are given just the right amount of development to make us feel something, and it's an enjoyable story that slowly unfolds along the way.

Michelle, as narrator, does another fantastic job narrating this one and her tone and voice throughout match the tone and sensitivity of the book very well.

Very enjoyable listen and it's been a nice change of pace from my usual listens. I'd recommend it!

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a good read

a good read quite enjoyable
a good story
narrator was ok
veered off at times but stuck to it.

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Packs a mean punch, unputdownable

I stayed up to the wee small hours listening to this. A tale of lives filled with hope and positive moving forward: well recognisable by 12 steppers, as the title makes clear. Everyone's doing their best to get thru troubled lives; until the arrival of the long lost sheep to the fold. But would he be a white sheep or a black sheep after all this time? the story really does pull you along, you want to be thrown headlong into the lives of these people. Michelle Babb narrates with an easy-to-listen-to slow southern drawl that you could listen to long past the end of the story. I was vaguely troubled at the end, mainly because I wanted the story to go on and never end.

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Family drama

This is a different book for me to listen to but I really enjoyed it, mainly I think because it was so different. The story is told by a number of the characters, so jumps around a bit but I think this really works well for the story. It did tug on the heartstrings having one of the characters suffering from Alzheimer's but In a way it gave the story more impact and is a story that make you grateful for what you had. It was a well crafted plot and for a hard topic it was a griping read that had me hooked, wondering how it was going to end and with a number of twists it sure keeps you guessing.
What is it like to go on living when you are only half of a whole? That is the dilemma facing Ricky and his mother Tabby. Ricky brother is kidnapped by an abusive father and is never seen again. That is until 25 years later they get a phone call telling them that Bobby has been arrested for killing his father and before they can go through the whole family reunion Bobby goes on the run. Will he had straight back to the family he lost? Or has that little lost boy gone for ever?
I really like the narrator she builds up the feeling of guilt and tension well until you find yourself sat on the edge of your seat.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Making Amends

A brilliant read from a new author to me. The book is fast paced, the story is told all through in the first person each chapter being a different characters perspective. Much of the story i can imagine being played out in some family groups throughout the world without the murder of course. It is thought provoking and well worth a read. I thought Michelle once again surpassed herself in the narration and would recommend this book to anyone. *****
This audiobook was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

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Guilt is a powerful motivator

Michelle Babb is an excellent narrator, her warm pleasant voice not only providing flawless reading with a natural intonation but also conveying emotion, be it sorrow or humour, sadness or laughter. She has the capacity to bring every protagonist to life, each given their own voice and three dimensional reality. In this book she excels beyond her own high standards, every character nuanced, individual and real.

The story is told throughout in the first person but switches between the points of view of a mother, Tabby, her son Richie, and Von, her neighbour, employer and friend. Tabby had grown up in the dubious care of social services, meeting and becoming addicted to cocaine with the to-be-father when released to the world as an adult, but getting herself clean when she found she was pregnant. But after giving birth she started to drink, sometimes heavily. The couple split up and she looked after her twin boys alone until, when they were five, one of the boys, Bobby, was kidnapped by his father and never found.
All of this background is revealed in flashbacks and rememberances as the book commences twenty five years later when Tabby sees the rolling news report on T.V. that her long lost baby boy, Bobby, had been arrested for the murder of his father but without any details surrounding the how or the why. Although having been a good, and sober, mother to her remaining twin son, Richie, since Bobby was taken, she had never stopped longing for her stolen boy, nor forgiven herself for losing him.
Now he is found again, albeit in difficult circumstances, and his reappearance will change the carefully constructed lives of mother, son Richie, and her closest friend forever.

Making Amends is a powerfully written thriller, not fast paced action but instead a totally absorbing tale of guilt, introspection, fragility, and the ever present what-will-happen?. It is well constructed with three dimensional characters whose very real lives are made all the more so, as previously mentioned, by the excellent performance of the narrator. A perfect pairing of book and reader - and highly recommended.

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