In this story, we find reporter Teagan struggling to get pregnant so she channels her energy into a nonprofit to help women being targeted by a terrorist organization. Things go awry when government and terrorists are involved and she finds out that no good deed goes unpunished as the money raised was stolen. She vows vengeance by any means necessary. The story follows her on her hunt and also finds that she is also being hunted.

I found the story exciting in places and a bit drawn out in others. The storyline was a good balance of adrenaline= pumping moments and character -driven scenes. Exactly what I expected when I chose to read this book.

I liked the narrator and would love to hear him read another book as I felt he brought the story to life. What I did not like was how I was taken out of the story when I heard a male voice trying to voice a female character that was so prominent in the story.


Thanks to #netgalley and #PenandPicture for a advanced readers copy in exchange for my unbiased review

The book opens with a terrorist attack that we learn is staged to cover the murder of Teagen Penn, a journalist who has become an activist led to causes by her heart strings. Then we quickly turn back the clock to meet Teagen on her home ground, a magazine office in Seattle. Her personal problems have led her to jump start an operation outside normal channels to save kidnapped children. She will face more danger from her co-conspirators as the project quickly goes off the rails. She must learn the strength of her resolutions before she becomes front page news.

Michael Ebner has done an excellent job of developing Teagen and her supporting cast of characters into three dimensional figures that are true to their chosen lives. None are completely good or bad, except maybe Roman, but a mixture as their consciences push their efforts. Teagen proves to be a woman torn between actions and consequences as her efforts to save these children push her into events where it's not just her life on the line. As the first book in a new series, THE NEW BAD THING has set the backstory and core characters to insure a loyal following just waiting for the next book. I received an audio book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. The narration adds a dimension of tension as the story builds. Braden Wright read the story as I would have read it, with all of the passion and emotion Ebner built into Teagan and this introductory book. It mixes several genre along the way, so if you love a book that reads as a headline from the nightly news with awesome characters, you've found it.

4.5⭐ (audio) I listen to tons of audiobooks, and as long as the narrator doesn't take me out of the story, I'm a happy (enough) camper. Braden Wright does a good job with this one, but it would have made more sense to have a female narrator, as the main character is female.

4⭐ (story) A reporter confronts terrorists, the mafia and fertility issues in Ebner’s new series starter” (Kirkus Reviews). Teagan is successful in her own right but she’s not the crusader journalist she aspired to be back in college. She needs a personal distraction and decides to make a difference in the world. When a foreign news story shocks her to the core, she takes matters into her own hands and starts a special project. But not everybody will be happy about her plans. When Teagan travels to Paris to deal with a project setback, she wakes up in a luxury hotel in the middle of a terrorist siege. Or is it a planned attack on her life?

Like other survivors from the siege, she is taken to a local police station. Routine questioning turns to intense interrogation by an American–a European Counterterrorism agent–Robert Lexington. She is the only one in custody who has seen Roman in the last ten years. Teagan is persuaded by Lexington to help locate him–a high priority person of interest–and in return she will avoid the courts and military prison back home.

Ebner is a new author for me, and I was pleasantly surprised at this fast-paced thriller. I enjoyed the story from the beginning, and the twists and turns kept the suspense level on high the whole time. Highly recommended! 4⭐

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced audio copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

THE NEW BAD THING Book 1 by Michael Ebner
This is a fast paced crime thriller that has lots of suspense, intensity, twists, turns and the mafia. Teagan is a strong, complex, resilient woman that is caught up in a few things that sort of go from one to another. I am looking forward to the next book. This is 4 stars.
I listened to the audio book and Braden Wright did a very good job with the narration.

The New Bad Thing is a fast-paced thriller featuring Teagan Penn, a Seattle journalist who gets entangled in a dangerous web involving terrorists, the mafia, and covert operations. As she navigates this treacherous landscape, Teagan's determination and resourcefulness are put to the test. Ebner crafts an engaging narrative with rich character backstories and complex motivations, making it a compelling read for fans of action-packed espionage stories.

This was very good. I listened to it on audiobook and really enjoyed it. The story is very intense following a crime organization and a woman who unfortunately gets involved. There are a lot of twists and turns that happen throughout the book. This book is full of action and intense situations. This book definitely kept me interested through the entire thing. I finished it in one sitting. I definitely recommend it!

I listened to the audiobook and recieved it from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

In terms of audio, the narrator was clear and well spoken. I had trouble with the fact that the main character is a woman, from the point of view of a woman yet the audio narrator is a man. Takes me out of the story a little but that is my personal preference.

Story wise, this was a short action packed original story with the feel of the movie Peppermint and Taken. If you like those and John wick, you may like this story. However, I did feel like the second half of the story lost my interest in an odd way that I can't explain. Perhaps I feel like I've been there before or it was predictable enough that while it was very entertaining, it was something expected.

The writing is well done and flows along at a good pace. Decent story for a fun time!

This was my first experience reading a book by Michael Ebner, and the intriguing premise immediately drew me in. The story did not disappoint, delivering a fast-paced and engaging plot that kept me hooked from start to finish.

While the book was well-executed—featuring a solid plot, well-developed characters, and excellent pacing—I struggled with the audiobook format. Although the narrator, Braden Wright, has a pleasant voice and a strong delivery, the mismatch between the female protagonist’s perspective and the male narrator didn’t quite work for me. It created a disconnect that made it harder to immerse myself in the story fully.

That said, the book has a lot of strengths:
Plot: Intriguing and well-constructed.
Characters: Believable and compelling.
Pacing: Keeps the momentum going, maintaining reader engagement.
As someone who loves audiobooks as my go-to format for reading, this one didn’t quite hit the mark, but I’d recommend it for readers who might prefer print or are less sensitive to narration style.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Picture Publishing for providing me with an audio-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have to say that I unfortunately did not finish this audiobook, I found it difficult to get past the 60% mark. I found the narrator to be great but I was so confused by a man narrating for a woman character. As a thriller fan this just didn't keep me engaged in the story line and I couldn't connect to the characters. I would try something different from the author in book form possibly.

Special thanks to #NetGalley and #PenandPicture for this #ARC audiobook.

This is the first book I’ve “read” by Michael Ebner and I was hooked from the very beginning! I listened to the audiobook version and really enjoyed the narrator in addition to the story itself.

It really seemed like I was listening to a movie playing out. Great character development and action packed throughout the book.

Thank you to netgalley and Pen and Paper for a copy of this audiobook in lieu of my honest review.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion. I want to be fair but I'm also just going to be honest about this audiobook... I didn't like it. I don't understand why a book that was about a female main character had a male audiobook narrator whose tone was flat and performance was boring. As a woman who is struggling with fertility issues, I didn't like this being the driving force for this celebrity reporter to turn their life into what came off as a spy thriller. The pacing was all over the place and the plot bounced from idea to idea. In audiobook format, it's hard to know what was the past, present, or future as there wasn't a firm clear boundary line between them. Some people may like that, but I am not one of them. There was also a lot of info-dumping instead of working the details of the characters into the storyline, which led me to not feel as deep as a connection with the characters. Also, the MC being a conventionally attractive white woman who's only physical flaw is her facial scar is boring, but not as boring as the constant reminder that she's having fertility issues and treatment. Even listening at a faster speed, the narration was slow and ill-fitting.

Wow! What a tight, fast paced, on the edge of your seat thriller Michael Ebner has created and Braden Wright has breathed life into.

The New Bad Thing follows a journalist who is seeing her younger self’s goals and aspirations torn and tattered at her feet. Instead of processing this devastating realization she decides she needs a pet project. She and her husband try to start a family but need a little assistance. Thank goodness for medical advancements, Teagan becomes pregnant. But she’s still not feeling fulfilled. She hears a humanitarian story on the news and decides that THIS is that project. After she arrives in Paris, her hotel is attacked by terrorists. Instead of being considered a witness or better yet a victim of the terrorist attacker, she is questioned incessantly. From there it’s a race against time to find the person of interest behind the attack in order to protect her family.

This is the first book I have listen to where the narrator is Braden Wright. Wow! He is a narrator to keep your eye on. He made sure the intensity of his voice matched the scene in the book. Mr. Wright took what was already an excellent book and elevated it to a new level. So if you have the chance to listen to the audiobook, do it. You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you to #netgalley and Pen and Paper who I received a copy of The New Bad Thing audiobook in lieu of my honest review.

Cinematic!
This book could definitely be made into a movie. Anyone who likes action thrillers will love this story. It is an edge of your seat page turner. I read it in one sitting it is unputdownable. The narrator was a perfect match to the text. Really gave life to the events. I can't wait for the next one.

This was like listening to an episode of FBI International and I LOVED THAT!!
This read like an action movie, the characters were fierce and proactive, the bad guys were so wicked, and the man hunt was exciting.
The narrator was great, occasionally his voice for characters was the same so it was a little confusing. The time line in the story was a bit all over the place and I was lost a few times when the agent was on his story line and time line. I didn't care for him much and then he was all over the place so I missed part of what he was on about.
The ending was intense, and then just dropped off. I will totally be listening to the next one,

Action packed thriller, just as the cover states. There are so many twists and turns, all while rooting for the main characters. I also very much appreciated some of the real life situations that Teagan had to deal with, and in doing so develops an amazing character arc. I’m excited for the second installment!

I received an ELC of this book and it sounded like a really great read. Having been a huge fan of shows like 24 & Homeland, I thought I’d be getting something similar but it’s book form. I’m not sure if it’s that over the years I’ve maybe consumed too many, but it wasn’t as thrilling as I was expecting it to be. This could have been more to do with the fact the narrators voice for Teagan was quite off putting and every time I heard her speak it snapped me back out of the story itself, and it was somewhat difficult to follow when flashbacks vs real time was occurring in parts. For me it felt an odd choice to have a male narration to what is largely a story from Teagans POV.

There were a few twists and turns I didn’t expect and the latter part of the book gave me a big “why the hell did that happen”.

This is by no means a bad book, still an enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The new bad thing is the first of a series featuring Teagan Penn, a journalist who is desperate to become a mother but as fertility treatments aren’t working she throws herself into setting up a fund me page to rescue some kidnapped/ trafficked girls, but soon the life she has and craves is snatched away from when she is attacked by terrorists in her hotel in France, What follows is a great roller coaster of a ride where you just have to suspend belief and go with the flow, and a big shout out to Braden Wright who did an excellent performance with the narration.

I listened to this book rather than read it. I like listening to books when I'm running, going on errands, or doing chores. This is my first book from this author and it was interesting enough I'd like to read (or listen to) the rest of this series!

The description of this book intrigued and it absolutely delivered! I found myself wanting to read it in every spare moment of my days/evenings until I finished it. I was surprised by the character development in a good way- sometimes thrillers focus more on the action than the characters and their backstories. This book balanced action and backstory well. Teagan's backstory is fascinating and there situations she finds herself in through the duration of this novel are not for the faint of heart. The book wrestles with complex situations from fertility to crime to career to what one will do to save the ones they love. I will not share more in order to keep it spoiler free. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series!

I give the audiobook narration 4/5 because i would have enjoyed if there had been a female narrator instead of a male narrator since the book centers around Teagan. The book itself I give 4/5 because I feel like there are a lot of questions that I have unanswered, but maybe that's unfair because it is a series.

A complimentary audiobook copy was provided by via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book 17 of 2024

The New Bad Thjng by Michael Ebner
⭐️⭐️

Action is clearly not my thing.
It was so fast paced and intense that it was the sort of book you needed to listen to and finish in a day or two, so not to forget any info.
Teagan goes from one of the best journalist, to a biography writer for a wanted villain, to stone called killer.
In between all this having a child, so actually thinking about it - very strong female lead who although has a husband seems to handle it all. And when hubby does have the baby he seemed to struggle alone.
Tegan the unexpected heroine.

Thank you NetGalley, Pens and pictures for this pre release opportunity to review x @netgalley

This was a very quick read, full of action and twists, this book had a lot going on. I had the audio version of this book and the narrator was excellent, a great choice. Teagan was the unlikely brave heroine of the book, going head to head with some really scary, bad dudes. You do have to put aside reality a bit to fully immerse yourself in this book, at times I kept thinking Teagan wants a family and a baby so badly but yet she’s in these life threatening situations all over the world I wish she would just stay at home with hubby and interview her celebrities and be safe lol. I commend the author on bringing attention to human trafficking- enslaved girls and women, which is a huge humanitarian crisis. This would definitely make a great action film or series. Thank you to NetGalley, Pen and Picture and the author for the advance audio copy!