Jed Had to Die

by Tara Sivec

The happiest day of Payton Lambert's life was the day she graduated high school and watched Bald Knob, Kentucky get smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror. She wanted more for her life than a tiny town where everyone knows your business and you can’t find a decent cup of coffee for at least forty miles. Twelve years later, an unexpected phone call in the middle of the night has her packing up her life in Chicago and racing back home to the one person she ever regretted leaving behind.


 
Upon her return, she sees that Leo Hudson, the scrawny boy who followed Payton around like a puppy and could recite cow insemination facts in his sleep, is long gone. Now Leo is still hot on her heels, but now he's wearing a sheriff badge and dead set on solving a murder that may or may not involve Payton...along with half the town. In a town where the biggest crime happened the day someone kicked a few of his cows, people are pointing fingers, rumors are spreading like wildfire, and Payton swears she's only making out with the sweet-talking, studly sheriff to distract him from the secrets she's keeping. 


 
When you've been tased, peed on by a yippy dog named Bo Janges, and can't stop picturing what Sheriff Hudson looks like naked, it will be a tough job making everyone agree that...Jed had to die.

• ISBN10: 1682304329
• ISBN13: 9781682304327
• Publish Date: 15 December 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 27 January 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Diversion Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 354
• Language: English

Reviews

[stacey_is_sassy]

What a fantastic performance...

***4.5 stars***

Not to take away from the humorous and very talented writing of Tara Sivec but this story was perfect for audio. Or, maybe it would be better to say that Jed Had to Die was perfectly performed by Amy McFadden.

Oh my lordy, I laughed...out loud...in public!!

To be honest, Jed Had to Die nearly killed me. Well sorta kinda my fault but I'll blame Tara and Amy for it too. Kind of spoilery, so proceed with caution. There I am, snuffly from a cold and a little weary, driving home from work and listening to my audio. A scene comes up where the main character, Payton gets tasered. I shouldn't laugh but that was funny in itself. Then, Payton tries to talk while her body is recovering from the jolt. Tears from laughing blur my eyes, my nose is running and I have a sneezing fit. Luckily, I was two seconds away from home and managed to get into the driveway where I proceeded to cackle, snort and sniffle. I survived, and it was a bloody good thing I wasn't driving in traffic.

Amy (McFadden) really gets into character and performs what someone sounds like stuttering and stammering (from being tasered) which was HILARIOUS. There were plenty of times that I appreciated her acting talents and knew that not every narrator would pull off a story like this. Amy bloody nailed it.

Brutally honest, I don't think I would have enjoyed this story half as much if I had read it. For starters, the small town snarky, judgemental and narrow-minded people would have made me livid. I wanted to smack them all in the head for not noticing that one of their beloved citizens was unhappy and suffering. This is not a book to take too seriously as you would be horrified and maybe even disgusted if this was real. But, then again, reality is not so pretty...

Leo, I really liked him. I loved that he's dreamed of Payton coming back to town. He had a huge crush on her when he was a kid and seeing her again, brings back all those feelings. Time has been good to Leo. The scrawny nerd has grown up to be a sexy, muscley sheriff who won't be overlooked by the prettiest girl in town, now. So bloody cute.

I really enjoyed listening to Jed Had to Die. Tara Sivec wrote her usual bust a gut laughing storyline and Amy McFadden performed it in a way that a lot of other narrators couldn't.

4 stars for the story and 5 stars for the performance giving it an overall 4.5 stars.