Not memorable at all. Probably great to sleep to!! ( )

This was a free audible book that came out last summer while we were all in quarantine. It features three stories about people staying at home due to the pandemic. They are all in the crime/suspense genre. The first story is about a crew of criminals whose big heist has been foiled by lock down orders. The criminals try to adjust their plans, but must do so via Zoom meetings with pets and families interrupting - not to mention emergency trips to the store when they have a lead on some toilet paper. The second story is about two brothers whose father passed away and they have jointly inherited his house just as things were locking down. The final story was about a young lady, alone at home during the lock down, who starts to suspect that her neighbor may have murdered his husband. I really liked all three stories. I was in the mood for light listens after my last audio book and these really hit the spot. I found myself smiling as the author described life in the lock down - aspects that seem so far away now even though the pandemic is not over. It was a nice quick read (2 1/2 hours) that helped my daily chores go faster. ( )

Nice try (doing quarantine-specific fiction), but none of the stories were all that great. 3 novellas or long short stories (hard to tell the exact difference), the the central theme being crime-in-a-time-of-quarantine, mostly humorous. It's a free Audible book, so one can't really complain too much, but they just weren't amazing. I do think there probably are interesting ways to work quarantine into a story, but as the central concept it probably won't work until after quarantine is over for most people. ( )

This was one of the audible monthly free listens. I listened to this at work while binning and while I would love to say I couldn't focus on it because of the job, that's not the case. It was a fun-ish listen; the stories had some comedy, and intrigue that made me laugh or gasp, but it was nothing to write home about.

I feel as though it was a good effort and the stories were decent, but I could only manage 3-stars. The stories all take place during the "current global situation" and I can appreciate the thought behind it. A little something to make you giggle during quarantine, or something the spike your heart rate. I get the intentions behind it, and I applaud the authors and editors, as well as the narrators. I just didn't love it. It was not quite distracting enough.

But it's a quick listen with comedy, quarantined mobsters, estranged brothers stuck together in their childhood home, and a woman who is certain one neighbor murdered his husband and is slowly disposing of the body in pastry boxes every day. So it's worth a listen, especially if you're an audible member. ( )

First Out-of-the-Gate Quarantine Book?
Review of the Audible Original audiobook (April 30, 2020) of three original short stories.

Inside Jobs is the first quickie book from the quarantine that I am aware of and is not a bad effort for something that had to have been done extremely quickly with audio production added on top. I do know one previous Ben H. Winters book Golden State (2019) which was a future dystopia state detective novel with various surprises. Inside Jobs takes various tropes of the crime genre and gives them a quarantine twist. Story 1 The Crimson Parrot is the gang-involved caper heist with planning meetings held via Zoom with the expected comedic effects. Story 2 The Cape House is the brotherly rivalry theme under the pressure of quarantine. Story 3 Stop Motion is strongly Rear Window influenced with a quarantined individual observing questionable activities at a neighbour's house. The narrators were all excellent but it was the final main story Stop Motion that had the best combination of humour and suspense.

Inside Jobs was one of ten Audible Originals available free for Audible members in May 2020. It is available to everyone for a standard price. ( )