Audiobook Review: Veronica Mars - The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line

Author: Rob Thomas
Narrator: Kristen Bell
Series: Veronica Mars, #1
Published: March 25th 2014
Publisher: Random House Audio
Lenght: 8 hrs and 42 mins
Buy: Audible

The first book in an original mystery series featuring twenty-eight-year-old Veronica Mars, back in action after the events of Veronica Mars: The Movie. With the help of old friends—Logan Echolls, Mac Mackenzie, Wallace Fennel, and even Dick Casablancas—Veronica is ready to take on Neptune’s darkest cases with her trademark sass and smarts.

Please note that some minor spoilers for this year’s Veronica Mars movie were inevitable.

I just love the 21st century, don't you? A TV show gets cancelled, leaving behind millions of grieving fans. After years of struggle, a movie gets made, crowdfunded by adoring viewers who were unable to let go. While this is happening, creator of the show Rob Thomas (originally a novelist), decides to start a book series, which will pick up exactly where the movie leaves off. And all of it, every single thing ends up being a huge success. At this point, one can safely call Veronica Mars a multimedia sensation.

Veronica may have been gone for many years, but Neptune is still the same cesspool of crime and corruption. It gets even worse during spring break, when thousands of adolescents, unsupervised and wild, travel there to drown in alcohol and irresponsible behavior. When two young girls go missing, no one is really surprised, least of all Veronica herself. But she is surprised when she discovers that she has a strong personal connection to one of the girls and that she has to find a way to put aside her own emotional turmoil in order to work the case. To make matters worse, her father is still unhappy that she gave up her career in law and he’s still recovering from a grave injury. Logan has been deployed and a bad Skype connection is all they have for comfort. Corruption in Neptune is worse than ever, which means Veronica has to work around the inept Sheriff if she wants to make any progress on her case. And then, just to push things from bad to worse, her Mom shows up…

I’ve come to admire Veronica even more now that she’s an adult. She is emotional and soft, but fiercely independent. At this point, she doesn’t need anyone to come to her rescue. She is perfectly capable of defending herself. That’s not to say that she doesn’t have a very supportive group of friends! The entire old gang is back right alongside her, and with the exception of Logan, they all help in some way. For his part, Logan is the one she turns to for emotional support. When push comes to shove, she is far more likely to e-mail him than talk to anyone else.

Really, if you think about it, audio is really the best choice if one wants to enjoy this book fully. Narrated by Kristen Bell (because who else could narrate it?), it’s almost like Veronica herself is sitting beside you, telling you her story over cocktails and snacks.

The second book, titled Mr. Kiss and Tell, is scheduled for release in late October 2014. My copy is already pre-ordered, what are you waiting for?