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Virtue Falls #0.5
The Listener
From bestselling author Christina Dodd comes The Listener, a story of mystery and intrigue in which misfit and computer security expert Cornelia Markum hacks into a text conversation between unidentified Virtue Falls residents … and realizes she’s stumbled into a murder plot.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
77 people are currently reading
934 people want to read
About the author
Christina Dodd
138 books5,862 followersUpcoming in 2025:
— 10/28 MUCH ADO ABOUT MISTLETOE: A Daughter of Montague Christmas novella https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
New and Now!
— THUS WITH A KISS I DIE Daughter of Montague Historical Fiction #2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONA Historical Fiction Trade Paperback Once upon a time a young couple met and fell in love. You probably know that story, and how it ended (hint: badly). Only here’s the thing: That’s not how it ended at all…
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
— WELCOME TO GOTHIC: A Gothic novella in ebook (at last!) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
— WHAT DREAMS MAY COME Daughter of Montague novella 1.5 "I’m the daughter of Romeo and Juliet. Yes, that Romeo and Juliet. No, they didn’t die in the tomb…" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— GIRL ANONYMOUS “Crackling sexual chemistry and a few love scenes guaranteed to scorch readers’ fingers as they turn the pages." — ⭐️ Booklist
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Readers become writers, and Christina has always been a reader. Ultimately she discovered she liked to read romance best because the relationship between a man and a woman is always humorous. A woman wants world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants a Craftsman router, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will make his bald spot disappear.
When Christina’s first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?
Ha! It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before she was published. Now her suspense, paranormal, historical, and mystery novels have been translated into 30 languages and sold more than 15 million copies in print. Praised for her “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd” (Booklist), her award-winning books have landed on numerous Best of the Year lists and, much to her mother's delight, Dodd was once a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle. She lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest, where her 700 lavender plants share the yard with her husband’s various “Big Projects,” including a treehouse, zipline, and their very own Stonehenge.
Enter Christina’s worlds and join her mailing list for humor, book news and entertainment (yes, she’s the proud author with the infamous three-armed cover) at christinadodd.com. For more information on A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONA, visit daughterofmontague.com. Her legions of fans know that when they pick up a Christina Dodd book, they'll find the story, "Wildly entertaining, wickedly witty!"
Christina is married to a man with all his hair and no Corvette, but many Craftsman tools.
(Source: http://www.christinadodd.com )
— 10/28 MUCH ADO ABOUT MISTLETOE: A Daughter of Montague Christmas novella https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
New and Now!
— THUS WITH A KISS I DIE Daughter of Montague Historical Fiction #2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONA Historical Fiction Trade Paperback Once upon a time a young couple met and fell in love. You probably know that story, and how it ended (hint: badly). Only here’s the thing: That’s not how it ended at all…
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
— WELCOME TO GOTHIC: A Gothic novella in ebook (at last!) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
— WHAT DREAMS MAY COME Daughter of Montague novella 1.5 "I’m the daughter of Romeo and Juliet. Yes, that Romeo and Juliet. No, they didn’t die in the tomb…" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— GIRL ANONYMOUS “Crackling sexual chemistry and a few love scenes guaranteed to scorch readers’ fingers as they turn the pages." — ⭐️ Booklist
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Readers become writers, and Christina has always been a reader. Ultimately she discovered she liked to read romance best because the relationship between a man and a woman is always humorous. A woman wants world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants a Craftsman router, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will make his bald spot disappear.
When Christina’s first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?
Ha! It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before she was published. Now her suspense, paranormal, historical, and mystery novels have been translated into 30 languages and sold more than 15 million copies in print. Praised for her “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd” (Booklist), her award-winning books have landed on numerous Best of the Year lists and, much to her mother's delight, Dodd was once a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle. She lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest, where her 700 lavender plants share the yard with her husband’s various “Big Projects,” including a treehouse, zipline, and their very own Stonehenge.
Enter Christina’s worlds and join her mailing list for humor, book news and entertainment (yes, she’s the proud author with the infamous three-armed cover) at christinadodd.com. For more information on A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONA, visit daughterofmontague.com. Her legions of fans know that when they pick up a Christina Dodd book, they'll find the story, "Wildly entertaining, wickedly witty!"
Christina is married to a man with all his hair and no Corvette, but many Craftsman tools.
(Source: http://www.christinadodd.com )
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
July 31, 2016
What a brilliant short suspense story!
I’m a fan of Christina Dodd. I love reading her books and like most of them, The Listener didn't disappoint. This prequel was a great introduction to Virtue Falls series.
Since this was a very short story, it's hard for me to come up with the proper review without giving the whole story away. So, I'll leave this up to you to decide if you want to read it and find out for yourself how amazing it is.
By the way, with an engaging storyline and ingenious plot twist, I couldn't give this book anything less than 5 stars. Another one of my good reads, indeed!
I’m a fan of Christina Dodd. I love reading her books and like most of them, The Listener didn't disappoint. This prequel was a great introduction to Virtue Falls series.
Since this was a very short story, it's hard for me to come up with the proper review without giving the whole story away. So, I'll leave this up to you to decide if you want to read it and find out for yourself how amazing it is.
By the way, with an engaging storyline and ingenious plot twist, I couldn't give this book anything less than 5 stars. Another one of my good reads, indeed!
September 19, 2015
The Listener by Christina Dodd’s is the prequel for Virtue Falls, the 1st novel in her Virtue Falls Series and gives us a quick introduction to the small and intriguing town of Virtue Falls on the wild coast of Washington State, founded in 1902, population 2487 and known as “a Vacation Destination on the Washington Coast and Home of the World Famous Virtue Falls Canyon”
Oceanview Café,
The story revolves around an out of the ordinary and rather interesting local character named Cornelia. She’s a bit of an oddity and the locals think she’s off the wall and batty. But then if we had to see what she does…well, we could possibly think the same thing. Her way of eating her pie with the milk is a totally quirky scene!! So, Cornelia is very intelligent, rich, married to a loser, and is a whiz on a computer…and a hacker as well. But she only hacks into the local’s emails and e-texts!!!! And one day, she’s in for a different surprise!!!
Hacking into some local’s text discovers that two people are plotting to murder someone in the town. When she informs the local sheriff..well, he’s one of the town's folk who thinks she’s weird!!
I found some of the secondary characters in the story totally fascinating!! Especially, Kateri, the town’s Coastal Guard Commander and Rainbow, the café’s waitress. Their dialogue and interaction was a total hoot!! Hopefully we get more of them in the upcoming books.
The twist at the end….who was plotting a murder revealed …was a totally unexpected surprise!!!
The whole plot kind of reminded me of one of Roald Dahl’s stories…can’t exactly remember which one..but it had something to do with a leg of lamb!!!
I really enjoyed this very short introduction to the town of Virtue Falls and its inhabitants. It certainly sparked my interest to read the series.
Oceanview Café,
the town’s local diner is where most of the story takes place…..the depiction and imagery of the town is written very well. You get the feel of a place where life revolves around the locals and their lives, the gossip, the secrets and the quirky and interesting characters that are part of the place.
The story revolves around an out of the ordinary and rather interesting local character named Cornelia. She’s a bit of an oddity and the locals think she’s off the wall and batty. But then if we had to see what she does…well, we could possibly think the same thing. Her way of eating her pie with the milk is a totally quirky scene!! So, Cornelia is very intelligent, rich, married to a loser, and is a whiz on a computer…and a hacker as well. But she only hacks into the local’s emails and e-texts!!!! And one day, she’s in for a different surprise!!!
Hacking into some local’s text discovers that two people are plotting to murder someone in the town. When she informs the local sheriff..well, he’s one of the town's folk who thinks she’s weird!!
I found some of the secondary characters in the story totally fascinating!! Especially, Kateri, the town’s Coastal Guard Commander and Rainbow, the café’s waitress. Their dialogue and interaction was a total hoot!! Hopefully we get more of them in the upcoming books.
The twist at the end….who was plotting a murder revealed …was a totally unexpected surprise!!!
The whole plot kind of reminded me of one of Roald Dahl’s stories…can’t exactly remember which one..but it had something to do with a leg of lamb!!!
I really enjoyed this very short introduction to the town of Virtue Falls and its inhabitants. It certainly sparked my interest to read the series.
September 10, 2016
Short enough and fairly predictable. Guessed the outcome before the end of the story.
July 8, 2020
Excellent short story that delivered a great plot. Ms. Dodd also depicted a person with autistic spectrum disorder in such a manner that the reader becomes totally engaged with the character instead of being put off by them.
July 2, 2014
Slightly more emotionally aware than a Big Bang Theory character, Cornelia gets an earful (or is that an eyeful?) when she pursues her hobby of randomly hacking into her small-town neighbor’s texts and trips over a murder plot.
This little short reminded me of an elongated version of one of those uber-fun Mini Mysteries that used to appear in Woman’s World magazine when I was a kid. It’s quippy and cute and sometimes deliciously sarcastic – I laughed out loud a few times (when she sends the coffeemaker! HA!), particularly in knowing what was coming and wondering what the hell she would do.
Totally cute and would be a 5 Stars, not a 4, but a line at the beginning kinda irked me, one attributed to secondary character Kateri’s aboriginal ancestry: “For most Native Americans liquor created results even more dire than cow’s milk.” Um….could I see the data on that? Oh, right. Racism isn’t data. It’s…well, racism.
Aside, though, I absolutely liked this and will definitely now check out Virtue Falls.
This little short reminded me of an elongated version of one of those uber-fun Mini Mysteries that used to appear in Woman’s World magazine when I was a kid. It’s quippy and cute and sometimes deliciously sarcastic – I laughed out loud a few times (when she sends the coffeemaker! HA!), particularly in knowing what was coming and wondering what the hell she would do.
Totally cute and would be a 5 Stars, not a 4, but a line at the beginning kinda irked me, one attributed to secondary character Kateri’s aboriginal ancestry: “For most Native Americans liquor created results even more dire than cow’s milk.” Um….could I see the data on that? Oh, right. Racism isn’t data. It’s…well, racism.
Aside, though, I absolutely liked this and will definitely now check out Virtue Falls.
September 8, 2015
THE LISTENER, (Virtue Falls #0.5) Christina Dodd’s e-short story novella, and a tantalizing prequel for the VIRTUE FALLS, (#1 in the series, coming 9/9/2014), a town, founded in 1902, a Vacation Destination on the Washington Coast and Home of the World Famous Virtue Falls Canyon, population 2487.
Yummy! An intriguing town with quirky and witty characters which gather at the Oceanview Café, (locals and tourists), where folks wander in for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Where cops and truckers come in for fresh donuts, and others gather to drink coffee, use free Wi-Fi, eat pie, and get caught up on the latest gossip— where we meet Kateri (Coast Guard Commander), Rainbow (waitress-holds the town together), and Cornelia.
Cornelia is quite the interesting character (she works for government, computer whiz, genius, a little odd, smart, makes good money, where routine is imperative, and possibly slight autistic), married to Mason, and her mother left when she was twelve and has two older sisters. She is an observer of human behavior and uses her computer skills to eavesdrop by hacking into emails and texts when she is bored. After all, texting is human contact in the most distilled form. (She is not great at verbal communication).
She thinks of hacking, like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates; she never knows what she is going to get or who is sending it. One day she discovers while hacking, more than chocolates--two people planning a murder by poisoning.
At the end of this mystery, readers get a preview of the upcoming VIRTUE FALLS, as beautiful Elizabeth Banner, a respected geologist at age twenty-seven, walks in the Café, the girl who watched her father kill her mother with scissors.
She has not set foot in the town for twenty-three years as the memory of her mother, Misty Banner’s murder is still fresh on everyone’s mind. She is back, not to reunite with her father, Charles Banner, a gifted scientist, currently at the Honor Mountain Memory Care Facility but to study the Pacific Rim tectonic plates and sub-duction zones, researching alluvial deposits. The town could only hope she does not follow in her father’s footsteps. (he pioneered the study).
A compelling novella my first book by Dodd-loved it. Highly recommend reading VIRTUE FALLS 9/14/2015.
JDCMustReadBooks
Yummy! An intriguing town with quirky and witty characters which gather at the Oceanview Café, (locals and tourists), where folks wander in for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Where cops and truckers come in for fresh donuts, and others gather to drink coffee, use free Wi-Fi, eat pie, and get caught up on the latest gossip— where we meet Kateri (Coast Guard Commander), Rainbow (waitress-holds the town together), and Cornelia.
Cornelia is quite the interesting character (she works for government, computer whiz, genius, a little odd, smart, makes good money, where routine is imperative, and possibly slight autistic), married to Mason, and her mother left when she was twelve and has two older sisters. She is an observer of human behavior and uses her computer skills to eavesdrop by hacking into emails and texts when she is bored. After all, texting is human contact in the most distilled form. (She is not great at verbal communication).
She thinks of hacking, like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates; she never knows what she is going to get or who is sending it. One day she discovers while hacking, more than chocolates--two people planning a murder by poisoning.
At the end of this mystery, readers get a preview of the upcoming VIRTUE FALLS, as beautiful Elizabeth Banner, a respected geologist at age twenty-seven, walks in the Café, the girl who watched her father kill her mother with scissors.
She has not set foot in the town for twenty-three years as the memory of her mother, Misty Banner’s murder is still fresh on everyone’s mind. She is back, not to reunite with her father, Charles Banner, a gifted scientist, currently at the Honor Mountain Memory Care Facility but to study the Pacific Rim tectonic plates and sub-duction zones, researching alluvial deposits. The town could only hope she does not follow in her father’s footsteps. (he pioneered the study).
A compelling novella my first book by Dodd-loved it. Highly recommend reading VIRTUE FALLS 9/14/2015.
JDCMustReadBooks
September 11, 2015
Sometimes three pre novel novellas are a hit or miss. This one is a hit with me, I would give it a 4 1/2. I have never read anything by this author before but in that short time period of reading The Listener, it left me wanting more. Her writing style grabs attention and I already like her description of the town of Virtue Falls and the characters in it. The last paragraph leads you into what to expect reading Virtue Falls, which I simply now must read next.
June 27, 2017
Quick, quirky read setting up the series.
May 27, 2016
I love Cornelia, i hope we hear of how she's doing in the next books!
And it occurred to me, while reading the preview of Virtue Falls in The Listener that Elisabeth & Cornelia would be great friend.
And it occurred to me, while reading the preview of Virtue Falls in The Listener that Elisabeth & Cornelia would be great friend.
September 16, 2014
Short stories usually I rate low, but this I like. Three women, three different personalities. Happy to get to know them closer. Fourth in a moment.
July 3, 2014
I really enjoyed this little teaser short story. I was definitely second guessing myself on if I had it figured out. Can't wait for Virtue Falls to come out.
September 29, 2014
A short intro to a new series by Christina Dodd. Only a couple dozen pages but enough to introduce a few local characters. I'm looking forward to reading more.
December 22, 2014
This was a fast pace novella.
February 6, 2021
This has a great twist. I love Rainbow.
September 11, 2014
The Listener (Virtue Falls #0.5) by Christina Dodd is a fast paced, intriguing novella. Cornelia is a bit socially inhibited, a loner who doesn't like to talk. For fun she hacks into people's emails and text conversations. She doesn't know who they are though, and figuring it out is half the fun. When she inadvertently stumbles onto a murder plot via text, she does what she thinks is right and goes to the sherriff - who doesn't believe she's discovered anything sinister. Christina takes The Listener to a surprising conclusion, opening the way for more mystery to come to Virtue Falls.
In preparation to read Virtue Falls, I really enjoyed this quick introduction to the town! Cornelia was an interesting, quirky character. We are also introduced to a few more citizens I hope to see more of in future books. In a short space of time Christina drew me in and made me want to know more about Virtue Falls. I will definitely be getting Christina's novel Virtue Falls.
In preparation to read Virtue Falls, I really enjoyed this quick introduction to the town! Cornelia was an interesting, quirky character. We are also introduced to a few more citizens I hope to see more of in future books. In a short space of time Christina drew me in and made me want to know more about Virtue Falls. I will definitely be getting Christina's novel Virtue Falls.
October 22, 2019
Fantastic book! I listened to the audio version of this book and it was fabulous!! On the top of my list of favorites. Since I listened to the audio, I couldn’t peek at the ending like I usually do. I was honestly shocked at the end. This is about 2 sisters, two years apart. Cass is 15, Emma is 17. They disappear suddenly and 3 years later, one sister returns. The mother of the girls has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. That’s all I’m going to say because you all need to read about this and form your own opinions. Creep factor 10/10 😉. Happy reading!!
December 29, 2014
I read Virtue Falls first. In that book, Elizabeth had overly rational personality quirks that ignored the subtext of personal interactions. I wonder if this series will be a study in women with Asperger’s. This novella centers on Cornelia, a logic-minded woman with more severe interpersonal defects than Elizabeth. I’m not a huge fan of this series, but I did like this novella and the fun twists it had. 3.5/5
March 4, 2015
What can I say? It was a good story, although narrated through the eyes of a character I just couldn't connect to. Cornelia Markum seemed more of an automaton, than a person. Yes, she's a character in a book, but that doesn't mean a story from her point of view should feel so unemotional, detached, and rather inhuman.
The murder plot could've been much less predictable, and the outcome as well. Even though it was a short story everything, characterization and plot, could've been done better.
The murder plot could've been much less predictable, and the outcome as well. Even though it was a short story everything, characterization and plot, could've been done better.
June 8, 2015
Anyone who enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time might also enjoy The Listener by Christina Dodd. Cornelia finds a way to compensate for not understanding the nuances of the spoken language and discovers a murder about to be comitted. She tries to follow protocal but is misunderstood. In the end, she must save the person herself. I enhoyed The Listener and highly recommend it.
January 28, 2019
I began reading this not realizing it was a short story, a prequel to the Virtue Falls series. It was O Henryish to me in its not surprising but satisfying ending....enough about that so as not to spoil the story. I found I liked the characters and the town that Dodd introduced in this short story. I'm looking forward to reading more of the VIrtue Falls series....which is no doubt the objective for a work like this one.
July 10, 2014
Excellent preview for Virtue Falls
The Listener gets some sympathy from the people of Virtue Falls but what happened to her was caused by a basic betrayal. It's eerie because she predicted a murder and then she witnessed it. Life will go on in Virtue Falls and someone else will be the object of curiosity.
The Listener gets some sympathy from the people of Virtue Falls but what happened to her was caused by a basic betrayal. It's eerie because she predicted a murder and then she witnessed it. Life will go on in Virtue Falls and someone else will be the object of curiosity.
Read
July 25, 2014This is in fact a good introduction to the story that I understand may become a collection. Love the Short story but I feel very anxious to read the next story.
Merged review:
Good introduction
good introduction to a new mystery series. Can't wait till the next book it really got me intrigued. Christina is very talented.
Merged review:
Good introduction
good introduction to a new mystery series. Can't wait till the next book it really got me intrigued. Christina is very talented.
June 7, 2015
This is kind of like a little scene out of an entire book. And considering that it was well-written. You mean Rainbow, the Oceanview Cafe's waitress; Kateri, in the Coast Guard; Cornelia, a quiet woman with a very disciplined routine; and a few others that you only see extremely briefly. I think this story would be better had there been more of a back story about Cornelia and her husband, Mason.
October 4, 2016
Quick read... short side story about a hacker who over-reads a text conversation that she wasn't meant to read. She discovers a plot to murder someone and must try to stop it. But will she succeed? This short story (not even long enough I would consider it a novella) is fast-paced, includes some characters from the Virtue Falls series, and has a nice (although not surprising) twist.
April 6, 2019
Short and sweet...this novella introduces us to the folks of Virtue Falls. We get to know Constance, a genius autistic woman who, by illegally hacking into texts discovers, eventually, that she is the victim of a murder plot. There also Rainbow, waitress at the local and some other interesting characters.
July 14, 2014
This is a very short ebook which works as a prequel for Virtue Falls. This story introduces some of the characters that live in the town of Virtue Falls including Cornelia Markum - a computer expert - and Rainbow - a waitress at the local cafe. It was a very quick read. Can't wait for the book.
October 18, 2014
It's hard to rate short stories and this one is no exception. So it got 5 stars for picturing a hacker and her cheating husband who died because of the poisoned mushrooms with which he tried to kill his wife ;)
December 28, 2016
Short story introduction to Dodd's Virtue Falls series
Excellent character development in this short story and an interesting plot. The story's ending had a Twilight Zone feeling to the twist.
Definitely recommend reading this first before starting the first novel.
Excellent character development in this short story and an interesting plot. The story's ending had a Twilight Zone feeling to the twist.
Definitely recommend reading this first before starting the first novel.
October 20, 2017
Good introduction to the series
I started reading this when I realized it was a prequel to book one. I’m afraid I had to laugh at the ending. Since I am now going to finish book one, I have a feeling it won’t make me laugh as this one did.
I started reading this when I realized it was a prequel to book one. I’m afraid I had to laugh at the ending. Since I am now going to finish book one, I have a feeling it won’t make me laugh as this one did.
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August 15, 2018I love how Christina is able to pull out these short interesting stories that still highlight the personalities of the characters from the full length novels.
I'm new to reading Christina Dodd, but can't wait to finish the Virtue Falls series and begin others.
I'm new to reading Christina Dodd, but can't wait to finish the Virtue Falls series and begin others.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews