Jakob's Point

by Michael Peterson, Emily Deschanel (Narrator), Ken Leung (Narrator)

From Michael Peterson of TV’s Bones comes another twisted murder mystery that takes place in the small town of Jakob’s Point, where there are more members from the Witness Protection Program than anywhere else in America. When the Federal Marshal, the only person who knows the true identities of the residents of the town, turns up dead, and his records are destroyed, FBI Special Agent Alice Wheaton gets swept up in the investigation. In Jakob’s Point, where everyone is a witness, and everyone is a suspect, Alice must use her secret weapon – forensic listening – to find the killer. As she probes, she’s compelled to confront her own unresolved past trauma. Can Alice uncover the truth in a town full of lies? And can she do it before the killer comes for her?

This haunting audio thriller was produced by Best Case Studios, starring Emily Deschanel (Bones) and Ken Leung (Industry).

This program contains mature content; listener discretion is advised.

Genres: Audiobook, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Fiction, Short Stories, Novella

Audible Audio

Published June 5, 2025

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short story with strong sound effects.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding narration and sound effects in this short, fast-paced audiobook. A twisty, but sometimes confusing thriller that I enjoyed. I loved the ending!

[♥Rachel♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

A fun mystery! Full-cast, graphic audio style with all the effects. I liked it!

[Christy N. · Rating 2 out of 5]

if Bones was on the wrong side of the law, this is it.

[Shawna Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really short story and it could’ve been a 5 star if it was a full novel with character development. It would’ve been a great mystery!

[Nesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mystery thriller that dares to ask “how many plot twists can you put into one short story?” and impressively rises to the occasion. New favorite.

[Chloe Mohatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my fav. Just enough suspense to keep me listening but not enough to recommend. Great voice acting. Felt like I was listening to a movie yk

[Morgan (Mo) Heldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably the 20th time I've read (listened to) the exact same story. It was well produced for an audiobook, but so extremely predictable and overdone.

[Tori Kamosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine, but too short. It didn’t give enough time to give a good story.

[Haley Melching · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! Very quick audible book so glad it was extremely entertaining. Murder, mystery, small town, FBI, this book has ally jam packed into two hours. Worth the listen!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars, fun thriller with excellent narration.

[Sarah Edman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great listen and fascinating plot.

[Ren Koa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immersive, Captivating- listen with headphones!

Very well performed and produced- an engaging story from start to finish.
Be sure to listen to this with headphones, as the environmental directional audio production is phenomenal. I found myself jumping with a startle and looking behind me because of how precise the environmental audio effects were.

[Brittany Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook
3.25 ⭐️

[Sarah Jolley · Rating 5 out of 5]

enjoyed this audible book deffo worth a listen

[Megan Diiorio · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was lost for much of this story—felt like I had missed an earlier chapter or book. It eventually all came together, but wasn’t worth my time trying to figure it all out.

[NYC reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much squeezed into this, plot didn’t make sense, and main character seemed pretty unlikable.

[Meg McCall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t even know what just happened

[Raul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Production values are high: different readers used to represent the different characters, and an elaborate soundtrack. So you do feel you are “in” the story. Even so, the sounds that are added (doors opening and closing, dogs barking, thunderstorms, steps, shuffling paper, etc) are all pretty generic, and, other than these sounds and a bit of piano which is part of the story, the Script leaves out everything that isn’t dialogue. So you never get to read about what people think - you have to distill it from the dialogue. Same with moving from place to place. It is like a movie: first they are in one place, the the scene cuts and you go instantly from one place to another, but unlike a movie, you don’t see the change in scenery, instead you have to infer from the dialogue you are in a new place. And there is never any actual description of where the action is taking place (the appearance of the village, the landscape etc). If, like me, you like to read these stories, in large part, because you get to learn about and be in interesting places, then this story will leave you wanting because all you’ll know about the fictional “Jakob’s Point” is that it is in a peninsula located in the US but only accessible by going first into Canada. Would that be on the West Coast? Or the East Coast? or the Great Lakes? It it flat or hilly? Is it bare or heavily vegetated? Is it modern or old-fashioned in looks? We are not told and since nothing else is spelled out for the reader it could be just about anywhere between US and Canada that has water. We learn there are thunderstorms but we don’t know the season of the year either. For some readers none of this will matter so long as the story has an interesting plot with interesting people (and the plot here is pretty good) but in this case even the description of the characters (as it appears here and there in the dialogue) is very skimpy, so it is whatever your own mind conjures up. So, to conclude, think of this audible experience as being the equivalent of watching a TV show with the sound on but the picture turned off. If you find that pleasant, then you’ll like Audible’s “Jakop’s Point.”

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was so fun and twisty!

after absolutely loving game of nines, i knew i needed to go back and pick up another audible original thriller, and this one caught my eye. idk why, i always love witness protection stories.

i loved a lot of the same things about this one as i did for the other, the sound effects/audio production was great, plus i loved spotting famous actors' voices. Didn't realize Selenis Levya, the woman who plays Gloria on Orange is the New Black was here until i heard her voice!

this one definitely gripped me too. unlike game of nines, there was actually no "narration" or "exposition" so to speak. it was all dialogue. i thought this was interesting considering it was written by someone who usually writes for tv, not books. he found very inventive ways to tell us what alice was thinking without outright saying it, like voice recorded notes on interviews or conversations with her partner.

this was good as a mystery, but i don't really think it ever got me to care that deeply about alice's internal struggles, like the complicated psychological stuff with her father or her disillusionment with the bureau. that rupture point around the middle where she suddenly gets emotional, flying off the handle and making huge logical leaps about her father, it was so out of left field. both that she would even guess these things, and also that we as readers should care about her backstory.

maybe this could have been better developed with more time, but with less than two hours, i think it would have been better to keep everything contained to jakob's point. there were so many interesting dynamics going on in the town- everyone's double identities, the lying motel owner, the ambiguous motivations of the dead marshall, but in the end all of it is flattened because none of it actually mattered to the mystery, neither the reason nor the solving of it. plus, with so many characters and most having two names, i admit it was a bit hard to keep track of all of them, which is why frustrated me that it didn't even matter in the end.

but overall this was gripping and engaging, and i did not see many of the twists coming, so what more could i ask for? i would say i liked this a little less than game of nines but that's probably only because i read them so close together and they were very similar (both in format and actually some of the reveals, like the unreliable narrator). But I would definitely be open to reading more of these in the future!

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a 3 star short story at best but the audio production was excellent so I gave it another star. I was out walking while listening and it sounded like the dogs barking in the audio were actually running up behind me. Really well done.
The story was a bit confusing. I have to say that some of the plot really just went over my head. Jakob's Point is a hotbed of people in witness protection. When the US Marshall assigned as their handler ends up murdered, FBI Agent Alice Wheaton is called in to investigate. She is soon joined by her former partner, in more ways then one, Jim. But he is there on other, secret orders. He had to get rid of all of the US Marchall's files to protect the identity of the witnesses but especially one in particular, Alice's father. He was caught up in drug smuggling and he turned on his gang and entered witness protection. When Alice figured it out, she confronted Jim who said that while it was true, the person he was protecting wasn't her father but rather his murderer. The case of the dead US Marshall was simply that of a witness gone bad who, after starting an affair with the Marshall to gain access to his files, was collecting the bounties from the drug gangs when she knocked other witnesses off. Somehow Alice set her up for conviction by planting evidence, even though she really was guilty, so that she could steal her bounty money, quit the FBI and find her father, who was not dead. A confusing ending.

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note to self: Don’t go for a walk alone in the woods on a stormy-skied afternoon, rain pelting down, while listening to a thriller with a killer on the loose.

The sky was heavy with rain, and the smell of wet earth rose from the path. The story unfolded in my ears through rich, immersive binaural audio — footsteps creeping from behind had me looking over my shoulder for the entire walk, a dog barking made me glance toward the perceived direction of the sound, and thunder rolled so convincingly I genuinely couldn’t tell if it was part of the story or the storm gathering overhead.

For me, it wasn’t just immersive; it was so realistic it completely disoriented my sense of space and presence.

The rain kept falling. The world around me and the one in my ears had merged — the line between fiction and reality blurred in the most uncanny way. What I expected to be a casual listen turned into a fully embodied, atmospheric experience.

Highly recommend listening to this one with headphones — and maybe somewhere a little eerie, if you’re feeling brave.

[Sylvie Rochon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short full cast audiobook! Alice Wheaton is a FBI special agent specializing in forensic listening, that us to say she can tell who is lying. When a murder occurs in a town known by the FBI as the location of Witness protection clients, the person who knew all the identities of said clients, it is important to find who murdered this man and where are the files holding the identities and their secrets. Alice has a dog named Peeve who barks in the presence of men. Alice's own father has been killed. It's a good short read with twists until the last line! It was interesting learning on how yo discern lies in speech!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary
Agent Alice Wheaton investigates the murder of a Federal Ranger in a town filled with former criminals in Witness Protection. Considered a human lie detector, she works the case and uncovers secrets others have overlooked. She's only slowed down when her former partner comes to assist.

Review
The sound design in this audiodrama was really well done, but you knew from the start that the dog was going to be the biggest clue. When Agent Wheaton solves the case, you'll be surprised by the twists and turns she figures out to get there. Her partner calls to tell her about even more twists as the case closes.

[Sandra Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very quick short story. Emily Deschanel play the lead character. She basically is trying to solve the murder or death of an agent who is in charge of witness protection basically a bunch of witness protection clients all live in the same city not sure if they’re aware majority of them are all in witness protection, which right off the bat sounds like a bad idea. I do have to say the whole time she’s reading. All I picture is temperance Brennan. Overall, it’s not a bad story, but it is very very short. Everything is crammed in like an hour and a half if it was a longer story I feel like it would be better.

[Marios · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tight, audio-driven thriller centered on a closed-room murder mystery within a town full of secrets. The narrative immediately hooks you in, with the high-stakes premise: a small community primarily comprised of people in the Witness Protection Program, now vulnerable after the murder of the only man who knew their true identities. FBI Special Agent Alice Wheaton's investigation forces her to navigate a landscape where everyone is lying while simultaneously confronting her own past trauma. The brevity of the listen maintains a sharp pace and high tension, making it a compelling, concise dose of suspense. A sweet and short audio experience.

[Cristy Hunter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this would be like a regular audiobook. I was totally wrong. It’s like listening to a show and wanting to finish because you already started and HATE having to file it under DNF if you don’t keep pushing through.

Unfortunately for me, that’s exactly what I ended up doing. I really did try to let myself get absorbed into the storyline. I like Bones. I like the actress, but there was just something about this I just couldn’t keep pushing through.

If you like listening to graphic novels that are in this category I suppose you might like it, but I guess I’m just an audiobook lover and not the graphical ones like this.

[Ericka · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a quick read/listening, very pleasant to listen while cooking. It all starts with the murder of a Federal Marshal, who was the POC of all the habitants of the little town of Jakob's Point, where it hosted several criminals who filed under the witness protection program, so, when FBI agent Alice Wheaton arrives to investigate the murder, has to consider all of them as potential suspects. It has it all, drama, intrigue, a bit of action with a pinch of dark comedy. I so liked the ending! was a twist I didn't expected.
The performance was excellent, I loved hearing Emily in this production, was definitely a big plus!

[Cynthia L Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this because it was written by the person who wrote the Bones series. It was the radio show style. I'm really not a fan of this style. I did not care for the story either. It was only about an hour and I just couldn't get into the story or care about the characters. I'm not a huge fan of short stories either so maybe that was the problem.

An FBI agent goes to a small town to investigate a murder. She discovers what really happened to her father and then magically figures out who the killer was, gets shot, and finally listens to her mother.

[adelaidealum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short story (about 100 minutes) narrated by Emily Deschanel (from “Bones”) and others

Got it for free (Audible Original).

She plays an FBI agent who can tell when people are lying by their facial expressions etc. She goes to a small town after the marshal there is murdered. The town is full of people in the Witness Protection program. It’s a play (dialogue, no narrator per se), with sound effects. Plenty of red herrings. And there’s a dog (yay!). Overall very enjoyable, well narrated and an interesting plot twist.