Sounds Like Trouble by Pamela Samuels Young, Dwayne Alexander Smith Narrator: Jaime Lincoln Smith, Angel Pean
Series: Sounds Like a Plan #2
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio on July 8, 2025
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 6 hrs 4 mins
Pages: 256
Format: Audiobook
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Two opposites. Undeniable attraction. Three mobsters. An offer they can’t refuse. It sounds like trouble as Jackson Jones and Mackenzie Cunningham, reluctant partners and two of the best private investigators in Los Angeles, return to solve their most dangerous case yet.
Jackson Jones and Mackenzie “Mac” Cunningham can’t agree on anything. After coming close to death on their last case, the two have decided to team up but they can’t even decide on how to furnish their new office. Jackson wants to make a big splash. Mackenzie just wants a desk and some filing cabinets to clean up the mess. Before they can reach a truce on the decor, the two PIs get an offer they have no choice but to infamous gangster Big Ced and two of his mafia dons want them to track down a package. Or else.
Things heat up in more ways than one as Jackson and Mac track down the sensitive information for the mobsters, while a police investigator is on their tail. When sparks fly between Mackenzie and Lieutenant Good Looking, Jackson’s jealousy and fiery back-and-forth with his partner has them flirting with danger in more ways than one. As they race through LA’s fanciest neighborhoods in a race against time, Jackson and Mac must stick closer to each other than ever as they dodge bullets, bad guys, and their feelings for each other.
In the tradition of Mr. & Mrs. Smith set in modern LA, Sounds Like Trouble puts a fresh spin on the great investigative duos with an intoxicating blend of mystery, humor, and witty banter that you won’t want to miss.
Sounds Like Trouble picks up where the first in the series leaves off. Jackson and Mac have combined their PI offices and are working together. This time around they are “hired” by some major bad guys to find a certain package. These are not clients they can refuse. To make it worse, someone else is after the package an that someone is willing to kill whoever he need to to get it.
There’s a lot of action, plenty of good dialogue, and a bit of sparks, but some of their decisions are just not good. And they believe people when they obviously shouldn’t. They are a nice break from my usual cozy mystery sleuths, though, so they get extra points for that.
I listened to the audio and appreciated having two narrators, one for Mac’s point of view and one from Jackson’s. Both did a great job bringing the characters to life. They also kept the tension and humor balanced well.
Overall, it’s a fun enough read.
About Dwayne Alexander Smith
Dwayne Alexander Smith is a screenwriter and author of Forty Acres, winner of the NAACP Image Award for Literary Work by a Debut Author.
About Pamela Samuels Young
Attorney, author and anti-trafficking advocate Pamela Samuels Young has always abided by the philosophy that you create the change you want to see. While growing up in Compton, California, Pamela set giant-sized goals and used her talent, tenacity and positive outlook to accomplish them. She consequently achieved success in both the corporate arena and literary world simultaneously.
For fifteen years, Pamela served as Managing Counsel for Toyota in Southern California, specializing in labor and employment law. While still practicing law, Pamela began moonlighting as a mystery writer because of her desire to see women and people of color depicted in the legal thrillers she read. That required her to rise at 4 a.m. to write before work, after work and any other spare time she could find. Dubbed by one reviewer as “John Grisham with a sister’s twist,” Pamela is now a full-time, award-winning author of more than a dozen books and multiple short stories.
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