Jan

Quirky but highly enjoyable

Revisado: 09-26-22

The story was fab, the characters very likable and believable. Good topical story, and it was fun without being silly.

As you've seen, you'll likely either love or hate the narrator. It swings between sounding so laconic so as to be poor reading, to matching the character perfectly. That's where I ended up and the only bummer was that the book ended and the next two books aren't available yet. Plenty to come from what he started in the first book, though.

Give it a shot.

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Great one from old reliable

Revisado: 05-15-21

Sandford and ferrone go together like peanut butter and jelly. After a couple of meh efforts, this one takes both duos (author/narrator) (Lucas/Virgil) back into the five-star range.

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Fabulous story, fabulous performance

Revisado: 11-17-19

I'm not a Stephen King horror fan, though I did love the Kennedy book. This is probably my third SK book.

This one takes the listener back to the early '70s, an amusement park on the beach in North Carolina. The book draws you in from the start, and you quickly sense you're in the hands of a master author. The story starts a bit slow, but the pieces are all there; a broken heart, an attractive young mother, a murder mystery, a bit of mysticism, and a lightly exotic carny atmosphere.

Truthfully, there is little suspense here, the story plays out as you would expect it to. But the story is pleasantly engaging, the characters exceptionally likable and the reader is absolutely perfect for the role. You'll enjoy your time reading and will be sorry when it's over.

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Hate to Be a Hater, But ....

Revisado: 06-11-19

Disagree with most of the other reviews here (note: some spoilers).

Some thrillers flow naturally, others seem to impose a set number of hurdles that the hero has to jump through to get to the end of the race. This was the latter type. During the story, our hero (an analyst, btw, not a trained agent) escapes from an Iranian prison and horrific interrogator, hikes across Iran to the Persian Gulf, steals a sailboat, sails to Saudi Arabia, encounters a police captain who is buddies with the Iranian interrogator, overpowers the captain and breaks out of a Saudi police station, and stows away on a freighter to Marseille. Then, his real troubles begin because his former bosses at the CIA don't trust him because he was set up as a murderer by the Iranians. So, he has to outwit them as well. I understand suspending disbelief, but this was a bit much.

The story might have worked if the narrator was even proficient, but he got wildly overdramatic in describing action scenes and awkward with dialog. Just never got into a groove.

I'm about 80% of the way through and probably will finish, but will avoid author and narrator in the future.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Not for Me - Thankful I Didn't Pay Full Price

Revisado: 01-02-19

Brown is a solid author that I've enjoyed before, but I couldn't get into this one. None of the characters were particularly distinctive or likable, and after a while, they all sounded the same There may be a great story here, but I couldn't wait; gone after about two hours of listening. Thankful that I didn't pay full price.

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Hate to pile on, but

Revisado: 12-07-18

So, you find out that you switched notebooks with a US Senator at the airport, so you (pick 1).

a. Do nothing for a couple of days because your business and life are in turmoil.
b. Immediately call the Senator's office to arrange a swap.
c. Call the Russians

If you answered a, you'll love the book because you're similar to the main character.
If you answered b, you'll hate the book because you're a reasonable person and will have no idea why the main character answered a and continues to make awful decisions.
If you answered c, you probably should write your own book.

Beyond the frustrating story, the reader, though good with different accents, was pretty much a monotone within each character. Love some of Finder's other books, but didn't last two hours in this one. I'll never listen to another book narrated by Kearney.

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16 hours and not a single likable character

Revisado: 01-30-18

I really wanted to like this book, but with 4 hours left, just had to stop.

The premise is OK; US vs. an assassin, with an evil consortium of energy companies running the US. The guy in charge of the consortium is a prick, no surprise. But the assassin is almost worse, supercilious and obnoxious to a fault. Just a hateful guy who says and thinks hateful things that I just didn't enjoy being around.

The author seemed to randomly choose his topics for exploration; with four hours left, I have no idea how the assassin became expert at his profession but did spend 3 hours exploring a cave in the Basque region of Europe for no reason I can ascertain, joined by an insufferable Basque poet more obnoxious than the assassin.

In fairness, the author does write beautifully and you learn a lot about a lot of topics, particularly the US endgame in Japan during WWII, and the beginning of the recovery. But after one piece of action near the start, I've gone about 10 hours without a shot being fired. I'm more of a Reacher fan than Mitch Rapp, but I do appreciate some action every once in a while.

Though generally competent, the narrator Barrett merges Russian, Basque, Japanese, and French accents into a blurry mess, which detracts from the story, particularly when voicing the Basque poet, who I didn't like anyway.

I gave up after the assassin spent an hour verbally emasculating a girl who had the temerity to be young and American, something that someone who truly sought Shibumi, a "particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty" (Wikipedia) would presumably never do. There are enough jerks in the real world; I don't need to spend my leisure time with one as well.

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A really good story buoyed by an amazing read

Revisado: 04-03-17

I'm not usually into trial thrillers but took a flyer on this one. Boy, am I glad I did.

The storyline is rich and complex, the characters diverse, intriguing and compelling. It's set in London, and the reader was phenomenal, bringing the characters home with distinct voices with Irish, Scottish, cockney, aristocratic, male, female, judge and jury. It really pulled me into the whole experience.

It's the kind of book that keeps you cleaning the kitchen (or your particular analog) well past your bedtime so you can keep listening, and one that you'll be sorry when you finish.

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Intriguing New Character Makes This Tale

Revisado: 09-20-16

Silva introduces a badly needed new character in a topical and highly engaging story. I'm not a big George Guidall fan, he does a nice job with this one. If you've been a bit bored with the last few, this one will recapture your interest.

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A New Author is Always a Risk:This is Worth Taking

Revisado: 03-08-16

My inclinations lean towards espionage and thrillers, more Jack Reacher than Mitch Rapp, more believable than superman. This book is the perfect meld of exceptionally likable characters, an intriguing story, and a narrator who was born to read this book. My only disappointment is that the next book in the series isn't available (at least not yet). If your inclinations are similar to mine, take a shot; you'll likely enjoy it as much as I did.

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esto le resultó útil a 44 personas