Guy Ivie

Not his best

Reviewed: 04-03-24

Compared to the Cassandra Kresnov series, the Spiral Wars series, and the Trial of Blood and Steel series, this one comes across as so-so. It wasn't a total waste of time, but it leaves me uninterested in continuing the series. However, the reader is very good. She handles accents and male voices very well indeed.

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Gripping performance

Reviewed: 12-13-23

Adjoa Andoh performed this book, and I do mean "performed"! There is a wide difference between a book reader and an actor performing the roles in the book; it goes beyond just varying one's voice to differentiate the characters. The story itself is gripping, and Ms Andoh makes real to the listener the emotions that the author wants to convey with her words. The main character, Eva, is very real in that she frequently makes bad decisions and does foolish things, just like we all do. Her trauma is real, and I found myself wishing often that she would seek treatment for post-traumatic stress.

My sole disappointment came on those occasions when Ms Andoh's Carribean-inflected accents for two of the characters, which sounded very good, flipped, sometimes mid-sentence, into something that sounded more like East London to this American's ears. I'm surprised that the director and editor didn't catch it. Nonetheless, it's an effective performance that pulls you into the story.

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Enjoyable outing that touches the heart

Reviewed: 10-29-23

This isn't the best in the series, but worthy of a listen/read. In places it felt like Osman was just trying to make sure all the characters he's collected along the way got some "screen" time. However, the scenes dealing with Steven's dementia were touching and heartbreaking by turns. Ms. Shaw's reading was largely quite good, but there were a few spots where one character slipped into another's voice/accent, or just didn't sound the same as they did in the rest of the story. The conversation between reader & author after the story finished was unexpected gold.

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Not without problems

Reviewed: 09-06-22

Story: I'm really getting tired of most of the female characters treating Peter like a somewhat clever dolt. If he seems clueless at times, that's at least oddly because no one tells him things! And toward the end, reference is made ro Fleet speaking of handing Peter something in ancient London. Fleet was never mentioned as being present, so that probably should have been Beverly or Ty.

Performance: For several books now, Mt Holdbrook-Smith -- whom I find a fantastic performer in general -- occasionally used a voice that sounded like one of the female characters when Peter was speaking. In this book, he used Dr Walid's voice fior Dr Vaughn a few times. I put these errors on the director for not catching them.

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Good entry in the series

Reviewed: 08-20-22

This volume in the series is a solid entry, with a good storyline bolstered by Mr Holdbrook -Smith's impressive talents. The difference between Peter, Nightingale, and the FBI agent is striking. I'd swear Nightingale is a different person entirely! Although I often prefer reading a book to listening to it, this series gains so much more depth by hearing regional accents say things in ways it would be hard for most Americans to imagine. Looking forward to that next one!

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Too long, too much whining

Reviewed: 04-24-22

I really wanted to like this story, and I did, at first. But with each repetitious, whiny interior monologue, or long exposition in the middle of a "live" conversation, I just became more annoyed. This should have been a novella, at best; save the descriptions of the city and the food, drop the whining. Ved would have been more likeable with less whining. I don't discount his fears, and I am aware of the cultural pressure he lived with. I just got tired of being beat over the head with it, listening to him whine about it.

On the plus side, Mr Kassan, the reader, was excellent. His accents were perfect, and few male readers make females characters sound so natural. Well done on his part.

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16 people found this helpful

Wow!

Reviewed: 03-11-22

An interesting new take on vampires. But that cast! They were all good, but the voices for Darcy, Rook (he sounded rather like Pierce Brosnan), Penelope, and Jep (is that right?) stood out in particular. I'd definitely listen to them in other productions, but I hope there's a continuation to this story.

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great performance, good story

Reviewed: 12-15-21

Tony Britton is an excellent performer, making his characters distinct and females characters believable. This story is as good as anything Francis wrote, tho the romantic in me wishes he had included a small coda with Alessia's & Andrew's reunion. Despite the technological changes since its publication, the story still holds up well.

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Couldn't get past 1st chapter

Reviewed: 09-07-21

I find this type of porn writing boring. The narrator made it painful. One chapter was enough wasted time. (The person who recommended this to me has a lot to answer for!) KJ Charles is a much better writer if you're looking for M/M romance (I read her books on Kindle; don't know they're available on Audible).

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Only so-so

Reviewed: 02-21-21

I like the author, the series, and the reader, but this short story isn't up to their usual standard.

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