Anonymous

good author, great narration, awful overlong book

Reviewed: 16-12-23

I've liked several of Peter James' books and found Hugh Bonneville's narration excellent, but blimey this book is ludicrous and I'm amazed I stuck with it to the end. What a waste of talent.

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beautifully read

Reviewed: 02-05-23

if you liked the other books about the school in Harris's series, I think you should like this.

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comprehensive tale of the much-lauded distillery

Reviewed: 10-04-23

I was introduced to the publications of Paul Pacult by my son when he was a hotshot bartender in Honolulu - the author is America's best when it comes to expertise in alcoholic beverages and my son told me that his "Kindred Spirits" volume is regarded as a Bible by bartenders . Anyway, I was surprised to find this book on Audible UK and had to give it a go. To be honest, it told me more about the Distillery than I needed to know, but I was genuinely interested in the history. And I now know how Buffalo Trace make such excellent Whiskeys!

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awful narration - returning

Reviewed: 24-08-22

it's not just the terrible regional accents that have made me give up on this book (as mentioned by others) but also the wrong choice of tone of voice for so many characters. It detracts so badly from the text that it is reluctantly making me send back what i hoped would be a worthy follow-up to The Long Call. Bring back Ben Aldridge as narrator!

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Poor narrations detract from a good idea

Reviewed: 07-07-21

I've tried hard to enjoy listening to this book during lockdown. Most of the pieces are well-chosen and varied. The introductions are mostly okay, but often fail to give the context within the play. Getting an extract purely because it mentions the month in question is pretty unsatisfying! Many of these issues were helped by additionally buying the hardback paper edition, but that's surely a cop-out for an audiobook if that's required? However, far and away the biggest problem is some truly awful reading by the cast of actors. I suspect this is a production issue rather than an inability of the actors to read Shakespeare with meaning. It sounds as if they have each been given a long list of short lines to read, without the other cast members around and without the time for them to inject the energy and meaning into the pieces. So, a Curate's egg - "good in parts."

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1 person found this helpful

too many issues wit the narrator

Reviewed: 02-03-21

I'm sure that I would enjoy the book with a decent narrator. It's not just the awful pronunciation mentioned in other reviews, it's also the inability of Hannah Arterton to provide an acceptable change of tone for different characters. I should have realised early-on when she raised her voice to a shriller pitch for a new character's dialogue - only to explain how the person had a husky voice from too many cigarettes! Most other characters are read identically to each other, so conversations can be hard to follow. I'm afraid it is just too distracting and PLEAE GET THIS BOOK RE-RECORDED!

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Some awful readings are spoling this book for me

Reviewed: 28-05-20

After a bright start, now that it's the end of May I am thoroughly fed up with the wayward readings by Helena Bonham-Carter. She has a pleasant enough voice normally but here, much of the time, she sounds like a precocious child putting on a show for an adoring and uncritical group of family and friends. Ludicrous over-acting that would shame an early-years drama student. I know that reading of poetry is partly a matter of personal taste but I think the producer should have reined in Ms B-C's excesses.
That major point aside, the choice of poems is nicely eclectic. Again, not all to my personal choice (reading lyrics of songs seems aberrant for example), but that makes for variety, surprise and opportunity to discuss with others - I listen with my partner. We find it best to have the physical book handy to get the best from the poems.

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7 people found this helpful

Page-turner set in an imagined London Lockdown.

Reviewed: 22-05-20

Peter Forbes does his usual excellent job of narrating this early novel from Peter May. Back in 2005, May made some prescient decisions about how to plot a story about a (then) hard to imagine London under pandemic Lockdown. His vision was even more bleak than the reality of early 2020, but parallels are uncomfortably clear and no longer unimaginable. Unless the whole pandemic scenario is too painful for you, I think Peter May fans will enjoy this page-turner.

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Sustained brilliant writing and narration

Reviewed: 04-05-20

Don't be put off by other reviews - Ben Miles is a great narrator for this book. Just as well, because it is LONG, but the writing is very rewarding, maintaining its intensity throughout.

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Great Science, good Fiction

Reviewed: 21-04-19

As you would hope and expect, Jim's science is immaculate - covering a little understood and intriguing aspect of our planet's behaviour, its irregular swapping of North and South magnetic poles. As this reversal is "overdue" in geological terms, the phenomenon provides an excellent opportunity for exploring what its consequences might be for our modern world. I heard Jim say that all his speculations in this novel are based on sound scientific principles and I feel I have learned quite a lot from this book, while enjoying the fiction as the drama unfolds.

While science is fundamental to the book, I think there is a good balance between this and the storyline that provides for decent page-turning action. I can readily imagine a movie script-writer turning this into a high-tech blockbuster (though it might end up dumbed down). The narration is okay too, though for my ear sometimes lacked pace and confidence in the scientific elements. For a first novel, I think this is a fine result and I hope Jim finds the time and interest to write more fictional works that bring new scientific ideas to a wide audience.

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