Emilie
- 12
- reviews
- 12
- helpful votes
- 55
- ratings
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The Tuscan Child
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Katy Sobey
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 193
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 179
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Story4 out of 5 stars 179
In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal. Nearly 30 years later, Hugo's estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father's funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very enjoyable
- By BarbaraM on 31-07-18
- The Tuscan Child
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Katy Sobey
Soap opera verging on high school essay
Reviewed: 26-06-19
Literary equivalent of paint by number. Stilted dialogue and predictable plotting. Narrator is okay but a rote performance with rote material
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4 people found this helpful
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The Distant Hours
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 350
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 301
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 300
Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close, but when a long lost letter arrives with the return address of Milderhurst Castle, Kent, printed on its envelope, Edie begins to suspect that her mother’s emotional distance masks an old secret. Evacuated from London as a 13-year-old girl, Edie’s mother is chosen by the mysterious Juniper Blythe, and taken to live at Milderhurst Castle with the Blythe family.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Three Sisters and the rest
- By R. J. Gladden on 15-01-16
- The Distant Hours
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
Typical Kate Morton: A good story, well read
Reviewed: 12-02-19
Kate Morton is nothing if not predictable, in a good way, like a warm fire and a glass of sherry on a snowy afternoon. Comfort food for the ears and soul.
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The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel: Booktrack Edition
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
London, 1890. 221B Baker St. A fine-art dealer named Edmund Carstairs visits Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson to beg for their help. He is being menaced by a strange man in a flat cap - a wanted criminal who seems to have followed him all the way from America. In the days that follow, his home is robbed, his family is threatened. And then the first murder takes place.
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1 out of 5 stars
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AWFUL background music
- By Mrs J M Beck on 20-09-18
- The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel: Booktrack Edition
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
Lose the Soundtrack!!
Reviewed: 12-02-19
Great plot, brilliant performance by Jacobi. Loved it - EXCEPT for that darn music constantly in the background throughout the book. It was so irritating I would not have stuck it out except for the author and reader. It’s the equivalent of a laugh track on TV. Mega, mega annoying.
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1 person found this helpful
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Mortal Mischief
- By: Frank Tallis
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4 out of 5 stars 60
Vienna, 1902: A beautiful medium has been found shot dead, and Dr Max Liebermann, a young disciple of Sigmund Freud, is called upon to help his friend Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt investigate her death. The room containing the body has been locked from the inside, and a cryptic note suggests a malevolent supernatural power is at work. Using the new science of psychoanalysis, Liebermann probes the minds of the suspects in an attempt to unravel this bewildering crime.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great listening!
- By Peter on 19-10-11
- Mortal Mischief
- By: Frank Tallis
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip
Bored to tears
Reviewed: 17-01-19
Dull, predictable, written to formula. Couldn't finish it. A written version of paint-by-number: recognizable in the end as a painting, but who wants it on their wall? Ditto for this novel. Life is too short for bad wine or plodding books.
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Lenin's Roller Coaster
- By: David Downing
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 12
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 10
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Story4 out of 5 stars 10
The third Jack McColl espionage thriller by David Downing (also the author of the WWII Station series) brings together two lovers in Bolshevik Russia. Winter 1917: As a generation of Europe's young men perish on the Eastern and Western fronts, British spy Jack McColl is assigned a sabotage mission deep in Central Asia, where German influence is strong. As he quickly realizes, the mission only becomes more dangerous the closer he gets to its heart.
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1 out of 5 stars
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The narrator ruined this book.
- By Rolando on 26-02-19
- Lenin's Roller Coaster
- By: David Downing
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
Poorest Downing Book. Period
Reviewed: 28-09-18
Downing has a tendency to write a history lesson and wrap it in a plot, but he usually manages to pull it off. Not this time. The arcane detail smothers a weak, weak plot. After falling asleep ( literally!) in places, I couldn't be bothered to rewind. And while the narrator tries his best, his sonorous voice for large stretches combined with a near non-existent plot is really off-putting. If I hadn't listened to all the other Downings in both series, I would not have bothered to finish it. As it was, I slogged through it in patches with breaks inbetween for other books.
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The Stolen Girls
- Detective Lottie Parker, Book 2
- By: Patricia Gibney
- Narrated by: Michele Moran
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 770
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 687
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 686
The young woman standing on Lottie's step was a stranger. She was clutching the hand of a young boy. "Help me," she said to Lottie. "Please help me." One Monday morning, the body of a young pregnant woman is found. The same day, a mother and her son visit the house of Detective Lottie Parker, begging for help to find a lost friend.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A fabulously intricate story, and great narration
- By Sam Hall on 01-08-17
- The Stolen Girls
- Detective Lottie Parker, Book 2
- By: Patricia Gibney
- Narrated by: Michele Moran
B Novel with C- Dialogue
Reviewed: 22-03-18
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
Michele Moran, the narrator, is by far the best thing about this book. If I had been reading it, instead of listening to her, I would have packed it in. If trite, hackneyed dialogue — “diabolical deeds”? Really? — and a plot with gratuitous violence is your thing, this is the book for you. I
What about Michele Moran’s performance did you like?
Great audio performer; she saved this book for me. Will look to see what else she has done.
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Silesian Station
- By: David Downing
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 166
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 105
Summer, 1939. British journalist John Russell has just been granted American citizenship in exchange for agreeing to work for American intelligence when his girlfriend, Effi, is arrested by the Gestapo. Russell hoped his new nationality would let him safely stay in Berlin with Effi and his son, but now he's being blackmailed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Silesian Station
- By chris on 29-01-10
- Silesian Station
- By: David Downing
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
Exactly what you’d expect from David Downing
Reviewed: 14-03-18
What made the experience of listening to Silesian Station the most enjoyable?
Solid story, solid narration, rich in atmospheric and historical detail. Entire series is well worth investing time in.
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Masaryk Station
- A John Russell Thriller, Book 6
- By: David Downing
- Narrated by: Michael Healy
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance2.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4 out of 5 stars 28
Berlin, early 1948: The city, still occupied by the four Allied powers, still largely in ruins, has become the cockpit of a new Cold War, and as spring unfolds its German inhabitants live in fear of the Soviets enforcing a Western withdrawal. Here, as elsewhere in Europe, the legacies of the War have become entangled in the new Soviet-American conflict, creating a world of bizarre and fleeting loyalties, a paradise for spies. John Russell works for both Stalin’s NKVD and the newly-created CIA. He does as little for either as he can safely get away with.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Good Plot. Awful narration.
- By DjW on 02-11-14
- Masaryk Station
- A John Russell Thriller, Book 6
- By: David Downing
- Narrated by: Michael Healy
Awful Narration
Reviewed: 12-03-18
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
I’ve listened to all the books in this series and this narrator is awful. The best are performers, they bring a wonderful new dimension to a a book. Next come the good readers, they have an ear for cadence and voice. The come the readers, who at least do no harm. Then come the serial word pronouncers. That’s what this is. he is so bad I am giving up and switching to the print version. I had been saving this because it was the last one in a series I didn’t want to see end but ..... there’s a limit.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Masaryk Station?
Will have to read it in print to find out.
Would you be willing to try another one of Michael Healy’s performances?
NO!
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5 people found this helpful
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Camino Island
- By: John Grisham
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 785
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 690
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Story4 out of 5 stars 698
All trails became dead ends. Tips that had at first seemed urgent now faded away. The waiting game began. Whoever had the manuscripts would want money, and a lot of it. They would surface eventually, but where and when, and how much would they want? The most daring and devastating heist in literary history targets a high security vault located deep beneath Princeton University. Valued at $25 million, the five manuscripts of F. Scott Fitzgerald's only novels are amongst the most valuable in the world....
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3 out of 5 stars
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An Island Story Adrift From its Plot
- By Simon on 07-06-17
- Camino Island
- By: John Grisham
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
Disappointing
Reviewed: 06-09-17
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
There is no one to cheer for or like in this weakest of all Grisham novels. Flat characters, stilted dialogue and an unsatisfying jerky ending. Reads like an overly long high school essay.
What was most disappointing about John Grisham’s story?
This book reads the way a paint-by-the-numbers pictures looks. Grisham must have needed a top-up on his bank account because he didn't write this for the love of literature. I'd have given it zero stars, but that would look like the category got skipped.
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Narrator was good.
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In the Embers
- The Great Northern Audio Theatre
- By: Brian Price, Jerry Stearns
- Narrated by: Edwin Strout, Robin Miles, full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 2
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Performance3 out of 5 stars 2
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Story3 out of 5 stars 2
A song, a pressed flower, and the sound of two girls' voices recovered from a burned wooden beam by using a brand-new laser technique to read a charred surface like the grooves of an old 78 rpm record. These are the clues that archaeologist Digger Morgan discovers while working on a routine dig at a Maryland plantation. Who were the girls? When was the fire? The answers all lead to 1920s jazz pioneer Kit Jeffers, whose voice mysteriously appears on Digger's computer and whose existence remains haunted by a singular tragic event.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Gave up listening
- By Emilie on 03-08-17
- In the Embers
- The Great Northern Audio Theatre
- By: Brian Price, Jerry Stearns
- Narrated by: Edwin Strout, Robin Miles, full cast
Gave up listening
Reviewed: 03-08-17
What disappointed you about In the Embers?
I know the idea was to provide authenticity, but the scratching and the extended 78-record sound quality, listening to this on headphones, was torture. I hung in for an hour and gave up. It's not the performers, it's the recreation of the sound of the era in the song segments and the fade-in-and-out effects and 'authentic' scratching the accompanies it that is just too much. I use Bose earphones, so it's not the listening equipment
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