Mr. J. P. Owens
- 82
- reviews
- 29
- helpful votes
- 83
- ratings
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The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe
- By: David Leigh, Tony Hutchinson
- Narrated by: David Morley Hale
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Drowning in debt and facing almost certain bankruptcy, John Darwin did the unthinkable—he paddled out to sea in his red canoe and disappeared. After a massive search and rescue operation failed to find his body, he was assumed dead, lost in the bleak North Sea. But everything was far from what it seemed. Nearly six years later, after John miraculously returned from the dead with a strange tale of 'amnesia' and sporting a suspicious golden tan, the police and the press were desperate to discover the truth behind his remarkable resurrection.
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Very disappointed
- By lisasarcy on 18-04-22
- The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe
- By: David Leigh, Tony Hutchinson
- Narrated by: David Morley Hale
Tabloid garbage
Reviewed: 25-08-24
If you are looking for interesting details of the crimes, this is NOT the book for you. This book is written in a scumbag tabloid journalist style. It is judgmental, dripping with equal measures of jealousy and loathing. And it is totally lacking any attempt to understand the perpetrators' motives beyond the ideas of "money" and "greed". An utter waste of my time.
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Face to Face with Serial Killers
- My Conversations with the World's Most Evil Men
- By: Christopher Berry-Dee
- Narrated by: Geoff Barham
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee goes behind bars to get the last word from some of the worst criminals in the world. They speak of their violence and shocking deeds in their own words, from within some of the hardest prisons on earth. These interviews have been collated into this disturbing and unflinching analysis of the criminal mind. Here is what happens when you meet the people most of us know only from our nightmares and newspaper headlines.
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I should like it. But I don't
- By Herman Amanda Langland on 15-11-19
- Face to Face with Serial Killers
- My Conversations with the World's Most Evil Men
- By: Christopher Berry-Dee
- Narrated by: Geoff Barham
Serial killer porn
Reviewed: 17-07-24
This book revels in the disgusting details of the crimes committed and sheds very little light on the psyches of the killers (beyond highschool-level conjecture).
AThe "style" is 'tabloid-sensationalist', and the grammar is woeful.
The narration (gleeful English chap) doesn't match the subject matter. The narrator mispronounces many, many words.
Avoid.
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Dark Is the Sun
- By: Philip José Farmer
- Narrated by: Rebecca Rogers
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifteen billion years from now, Earth is a dying planet, its skies darkened by the ashes of burned-out galaxies, its molten core long cooled. The sunless planet is nearing the day of final gravitational collapse in the surrounding galaxy. Mutations and evolution have led to a great disparity of life-forms, while civilization has resorted to the primitive.
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Unpolished
- By Mr. J. P. Owens on 05-03-24
- Dark Is the Sun
- By: Philip José Farmer
- Narrated by: Rebecca Rogers
Unpolished
Reviewed: 05-03-24
This is basically a shaggy dog epic. Characters unlikeable, goal constantly shifting. Ugh. I bought this because I enjoyed Farmer's Riverworld series, but this is a huge miss.
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Upgrade
- By: Blake Crouch
- Narrated by: Henry Levya
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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What if you were capable of more? Your concentration was better, you could multitask quicker, read faster, memorize more, sleep deeper. For Logan Ramsay, it’s happening. He’s beginning to see the world around him, even those he loves the most, in whole new ways. He knows that it’s not natural, that his genes have been hacked. He has been targeted for an upgrade.
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Disappointing
- By Anthony Puente-Ruiz on 08-07-22
- Upgrade
- By: Blake Crouch
- Narrated by: Henry Levya
Preachy rubbish
Reviewed: 11-09-23
If you like preachy, leftist rubbish from a guy who abuses and misuses language, this might just be the mess for you.
The story was insane, and the main character was moronic. I really hoped Crouch would flip it and kill the guy off because he was a jerk, but nope: he was a jerk from start to finish.
I won't be reading another story by this author.
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The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Stephen King's epic fantasy series, The Dark Tower, is being made into a major movie starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Due in cinemas February 17, 2017 USA. In this first novel in his epic fantasy masterpiece, Stephen King introduces listeners to one of his most enigmatic heroes, Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey into good and evil, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own.
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Tough going... But persevere through to book 2...
- By Andrew on 28-10-16
- The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: George Guidall
TERRIFYING!!!
Reviewed: 10-05-23
I already bought the entire series and I'm terrified it's not going to improve. :(
Seriously, though, this was not what I was expecting. Perhaps I've outgrown Stephen King? I was into King 30 years ago... maybe I missed my chance to enjoy this at the right age. That said, what disappointed me most is how this differs from Kings typical books.
Narration was passable.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Psychopath Test
- A Journey Through the Madness Industry
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a story about madness. It all starts when journalist Jon Ronson is contacted by a leading neurologist. She and several colleagues have recently received a cryptically puzzling book in the mail, and Jon is challenged to solve the mystery behind it. As he searches for the answer, Jon soon finds himself, unexpectedly, on an utterly compelling and often unbelievable adventure into the world of madness.
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It is indeed utterly compelling.
- By Graeme on 30-08-11
- The Psychopath Test
- A Journey Through the Madness Industry
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
Not enough psychopaths
Reviewed: 06-05-23
I got through this because it's easy to listen to Jon Ronson (jonronson) talk about anything. But all told, the connections between the various chapters were pretty shallow. Not enough psychopaths.
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The Terminal Experiment
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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An experiment has gone terribly wrong. Dr. Peter Hobson has created three electronic simulations of his own personality. One will test life after death; another, immortality. The third one is the control unit. But now all three have escaped from Hobson's computer into the worldwide electronic matrix. And one of them is a killer.
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Trying to shoe horn in religious tripe
- By James on 13-11-24
- The Terminal Experiment
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
My first-ever audiobook; still fun
Reviewed: 04-05-23
This was the first audiobook I ever listened to. Sawyer is not the best writer, but the ideas are great, the story is fun, and the pacing is just right.
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Rabbit at Rest
- By: John Updike
- Narrated by: William Hope
- Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 1989, and Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom is far from restful. Harry is 56 and overweight, and he has a struggling business on his hands and a heart that is starting to fail. His family, too, are giving him cause for concern. His son, Nelson, is a wreck of a man, a cocaine addict with shattered self-respect. Janice, his wife, has decided that she wants to be a working girl. And as for Pru, his daughter-in-law, she seems to be sending out signals to Rabbit that he knows he should ignore but somehow can't.
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May flights of Toyotas lead him to his rest
- By Sam on 19-08-24
- Rabbit at Rest
- By: John Updike
- Narrated by: William Hope
A magnificent conclusion
Reviewed: 02-05-23
The perfect end to a perfect story. He telegraphs the end from the first page, but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment. A little terrifying, too.
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Rabbit Is Rich
- By: John Updike
- Narrated by: William Hope
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 1979, and Rabbit is no longer running. He's walking and beginning to get out of breath. That's okay, though - it gives him the chance to enjoy the wealth that comes with middle age. It's all in place: he's chief sales representative and co-owner of Springer motors; his wife, at home or in the club, is keeping trim; he wears good suits; and the cash is pouring in. So why is it that he finds it so hard to accept the way that things have turned out?
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Best of the quartet?
- By Mr. J. P. Owens on 02-05-23
- Rabbit Is Rich
- By: John Updike
- Narrated by: William Hope
Best of the quartet?
Reviewed: 02-05-23
Perhaps my favourite of the four. The humour is spot on, the writing is beautiful, the developments in Rabbit's life unexpected. Loved it. Narration still top-notch.
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3 people found this helpful
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Rabbit Redux
- By: John Updike
- Narrated by: William Hope
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 1969, and the times are changing. America is about to land a man on the moon, the Vietnamese war is in full swing, and racial tension is on the rise. Things just aren't as simple as they used to be - at least not for Rabbit Angstrom. His wife has left him with his teenage son, his job is under threat and his mother is dying. Suddenly, into his confused life - and home - comes Jill, an 18-year-old runaway who becomes his lover.
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An Audio Masterclass
- By Mrs. Terrie Rintoul on 27-09-18
- Rabbit Redux
- By: John Updike
- Narrated by: William Hope
An excellent follow-up
Reviewed: 02-05-23
Updike could have done anything with a sequal. Where he chose to go was thought-provoking and amusing be equal measure. His powers of description are unparalleled.
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