MRY

Best One!

Revisado: 10-24-22

Like so many others forever in debt to JKR’s contributions to my literary existence, I have diligently applied myself to Robert Galbraith's "Cormoran Strike" novels. I have desperately wanted to love them but failed. Each one has almost been a winner, but falls short. Well written, good characters, mature plot lines well executed and very well read, but falling a little shy of 4 stars.

We all know that sometimes a series gets better so of course I kept listening but book 3-5 got a bit tedious with the predictable interludes of Strike's and Elicott's attraction, and the usefull plot devices of Strike's leg. Still, not bad and you know, you know, you just know, this author is the real deal

And you know what, same issues in this the 6th book. The difference? This one is brilliant.

I hate Social Media. Who would have thought that a Detective novel built around Social Media could hold my attention for 32 hours! Then again, this author is the real deal.

FYI, I am a seasoned audio listener so I had no trouble listening to the reading of "Tweets" and "Chats". Don't let the reviews scare you. Listen on. Enjoy the frustration as it's part of the plot development.

Really sorry to have this one end. Thoroughly satisfying. 5 Stars.

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Unexpected, fun updating of Holmes and Watson.

Revisado: 07-21-19

Don’t know Drew Hayes, but I am a Sherlock fan so I tried it. What fun! It is in no way a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, but it is still a tribute to Sir Conan Doyle and a wonderful take on how to bring both Holmes and Watson up to date in a modern world. A fine listen being very well read. Light but not without some character development and solid sentiment. Well done Drew Hayes and I look forward to the next installment.

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Glad to discover Tim Powers

Revisado: 03-15-19

I don’t write many reviews, but after listening to this one, I am compelled. This is my first exposure to Tim Powers. After listening to The Anubis Gate and reading reviews for his other books, I am excited to have discovered a whole bunch of books to delve into.

The Anubis Gate is a rousing romp through what must be the amazingly intelligent and imaginative mind of Powers. Zany and complex, not altogether perfect but who cares. A fun listen and a proverbial page turner to see how the heck Powers is going to wrap the crazy ride up. He does!

Other reviewers have done an excellent job describing the book. My review is basically reinforcement of all the good stuff written and to encourage Audible to keep seeking out and making available great authors available to us devoted listeners.

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Three's a Charm!

Revisado: 02-18-19

I have now listened to all three of Damien Lynch's "Shadow Police" books and this review is a touch upon the whole series.

I enjoyed the first two books, but they were not great. They were good. Within the genre, modern London, magic and detection, of which there are several writers, the theme underlying these books, is pretty good. The ideas that the ancient weight of humanity on a city, London, and the collective memory of humanity, creates London's supernatural sentience. Over this theme, the Police detection storylines are layered.

In the first two books, although I enjoyed them, the background theme and foreground police story struggled to hold onto each other. Good, strong ideas, but failure to weave a sustaining story. A solid set of main characters are presented but some trouble fleshing them out. This was not helped by the reader, Damian Lynch, who failed to verbally separate the characters sufficiently. At times, straining to hold threads together, it felt like the writer was pleading with the reader to understand and follow along. And yet…

And yet, there was enough there that I did finish each book, “London Falling”, and eventually, although not immediately followed with “The Severed Streets” and just today finished “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”.

I enjoy finding a new series and enjoy watching a writer find a stride. Paul Cornell is doing just that. Book one was a brave start. Book two was better. This one, book three, “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”, is a winner.

In “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”, Cornell’s “Other London” is well defined from the London of us common folks. The Police detection story weaving between the two London’s is solid and interesting. Emotional tension and involvement is produced by a solid story with solid, straightforward language. Cornell’s characters are now fleshed out enough so that the reader feels something toward each of them.

In the audio version, character delineation is helped by the stronger story and writing, but also because the reader has also hit his stride. The producers of this audio book must have read some of the less than stellar reviews of Damian Lynch’s reading of the first two books and coached him into a much better reading here in “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”. Lynch keeps each character audibly unique and reads with much greater proficiency. After “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”, I cannot imagine another reader for the “Shadow Police”.

“Who Killed Sherlock Holmes” was a audible page turner and I was sorry to reach the denouement and a little sad to hear the ever annoying “Audible Hopes you have enjoyed this Book”.

Luckily, the plot and ending of this third book would indicate that Cornell has another installation of the Shadow Police well in mind if not yet on paper. Well, I will be one of the first to listen once Audible produces that book!

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Thank You Audible!

Revisado: 09-03-17

Any additional comments?

Thank You, Audible, for your effort to make the great Dalziel and Pascoe series available to us Reginald Hill fans.

If you are new to Dalziel and Pascoe, With regret, I Suggest you start with this one only because it is read by Colin Buchanan. The first 3 books of the series are read by Brian Glover and he is an awful reader.

Although Colin Buchanan is not as good as Shaun Dooley or Jonathan Keeble, both readers of later novels in the series, Buchanan does justice to the devine Dalziel and rising phoenix Pascoe.

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Holmes and Watson fleshed out!

Revisado: 07-08-17

Like so many, I love Holmes and Watson, listen and re-read the "canon" at regular intervals, test pastiches written by better folk than I, and in general, crave more.

Crave more what? More of the intriguing characters. Not just more copies of the cases, but more insights into the characters first penned by the imagination of Sir Arthur, himself. More insights into junky, OCD Holmes and stout, stalwart war hero Watson.

To my immense satisfaction, Lindsay Faye has done an excellent job fleshing out the people behind these famous fiction characters without, for the most part, diminishing the figures Sir Arthur created.

I have also read Ms. Faye's, "Dust and Shadow". Another fully satisfying Holmes experience.

Final word, I hope Ms. Faye will write more!

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Unexpected and Wonderful

Revisado: 07-18-16

Never heard of the author before. Not even sure how I ended up at the book page, but on the book page, another reviewer said something like, "It's hard to imagine somebody not liking this book." I agree.

I listen to a lot of books every year. Mostly fiction. This book has it all. Good and likable characters, good enough plot, good story developement, tension, suspense, climax and a pretty darned good wrapping up at the end. Not only that, the reader does a fine job. What's not to like here.

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His best one so far.

Revisado: 04-01-15

A friend introduced me to this author prefacing the introduction by saying the series improves. She is right. Up to this point the novels in this series have been interesting in their potential: Aparthied South Africa setting and main characters. The novels, however, failed to really build on the potential. In this one, McLure finally gets the balance in his favor.

If the next books each improve on this one, I will surely weep at the last knowing there will be no more.

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