Robin

Not one of his best

Revisado: 12-30-24

I've been a fan of Mick Herron for a long time, and I've read (I think) all his novels and novellas, and this one is a long way from his best. In fact the Slough House series are head and shoulders above all his others, and this was not even among the best of the others. The plot is just not believable on any level. It held my interest, but that's the best I can say. I got the strong feeling that he lost interest in it long before he'd finished it.

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Not one of his best

Revisado: 09-05-22

Too slow, too repetitive, and even for Mick Herron, too far-fetched a climax. And a very unsatisfactory cliffhanger at the end.

But, as always, entertaining.

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Colin Buchanan

Revisado: 04-07-22

Colin Buchanan reads A Cure for All Diseases brilliantly. He is by far the best narrator of the Reginald Hill books. The story was convoluted and at times confusing but the humour of the author shines through.

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Load of rubbish

Revisado: 06-09-21

This is a badly-written and utterly ridiculous and unbelievable book. Don’t waste your time.

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Superb reading

Revisado: 12-29-20

The Secret Garden has been a favourite book of mine ever since I first read it as a child. I have seen two of the three movie versions that have been made, both very poor. I chose this version to listen to on the basis of the comments about the excellent reader. I completely agree with them. It was perfect. I wish the reader had more books on Audible.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 08-21-20

From a writer of the reputed calibre of John Banville I expect better. This is a dreadfully slow, poorly plotted and entirely predictable story. The principal character, Quirke, is just plain tedious, and the others even more so. Don’t bother with it.

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Pretty good

Revisado: 11-16-19

I came to this by way of the film, which I love. The book is pretty good, but the film on the whole is better — tighter and more neatly finished. But I enjoyed the book a lot; it was much better than I expected it to be. The reader is excellent, and I’ll look out for more of his work

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Excellent overview, excellently read

Revisado: 01-19-19

I don’t pretend to have any knowledge of the subject-matter of this book, but that’s why I bought it. It’s very long, but my interest never flagged. Norman Cantor takes a very high overview of the Middle Ages, which he defines as extending from the conversion of Constantine to the end of the 15th century — an extremely long period to cover. I found it immensely informative, beautifully written, and equally beautifully read by Frederick Davidson, who seems to be able to read virtually anything well.

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Brilliantly read

Revisado: 12-05-18

I approached this book warily, having found most previous Booker winners unreadable, and I’m pretty sure I would find this unreadable too in text form. It’s written from deep inside the narrator’s head, with many lengthy stream-of-consciousness passages of a type that I usually find impenetrable.

What saves it is the absolutely brilliant reading by Brid Brennan. She brings an enormous intelligence to the reading, and has obviously done an enormous amount of work to understand the rhythms and complexity of the prose, and as a result the attentive listener will have little difficulty following the narrative and the flow of events.

Others have written about the subject matter more or less informatively. For me what stands out is the powerlessness of the 18-year-old narrator to resist the restrictions that surround her and the constraints that are put upon her by the overwhelmingly oppressive society and circumstances into which she was born and in which she lives. The sense of foreboding is so intense that at times I was reluctant to read further for fear of what might happen next.

This is a highly rewarding book, and I cannot speak highly enough of Brid Brennan’s reading.

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Terrible ending

Revisado: 10-17-18

This novel left a bad taste in my mouth. It was pretty good until the last chapter, when the story changed completely with a twist that was really a cheat. Kate Atkinson is a good writer but this novel pulled a cheap trick that really she should have passed over.

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