TamTon

Funny, touching and humanizing

Revisado: 12-28-14

Alan Cumming is an excellent actor known for the variety of his roles. His memoir reveals his life and how it was affected by growing up in an emotionally and often physically abusive household. I felt the changes as he spoke and I could see snapshots of family life and snapshots of public life like a stage play or movie in my mind. It was difficult to keep myself aware that he was talking about actual events in his life and not some movie.

There was one particularly amusing narration where he empathized with the contortions and other things that women go through to look fantastic in high heels, tight dresses and hair removal. He took us backwards in time and forward to the present as he told his tale. Often the tales were painfully amusing, often sad or painfully sad, but ultimately freeing as he revealed himself to us, his fans.

Mr. Cumming took off his mask to show us his true face and I respect him even more for doing so.

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Narrator reads like an announcer

Revisado: 12-28-14

I gave this book another try and I managed to finish it but I was not impressed with the story lines. The narrator read like he was a radio announcer and did very little to segue from character to character. I do not believe it was necessary to provide a back story for Fang as what this book did could have been done by small narratives in the ongoing series. The narrator did not help this book at all and the story was very thin. Thin back stories tend to annoy me so I am very disappointed by this author's efforts.

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Good story with decent narration

Revisado: 05-04-13

I have heard several narrators performing Alex Cross and Peter J. Fernandez has been the most consistent. His take on the character makes Cross appear to be blissfully arrogant concerning his work and his place in the job. He's always conflicted about his family but he always chooses the job over the family.

Patterson has been quite close in his perceptions of law enforcement and the lives of people in the various cities. The recurring villains have been quite villainous and I have been glad to see them caught in whatever manner they were captured..dead or alive.

I did find it annoying to have the chapters announced twice in this book. It was fine for the first five then simply annoying until the last one. Fortunately this has not been repeated in the next book or the previous books. The transitions between countries was at times a bit abrupt since one moment he was in DC and the next in England then the next in France. If your mind wandered too much while listening you would easily lose your place in the timeline. At times it was difficult to tell which villain was speaking even with the accents. Other than those annoyances I have enjoyed the novels. The storyline has been building and quickly paced. Cross's love life continues to amuse and I will be very interested to read how he finally resolves it in future novels. It will surely take a strong woman to handle being his third love since the job is always first, kids and Nana Mama second.

The few movies made with Alex Cross's character have each been standalone stories and I found them interesting. If you haven't read the books before seeing the movies then you would not know how they all tie in together.

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Much better performance by the narrator

Revisado: 04-04-13

In this one, Eric Dove has improved. He still has a voice that sounds like a computer but he managed to infuse more life into the characters as he used various accents and intonations. I was able to completely "get" the characters and receive enjoyment from the listen.

The track J.R. Ward has taken with this series is good but she is still lacking some of the depth. The character development has improved but it would help to get more into the starring characters instead of the recurring characters. I don't mind a standalone story but it would help to massage the back stories of the highlighted characters with a bit more depth. I believe Jim and his crew are going to flesh out nicely if the trend continues with this series but again, I would like to connect a bit more with the starring characters as they play a role in the story with Jim.

I will continue with series and keep in mind that one of the later stories was a bit fast in narration so I'll have to slow down the speed on my MP3.

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Not a very well rounded character

Revisado: 12-11-12

I am not sure why the author believed the weakest and least interesting character deserved her own story. Spade and Denise were not worthy of a separate book. Denise was defined as the quintessential "best friend" and frankly that was more than she deserved in the main series. Her back story and the premise for creating this book was very, very, very weak. I found her character whiny and annoying even through the "emotional growth" in the book. The author failed to bring depth to the character and even bringing in the cavalry failed to make the story interesting. It was the talents of the narrator that kept me listening until the last word.

The Spade character did have a rich background but there wasn't enough focus on it to give it a deep bite. I would think a 257 year old vamp would have quite the back story but the author only teased with bits here and there about his past.

I hope the other tangential stories are more interesting and provide character development.

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Good story but passionless narration

Revisado: 07-07-12

It was great to read about other areas of Caldwell. One of the characters from Rhev's old club made a star appearance and it was quite well received. My main issue with the book was the narrator. I thought I was spoiled by not hearing Jim Frangione (I was) but it was more than that with this book. The narrator did make vocal changes to indicate when characters were speaking but he never added any depth to the characters. The true test was the reading of the sensual scenes. The narrator was not involved in any of the words being read. No depth, no passion, no emotion, NOTHING to bring the listener in to engage with the other senses to bring the story alive. I missed whole chapters because I kept dozing off during the narration. Eric Dove sounded like a very good computer generated voice and this is not a good quality when reading suspenseful works.

I strongly suggest that readers avoid this narrator for this series and read the print version. Your own imagination will provide the vividness needed to engage with the characters.

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Lackluster narration with little tonal variation

Revisado: 06-29-12

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The narrator has a decent reading voice but it is hidden by the lack of tonal variation between characters, time frame of incidents and places events occurred. I would not recommend the audio version to a friend.

What other book might you compare A Lonely Death to and why?

No comparable book at this time.

Did Simon Prebble do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

The story began on what I thought was a promising note. The voice of the narrator echoed visions of Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot-like detecting. As the story progresses, the narrator fails miserably at differentiating all of the characters. I found myself losing my place in the story because I could not tell which character was speaking or where the conversations took place. I've heard stories read in audio formats far less polished than the current mass produced audio. Those versions had more character in the narrators voice than the polished swill being sold to audio listeners. The audio will definitely put you sleep if you tend to relax and listen like I do.

Do you think A Lonely Death needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I don't know if this needs a follow up book. If a more lively and active person narrates the story then yes.

Any additional comments?

I would probably have enjoyed this story in print. Audiobook publishers should consider the quality of the reading as well as the active participation of the reader with the story being read. Scott Brick sounds exactly the same on all of the books he narrates yet he manages to bring the words alive. Listeners want to hear the changes in location and character without having to sleepwalk through an audio listen. I don't expect a full cast audio drama. I do expect the narrator to put life into the words they are reading regardless if it's fiction or non-fiction.

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Uninspired narration

Revisado: 04-01-12

What disappointed you about Dead or Alive?

The uninspired narration caused me to not complete the book. The narrator's voice was so uninspired that the words became a background buzz, and I kept missing portions of the book.

What other book might you compare Dead or Alive to and why?

I managed to get through about ten chapters, and the little that I did hear showed the usual suspense characteristics of Tom Clancy.

What didn’t you like about Lou Diamond Phillips’s performance?

The narration was uninspired. I expected a far more lively performance from an actor, but Lou Diamond Phillips read the story in a mechanical fashion. There was no distinction between characters or environment.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Dead or Alive?

I could not complete the book.

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Irreverant, funny, surprisingly engaging

Revisado: 04-01-12

What did you love best about Halfway to the Grave?

The author provided a different spin on the usual sensual vampire characters that are popular today. The author mixed humor with the sensuality but the latter was less important so the story moved along nicely.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked Bones. He reminded me a bit of Spike from the Buffy series.

Which character – as performed by Tavia Gilbert – was your favorite?

The narrator did a phenomenal job bringing all of the characters to life with the active reading of the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This was indeed a book I wanted to listen to in one sitting but I had to break up the sittings into two.

Any additional comments?

An audiobook is often only as good as the narrator's ability to bring the author's words to life. Tavia Gilbert has shown a true talent for bringing this book to life by conveying all of the emotions of the characters in distinct fashion.

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The performance was good but the story not so much

Revisado: 02-22-12

Would you consider the audio edition of Towers of Midnight to be better than the print version?

The audio version is better because I don't have to slog through pages and pages of mind-numbing words.

Would you ever listen to anything by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson again?

I would listen to their works again only if the works offer some completion to the saga.

What does Michael Kramer and Kate Reading bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrators provided a tone and liveliness to the characters I would not have been able to sustain by reading the printed version. I enjoyed their narration of all the books.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The reaction I had was one of aborted anticipation. I purchased every book of the Wheel of Time expecting to read about the results of

Any additional comments?

I have no interest in the prequel to the series. If the Book 13 had fulfilled the promise of the last battle, I probably would have shown more interest in the prequel.

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