Buyer

Good story, but narrator mispronounces lots of basic german words/places

Revisado: 03-08-20

Interesting concept, but why can’t they get a narrator that can pronounce basic german words? Seems like that should’ve been the easy part... distracts from the story at times

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Very distractring narration

Revisado: 04-30-16

What did you like best about The Best of Our Spies? What did you like least?

The plot is just ok - it pushes up against the limits of believable, but entertaining enough. My big complaint is with the narration: John Lee's attempts at French, Dutch, and German accents made me cringe, particularly his French accent. One of the main characters is a French woman and every time she speaks, Lee mangles her words so much that she becomes a caricature of a French woman. Ditto for a Dutch character. The bad German accent is less offensive but that's probably because you already expect the Germans to be caricatures. Please!!! If you must have a narrator affect an accent, make sure that he/she can pronounce all names and words correctly and consistently. But to my mind, in most cases it's safer not even to try.

This is one book I should have read rather than listened to.

What didn’t you like about John Lee’s performance?

See above.

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I wish I hadn't started this book

Revisado: 11-01-15

Would you try another book from Hanya Yanagihara and/or Oliver Wyman?

Probably not.

What was most disappointing about Hanya Yanagihara’s story?

The relentless, extravagant, unresolved despair of the main character and the many hours of description after description of the brutality that he suffered as a child. Then there are his struggles as an adult with the fallout - both emotional and physical - of his unbelievably miserable childhood. Despair, despair, despair. But oddly, after a childhood where no one loved him and every adult he encountered was at best indifferent and at worst a predator, most of his adult relationships are with people who love him unconditionally. The contrast strains credulity - that in the same world one person could have only evil in his childhood and only kindness in adulthood. So, on the one hand I was very affected by this man's miserable life and sad that he never found peace, but on the other I found I couldn't quite buy it all- the extremes of evil and kindness experienced by one person just didn't ring true. I kept thinking that this was the book version of several seasons' worth of Homeland or 24, or a very extravagant soap opera. Oh, and I wasn't convinced that this wreck of a man could be such a hard-boiled ruthless attorney; nor did I see why everyone loved him so much: too much telling and not enough showing - that's what made me think I was listening to a soap opera.

How could the performance have been better?

I didn't at all like his rendition of vulnerable men - too whiny and child-like.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yanagihara's use of language - interesting descriptions.

Any additional comments?

I would not recommend this book to anyone - too relentless, too long, Generally too over the top.

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Terrible narrator

Revisado: 10-15-15

Would you try another book from Elena Ferrante and/or Hillary Huber?

Maybe I'd try to read this book or another in the series but I wouldn't listen to another one narrated by this narrator. I couldn't finish the audio version because the narrator was so awful. She had no affect whatsoever, and her mispronunciation of names was very distracting. She could have been reading a restaurant menu for all the texture she gave to her performance. I tried to stick with it because the whole series comes so highly recommended but I just couldn't. A good audio book is one where you are not aware of the narrator at all.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Just downloaded A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara.

How could the performance have been better?

A different narrator, one who thought about what she was reading and varied her delivery accordingly.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Annoyance at the terrible narration.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 04-17-14

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A better plot. This book is at the same time terribly predictable and implausible. Wooden characters, too many coincidences and too many easy escapes from perilous situations. How fortuitous that Pirio finds herself stranded near the remote vacation spot where she and her now-dead mother vacationed when she was a child, and that she meets the son of her mother's long-ago lover and that he unquestioningly offers to help her catch a bunch of really bad guys. And that she can tap into her rare ability to withstand extremely cold water temperatures to outsmart those bad guys. Oh oops! Spoiler alert! The painful plodding of this book made me appreciate what talent it takes to weave a strong believable plot with believable characters.I chose this book because of a reviewer's comparison of Pirio to Smilla. Silly me!

Has North of Boston turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Marguerite Gavin?

Yes. My gripes were her mispronunciation of the names of a couple of Massachusetts towns (Scituate and Falmouth) and her botched efforts at a Boston accent. Anyone not familiar with the towns' names would not have noticed the mispronunciations, and they may not be bothered by the inauthentic accent if they haven't been exposed to the real thing. But narrators should check - or be checked - for correct pronunciation of everything they're reading and should be discouraged from trying to mimic an accent if they can't pull it off. It's very distracting.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The information about surviving submersion in very cold water was interesting.

Any additional comments?

Don't bother with this book.

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Same plot as another book by same author

Revisado: 10-24-13

What disappointed you about Silent Witness?

I've listened to this Richard North Patterson book, and one other-The Spire. Both books have the same plot: highly successful, sensitive, brilliant, wise-beyond-his-years lawyer returns to the scene of a traumatic experience from his youth, rights past wrongs, and emerges even wiser and more sensitive. And of course he gets/keeps the girl! Odd contrast between the overall unlikely, romance-novel plot and the gritty descriptions of dead bodies, crime scenes, and sex scenes. I won't listen to (or read) another book by this author.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The first time around I kept going because I wanted to find out what happened. The second time around I didn't have to because I already knew!

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Distractingly bad accents

Revisado: 09-28-12

Would you try another book from Ken Follett and/or John Lee?

Yes by Follett, no by Lee

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Haven't finished the book yet

What didn’t you like about John Lee’s performance?

His rendition of the various accents is so bad and so distracting that I may not be able to finish listening to this very long book. If you can't get an accent spot-on you shouldn't even try; just read in your natural voice.

Do you think Winter of the World needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Don't know yet, haven't finished it.

Any additional comments?

I wouldn't normally write a review before I've finished a book but I find this reader's terrible rendition of various regional UK accents so annoying that I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the book. Although it promises to be mediocre anyway - plot devices so far are transparent and predictable. I LOVED Pillars of the Earth though, and Follett's early espionage books.

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TERRIBLE narration

Revisado: 06-26-10

I feel let down by Audible for having accepted this product. The reading was awful - bad inflection, automaton-like reading, miserable attempt at pronunciation of the many many French words in the book: very distracting. Unlike another reviewer, I think the entire problem was with the narration. I stuck with it because I found the plot and characters compelling. But I'm not a happy customer.

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