Kate Brewster

Egregious violence

Revisado: 03-30-24

Spoiler below:

I've read several of Coben's books, so I was surprised by the graphic scenes of violence and torture in this novel. Coben generally eschews this kind of nasty imagery in favor of characters. I didn't find the main character interesting or appealing, and that was too bad.
Lavoy was an excellent narrator, however, and her work, more than anything apart from the hope the story would get better or I'd eventually enjoy the main character, kept me engaged on a long car ride.











SPOILER:
(the dog survives)

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Good story, excellent narration

Revisado: 10-02-23

The story and plot were good. Some "surprise" elements were telegraphed in the earliest chapters. I'm distracted by phrases like "I'll have your back" in 40's dialogue. I found the author's refusal to use past participles of irregular verb forms distracting, but if English is the author's second language, it's a very minor complaint.
Lewis has excellent control of accents and characters' voices. Her narration might have been the best thing about the book.
I would recommend this to people with an interest in fiction set in WWII.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Story was good, but I had to grit my teeth

Revisado: 06-21-20

Is this narrator related to a publishing executive? I can't imagine any scenario apart from a blood obligation that would allow this narrator to ruin a perfectly nice book, let alone the opening book to a series!
I gritted my teeth and made it through, but this narrator did not make it easy. She appears to have invested heavily in the equivalent of botox for the basics of narration-- expression, inflection, and character development. I feel bad for the author, because this narrator may have turned readers off this series.
Thankfully, the other books in the series have different readers.

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Good story. One of the worst narrators

Revisado: 04-05-19

Good story, with the elements one expects nowadays in a cozy: interesting setting, ghosts, charming dogs, and tension between two potential suitors for the protagonist's hand.

One of the worst narrators I've heard on audible. She pauses awkwardly, stresses the wrong words--it's as if the words are going into her brain and out of her mouth without any real understanding of their meaning. I'm sad to see that she was hired to read all the books in this series.

It's a good story, but I'll read the others in this series in books.

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Everyone starts somewhere

Revisado: 04-02-19

All writers start somewhere, and many writers borrow from successful people as they are learning about structure and dialog and plot.

This novel is not very good. The characters are flat and, worse, not likable; the plot contains points that are borrowed from others (a psychic old woman torn from the pages of Stephen King, for example); and a completely predictable conclusion telegraphed from the earliest chapters. Skip ahead a few novels is my advice. Gardner gets better.

The narrator is very good--the best thing about this listen.

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esto le resultó útil a 22 personas

Would be 1/3 shorter

Revisado: 11-28-18

If an editor could persuade the author to knock off the incessant repetition

"She lost her dog," the neighbor said.
"Why do you say that?" asked the sprightly redhead.
"Because her dog is missing," said the neighbor.
"What do you mean?" asked the curious widow.
"She cannot find her dog," the neighbor explained.


Etc., every few pages. Tics like this are especially apparent in audible books, and I nearly stopped listening an hour in. If you can stand it, along with repeated phrases like, "She's over 100, but she's still so *sharp*!" you may enjoy it, especially if you liked the old _Ghost and Mrs. Muir_ tv series.

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Excellent translation

Revisado: 10-21-18

Sometimes translations are clumsy and they take you out of the story. Not this one!

This is an amusing cozy set in Sicily, and the descriptions of the area and people are enough to make you update your passport and head over. There are some borrowings from classics--Auntie Mame comes to mind--but the story is well-drafted and while the mystery is not really fair according to the rules of a fair mystery, by the time late in the novel we get the information we need, we've sort of lost interest in the mystery and become enamored of the characters and the story.

Audible, for heaven's sake, hurry up! Translate and narrate the other books in the series. Winter and cold and gloom are coming. We need more Sicilian heat and sunshine and Auntie Poldi!

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Hire this narrator for more books!

Revisado: 08-08-18

The book is great, and I can hardly wait for another in the series--characters are interesting, story is engaging, excellent job keeping me guessing to the end.

But I came here to rave about Sullivan Jones' narration. If every audible book were read by readers with talent like this, the number of subscribers to Audible.com would triple. Jones manages different genders, different accents, different characters with such ease I'm sure dozens of listeners have thought there's nothing to it. It's shocking that he has only read Ide's two novels. I came looking for more books he's done, and I was deeply disappointed to find he has not been asked to do more. Fix that, people.

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The past is never over

Revisado: 09-27-17

He's not a traitor, really. He was just corrupt, or as a character puts it, "a thrill-seeker" in the wrong profession. Yet this former spy who rests on the laurels of only having killed 2 people (and only 1 on purpose) abandons his life as a popular history writer and returns to his former life within moments of learning a young girl not unlike the young girl he saved and lost track of years before, is missing from the home of some acquaintances. With the help of her young friend, he tracks her down and upon his return learns of a tragedy. Very quickly his lifetime kill average mounts higher and higher as he sets out to get revenge and fix long-ago mistakes.
The character's bloodthirstiness hits a wrong note after so many years of study and sedentary life, but it was good to see an academic (or near-academic) in an action role.
There are some nice parallels in the plot, and the story pushes hard on the themes of history, betrayal, and self-knowledge. I'll read another by this author.

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