Julia

Preposterous

Revisado: 07-04-22

The characters are unbelievably irritating and wildly stupid. The writing is embarrassing. I listened because my niece likes this writer but this will be my one and only- I’m too embarrassed to even claim this one on Goodreads.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Pathetic and gross

Revisado: 11-16-20

I had wiped from my mind the horrible experience I had reading Walker’s other book, which took the rape of a young woman and told it through the eyes of a narcissistic therapist with nothing but disdain for women. By the end of the book you find he, all the while touting his intelligence and superiority, has been prolonging the young woman’s agony for selfish reasons. I was about twenty minutes into this one, which I added to my library because it’s free and I’m walking all over the place during this pandemic, when I realized I was listening to the same narrator. Repulsive. I finished it because I was out walking and had nothing else downloaded but it did nothing to redeem Walker. Don’t waste your time with this preening jackass of a narrator. You’ll just want to punch things. The world is awful enough right now.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Odious.

Revisado: 08-01-16

This is an ODIOUS book. Perhaps the worst I have ever read.

The narrator is self-satisfied, misogynist, narcissistic, and snide. Contempt just drips from his voice (both through the printed word and the actual audiobook narrator). Every woman in the book is described in the most condescending of terms, and the audiobook narrator's "female" voices just added insult to injury. He knowingly, strategically causes the death of another person and excuses himself basically through insisting on his superiority. He KNOWS for the ENTIRE BOOK who is at fault for the rape of a teenaged girl and instead of helping to bring that person to justice he manipulates the situation and everyone around him, including the girl and her parents, to his own selfish ends, all the while crowing about his intellectual and moral superiority. And he's supposed to be the hero.

I'll be returning this book to Audible because I never want to even see its cover again.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Oh, man, where do I begin?

Revisado: 07-06-15

What disappointed you about The Dummy Line?

Truly one of the worst books I've ever read all the way through. Cliched, rife with adverbs and cardboard cutout villains and heroes. The women, though. The WOMEN. They are: the nagging wife, the "perfectly groomed, blonde, vacuous reporter," the stripper, the centerfolds, the chain-smoking tough-but-matronly sheriff's department switchboard operator/secretary, the girlfriend who spends too much money on credit cards and time in Internet chat rooms, the screaming and helpless cheerleader, and the innocent little girl whose narrative purpose is to prop up her daddy's hero status. Did I miss one? Oh, yes, the one who is mistakenly kidnapped and repeatedly threatened with rape. (There are at least four women who are raped or threatened with rape in this book, and every villain but one- the one whose sister was raped, of course- is just dying to do some raping.) I guess the endless references to the centerfolds wallpapering the hunting shack count as women too?

So, yes, huge fail in terms of doing any justice to female characters. Then there are the villains. Aside from the aforementioned brother-of-rape-victim, all the bad guys are 100% in for any and all mayhem, including gang rape, murder, and hurting children, with no compunction. It seems this small-time band of crooks goes from zero to 60 in no time, crime-wise, with absolutely no real motivation. (Unless you believe that these guys would seriously be so incredibly motivated by revenge for their fallen scumbag that they would commit a series of heinous crimes with gleeful determination and absolutely no regard for the consequences to them, which I didn't.)

Has The Dummy Line turned you off from other books in this genre?

No- I love thrillers! Well-written ones, with well-developed characters instead of cardboard cutouts.

How could the performance have been better?

I listened to this book on Audible and the reader's "female" voices were an insult and his "Indian doctor" was downright offensive. Don't know if the writer actually wrote out the "Indian" accent, but the Tonto-speak (DIFFERENT INDIAN, Bobby Cole) was really over the top. I did think the sheriff's voice and the voice of the kidnapper rang true.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Dummy Line?

The basic premise would have worked if some thought had been put into the characters, but the villains were ridiculous and shallow and so were the heroes.

Any additional comments?

The only male narrator I've listened to who really nails a female voice without making it sounds like a weak, breathy caricature is Michael Kelly, who narrated Stephen King's "Joyland." So we know it can be done! (He is also a brilliant actor in "House of Cards.") More narrators need to study up on that.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Oh boy never narrate men or Southerners again

Revisado: 02-27-15

It was a fine book to listen to as I cleaned house. The narrator's voice matched the main character well and the story was mildly amusing even if plot elements were evident way before their big reveals. But oh man was the narrator AWFUL at a southern accent. Whenever Noah showed up I didn't know whether to laugh or roll my eyes or feel ill about how awful her voice for him was. Leo wasn't much better.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Dear Mr. Patton: Please stop reading women.

Revisado: 07-31-14

Would you try another book from Stephen King and/or Will Patton?

Stephen King yes- he makes for great beach reading. Will Patton maybe- only if there were no female characters.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story itself was fine. A bit over the top in places (the killer's mommy issues, the sometimes icky banter between the "det ret" and his (gulp) lawn boy, the typical improbability of the sex6,y single, not-too-well-developed-as-a-character rich lady falling for the gruff old overweight hero- but hey, that's King these days. (Would love for him to really spend some time and work up something great again, like The Shining.)

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Hodges, the main detective, had a plausible (if not stereotypical) delivery. But Patton does real damage when he tries to read women's voices. It was AWFUL. They all sounded like breathy halfwits. It was insulting, actually.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Nah.

Any additional comments?

Dear Mr. Patton- Please call Michael Kelly, who read "Joyland," and get some tips for the women's voices. He knows how to do it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Did not expect King capable of making me cry...

Revisado: 07-31-14

Would you listen to Joyland again? Why?

Yes, I would. It doesn't matter that I know "whodunit," though my memory can be quick to fade as I read so many books. The narration and the style of the story were such an unexpected pleasure, coming from King, and reminded me of some of my all-ltime favorite Bradburys, which I read in high school.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not so much- it's not that kind of King. Yes, there is a gruesome murder, but it's far in the past. There's a mystery to be solved, but in the end that isn't really what drives the plot. Actually, I felt the climax of the book, which focused on the resolution of the mystery plot, was a bit weaker than the rest of the book because it veered in to more typical King territory, and the strength of the book lies in the coming-of-age plot.

What about Michael Kelly’s performance did you like?

I LOVED Michael Kelly's narration. I'd just finished listening to Mr. Mercedes, and that narrator could not do a plausible woman's voice if you paid him (which, I guess, they did). Michael Kelly's characters were all distinguishable without being over-the-top, as a Southerner I appreciated his southern accents, and his women sounded like people, not breathy halfwits. I'd throw roses at his feet just for that, because I am SO TIRED of men who seem to think that to speak "woman" is to speak like a cartoon. BRAVO, Michael Kelly.

Who was the most memorable character of Joyland and why?

I actually liked the narrator quite a bit, which isn't often the case for me. He was just a really good kid.

Any additional comments?

I cried at the end. Couldn't help myself. I usually scoff at King and only listen to/read him when it's summer or I'm exercising because you can drift in and out and not lose much, but this one held my attention and made me believe it. Wish I could ride that Carolina Spin...

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Interesting Story, Awk Writing, Horrible Narration

Revisado: 09-08-13

What did you like best about Night Film? What did you like least?

I like spooky stories, the multimedia attempt, the various references. That said, this book felt, as did the author's previous work, like a bit of a "tryhard" attempt at newness, rawness, "hipness." I don't like feeling the author working away at her cleverness- I want to forget her while I'm involved in the story, and stand back and marvel afterwards.

What did you like best about this story?

I suppose the mystery kept me interested- I wanted to see where she was going with all of this- whether it would be a realistic narrative or would veer into the supernatural.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jake Weber?

I don't know, but I do know this- Weber has a great, deep voice that worked for the main character, but when he tried to do women or just about anyone else, he veered into some awful territory. It seems his idea of "other man" is "very slow-speaking southerner" and his idea of "woman" is "weirdly breathy slow speaker." Seriously. The SLOWNESS. At first I thought the characters were supposed to be disabled in some way. And why so many Southern accents in New York?

Did Night Film inspire you to do anything?

I did a lot of walking while listening to it, so that was pretty great, fitness-wise.

Any additional comments?

I would love to know if others felt like I did about Weber's performance. It drove me nuts.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona