A. D. Howland

Why such great reviews?

Revisado: 06-04-24

This book seems to be just one violent, often tragic episode after another. The close relationships involve highly selfish and vindictive individuals. I couldn't relate to any of them.

What love story?? Plenty of self pity and lack of empathy of a woman, even though all the men who meet her go stupid with it. you'd think that the various skills these men have might help them realize this kind of manipulation. at least in witnessing what she does to their friends. Or are they referring to a different pairing that I missed ?


Call unable to acknowledge his son?? I suspect there is a backstory to this, but it is never revealed. how does the reader understand what it's about?? Also his mysterious behavior with no explanation is strange.

Audible presents this book as the first in a series, but it is also described as the 2nd or 3rd.

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Why such great reviews?

Revisado: 06-04-24

This book seems to be just one violent, often tragic episode after another. The close relationships involve highly selfish and vindictive individuals. I couldn't relate to any of them.

What love story?? Plenty of self pity and lack of empathy of a woman, even though all the men who meet her go stupid with it. you'd think that the various skills these men have might help them realize this kind of manipulation. at least in witnessing what she does to their friends. Or are they referring to a different pairing that I missed ?


Call unable to acknowledge his son?? I suspect there is a backstory to this, but it is never revealed. how does the reader understand what it's about?? Also his mysterious behavior with no explanation is strange.

Audible presents this book as the first in a series, but it is also described as the 2nd or 3rd.

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Excellent book, terrible narration

Revisado: 12-09-21

A remarkable depiction of India at the end of British rule, circling around one central event that encompasses people representing many of the layers of whites and natives.

Terrible, terrible narrator, which is an insult to the beautiful writing of this book.

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A strange book

Revisado: 04-18-21

The overall mystery that this book is about is unique, interesting, and unfolds nicely. The side-drama about the KGB could easily have been omitted- strange path to take.

I usually don't purchase books narrated by Scott Brick, but I made an exception here. I listened to this book because I had seen the Polish production of it- it was interesting to see the differences between the two.

The ending of the drama made far more sense than the book's version.

I have no idea why Scott Brick gets so many positive reviews. For me he is the worst. Pedantic, annoyingly overly dramatic, unable to vocalize female parts, and unable to differentiate among male parts. He also has a habit of stressing the wrong word in a sentence, which results in giving it a different meaning. I found myself re-voicing sentences in my head while listening to the next sentence.

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Can't get through this one due to the narrator

Revisado: 11-25-20

I could not get past the 2nd chapter of this book because the narrator is such a bad choice for it.

All the while in listening to it I spent my time:
1) Wondering in what country it was set (finally Sweden, but characters thinking there might not be snow this season? heh?)
2) Wondering where the narrator is from NYC? Boston? Looked it up and couldn't find out.
3) Cringing at the narrator's habit of sounding like he has plugged his nose every time someone says something.

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An amazing achievement

Revisado: 01-13-20

Two thirds into this book, I started thinking, "This one had better have won the Pulitzer Prize", and was so gratified when I found that it had done just that.

I was instantly caught up in the story and the characters. David Pittu is absolutely perfect for this book, fully deserving his own award. Many passages reminded me of the lyrical writing in James Agee's "Death In The Family".

Such a huge book, with so much feeling and plot, is hard for me to review, except to say that I'll definitely be listening to it again.
The last few pages are an absolute miracle of writing.

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Not a book for lonely people

Revisado: 01-13-20

I found it difficult to listen to the first part of this book due to my own difficult past and present circumstances. Somewhere I ran across the word, "sweet" as a descriptor for this book, which is why I bought it. I would use the words, "personal endurance" instead.

I noticed a lack of colors in the author's descriptions of settings, especially since two of the characters are painters and one is a collector of specimens from her natural surroundings.

An excellent example of how a group of people can willfully misunderstand an individual that doesn't conform to their belief system and way of living.

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Beautiful writing & narration; unrealistic story

Revisado: 01-13-20

I have come to love Kate Morton's books for her exceptional atmospheric writing style. The reader feels the emotions of being in the settings throughout the book. She also has a keen ability to weave in strands of plot and character emotions throughout that ultimately contribute to the completion of a kind of tapestry when everything comes together at the end.

Caroline Lee is the perfect narrator for this Morton's books. I suspect that I would not have gone past the first Kate Morton book I listened to, "The Lake House" if it hadn't been for her ability to voice the writing of both places and characters.

The plot, however, was quite a stretch for me. I kept listening to the finish only because I was curious about how the mystery resolved itself.

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So-so plot; terrible narrator

Revisado: 10-28-19

No comparison with the narrator of The Redbreast: these two are from different planets.

Knai
1) speeds the narration with a monotonous tone
2) only occasionally pronounces Norwegian place and character names properly
3) doesn't pause between scenes within a chapter, so you're wondering why one scene is suddenly in a different setting
4) has such a bad effect on the novel that I lost interest in the details of the storyline and only continued listening because I knew the next novel would assume the reader had read this one.

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Difficult story; fantastic narrator

Revisado: 10-28-19

This was the first Harry Hole novel I listened to. It was the narrator's brilliant performance that hooked me into listening to more in this series. Perfect tempo, pacing, character speech & pronunciation, and a just-there undercurrent of suspense throughout. The story itself, however, is too complex for me in the format of an audio book. Next time I come back to this book, I'll get a hard copy to follow along with it.

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