r2coder

Wowsers!

Revisado: 01-14-25

I promised myself to forgo Mr. Patterson’s books after reading two (2) of the Alex Cross novels.

I am quite pleased I decided to give this novel a chance. I listened to the book via audible and did not stop listening until the end.

The lack of sleep was well worth it 🙂

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Love the Originals !!

Revisado: 08-04-24

This rendition of the Jekyll-Hyde story is one of the best I’ve read or listened to. In general, the Audible Original catalog is amazing. I don’t think there has been a story that I didn’t like.

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Not fictional stories - more like non-fiction commentary

Revisado: 07-22-24

I am relieved that I did not invest a credit buying this audiobook. The “Literary Fiction” tag misled me to believe the content would be an anthology of author perspective of the period in which Jack the Ripper was active.

Yeah… but no

Jack the ripper existed- check
Women died in the most horrific way-check
Many men either confessed to be or were accused of being Jack the Ripper-check
Letters purportedly written by Jack the Ripper was sent to a reporter-check

Add the various commentary by “authorities” on the man - you have a NON-FICTION digital product that continuously repeats the autopsy findings for the five (5) victims of this serial killer.

I do not enjoy or choose to read Non-Fiction. If you enjoy Non-Fiction writings AND are interested in the Ripper case - this audiobook is definitely for you!

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BEWARE:,Should be rated | categorized as audio-soft-porn

Revisado: 02-28-24

It took me over two weeks to finish the first audiobook. The story was meh…The main character and supporting cast were meh. The narrator was meh+

I kept listening because I wanted to hear if anything - story, characters, or narrator improved at some point in the telling.

Spoiler Alert: Ummm - no.

I was multitasking when I was listening to the first book. I missed a lot of the content that typically would have caused me to stop listening and remove the book from my library. I finished the first feeling- maybe the next book would be better. Bzzzz - wrong!

Would I recommend this series? No.

If possible, I’d rate the whole experience with negative stars or, optimally - a black hole.

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Absolutely my kind of humor

Revisado: 01-10-24

There isn’t a moment that “Anty” isn’t making a funny snarky remark. One of my few favorite humorous/witty detective stories.

Narrator is perfect personification of the primary characters. Story is light but interesting. I truly was not paying much attention to the plot as I was focused on the dialogue. I usually attend to audiobooks about 85 -95% of the time. I was constantly rewinding to catch up with the story.

I agree with one other reviewer: “Please sir, can (we) have some more?”

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Love / Disgust relationship

Revisado: 11-14-23

I am thoroughly enjoying this story series. I'm listening to the audiobook.

Even though I am now familiar with the formula - the stories always offer twists, interweaving plots and consistently foils my guess re: "whodunit" ( currently averaging less than 1%).

I am not easily thrown off and it is the metric I use to rate mysteries and thrillers.

The story beginnings are so disjointed that my eyebrows are bunched until that aha! moment when I start to see the light in the middle of the tunnel.

If I could I would give three (3) more stars to the story rating, it would be rated eight (8) stars. All of the interesting out-of-box ways the author lays out the plot, introduces characters, and sets the environment are refreshing EVEN knowing the outcome at the end (trying not to spoil the suspense).

I agree with one reviewer re: the variability of some books. Not every book is as engaging; some are categorically better than others.

So far THIS book - Stagestruck - is one of my favorites; my guess re: whodunit was sooo wrong that I was caught off guard, stopped what I was doing, and even could not close my mouth :0 for a few moments.

A word re: Peter Diamond
I think his name is awesome. I really like what he does for a living. And I really despise him as a human being. This makes me enjoy the stories more. :-)

There are some books and movies where I am praying the main character dies/is killed off a few minutes after the author has built a basic picture of the protagonist's thought processes, reactive behavior, and quality of the interaction with others within their inner circle.

Peter Diamond is an absolute jerk and someone I could NEVER work for no matter how much I'm paid. Nope!

I have NO idea how he is able to ensnare and keep a brilliant team of constables under his supervision - with the exception of the one that got away (one of the happiest moments).

I have no idea how he is able to project that he's a decent human being enough that he is able to have romantic encounters.

And it is beyond my understanding why the author has not killed him already. 🫤

This is one of my favorite British cop series. It is engaging, entertaining, and suspenseful. And I'm looking forward to attending Mr. Diamonds funeral :-)

Read/listen for yourself. I'm pretty sure you'll feel the same 😉

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Have ever wanted the main characters to become victims?

Revisado: 04-17-23

I’ve listened/read books where i wish harm to come to the protagonist(s). Mid-story I start hoping the arch-nemesis, serial killer, random accident removes them from the timeline as a surprising plot twist.


[SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT FOLLOWS]

In general, these thoughts surface when a character’s personality or way of being transitions to behaviors in conflict with their past way of being.

I don’t read romance novels or anything touching the border of the genre for many reasons. Near the top of the list is the prescriptive “boy and girl meet” and do not care for each other in chapter 1 and two chapters later they are yearning to be in each other’s company.

THIS is the fatal flaw in this second book of the series. I was expecting the continuation of an intriguing detective mystery set in London in the early 1900s and was quite disappointed.

:::sigh::: I will not read/listen to any other books in the series.
: - /

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Too many moving parts

Revisado: 03-27-23

I have to agree with the other reviews which note that the story was (more often than not) a challenge to follow.

I think the principle issue was the number of primary and secondary characters and the narrator’s inability to use his voice to differentiate between them (even when the gender differed).

This is the first audiobook where I felt it may have been better if I had read the kindle version. :-/

There are some snarky witticisms that can be caught if the listener is closely following.

This was my second time listening as I needed some background “noise” to work by and didn’t want to be distracted by listening to music.

I’m going to download the second book in the series and hope the experience is better.

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Can’t get enough and sad there are no more

Revisado: 12-28-22

Tonight I’m listening to the series again for the fourth time in six months. I do not rewatch, reread or relisten to anything any sooner
than two (2) or three (3) years and only if I really like the show or book.

When I need a giggle or a lift to my day - this series is my GOTO. There is a change in narrators at book 3 or 4. Christopher is by far the better and represents the voice of Johannes Cabal - necromancer of some little infamy - to me. I wish there were more to the series. ::sigh:::

Just can’t get enough. I wish I could give this 1000 stars and thumbs up. Can you tell I love these stories?!?

If you appreciate snarky witticism - enjoy. All others - you may want to find something else.

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Sometimes the protagonist should die :-/

Revisado: 12-25-22

Overall I liked the series. I’m in a phase (for the past year or so) that I very much appreciate fictional stories that take place in the 1800s. I’m almost done with my second-go-round with War & Peace - one of my favorites- so going a bit early in the 1800s holds my interest; however, the mid-1800s in England w/Scottish and Irish trimmings is definitely my favorite. This book is a bit ‘
template-ish as it is: unusual murders + Scotland Yard detective who’s brilliant but not well liked. But there are other character types that I didn’t expect but absolutely appreciated.

But by the time I reached book two (2) - my enthusiasm for the protagonist was waning - not because of the writing but because I found his attitude disagreeable; nicely written because I held strong emotions for some of the personalities.

And by the end of this book - I was wishing he caught cholera, the Black Death, consumption or any combination of these.

I was also not too impressed with the storyline. The mystery was 👍🏾 but the parallelism and ending were somewhat campy.

Re: Voice Actor
Shout out for trying to the voice actor because he did the male characters justice but female characters all sounded husky-voiced and somewhat androgynous. But I have only come across two or three male voice actors who have the range to do a decent job of non-male voices. One of my favorites is Frederick Davidson - the voice actor for War & Peace, Les Miserables, The Wisdom of Father Brown… He seems to be fluent in French, English, German, and Russian.

I think the series was ‘enjoyable’ and worth listening to (not sure about reading) as long as your goal is to have something to listen to while multitasking.

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