Margaret

A hard book to characterize

Revisado: 08-13-08

This book was a raft of contradictions for me.

It was gorgeously written, and nicely narrated. Yet, it took me longer than usual to get through it (I kept falling asleep.) It is the world's strangest bedtime story. It is an amazing contemplation on mortality, connection to humanity, and connection to nature. It's lovely, horrifying, engrossing, and boring all at the same time.

I highly recommend it to anyone who isn't looking for a standard listen, a predictable story, an average plot. There isn't much plot here (yet it's the world's biggest plot). People who enjoy a story that isn't the ordinary will like this. Others... well, you see their one-star reviews.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

A great listen, until the end...

Revisado: 08-05-08

This book is such an engaging listen--great characters, interesting and complex twists, great development of the story.

Then, there's the end. I was fully expecting a 5-star experience, and apparently, the timer went off on the author's laundry because all that complex plot got boiled down to a 5-minute, simplistic final scene which cuts (is badly edited?) to a final wrap-up.

I would *love* this book if it weren't for the incredibly abrupt and unsatisfying end. But, I'll give the author another try, and the narrator is first-rate.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 9 personas

Rich, heartbreaking

Revisado: 05-23-08

I would give this a 5 except I find the narrator to have a bit of a halting style that distracted me from time to time.

But, the story itself is terrific. It is a bit short, but then, so's life, and that's the point here. (And besides, it was the perfect length for a 5-hour flight yesterday.) The reflections on mortality, life, failure to be the person we expect and hope to be, all of these ideas make this a brilliant listen--one that is close to the bone sometimes.

A keeper.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A disappointment

Revisado: 12-12-07

Though a fan of V. Flynn and Mitch Rapp, I was disappointed in this one. Flynn seems to skimp on the characters and go on at length about procedural. Although he takes pains to make some of the Arabs "good guys," in fact, the characters all come off as a bit cardboard.

I didn't expect great literature, but there were no surprises here. Didn't care much what happened to any of the characters, and was bored by much of the description.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Great story, even better narrator

Revisado: 08-14-06

This story really pulled me in, and kept me there. I had a hard time putting it aside. The two main characters are a team that I hope find their way together again. The narrator brings them to life, as he does all the various characters that inhabit this novel. I saw the ending coming down the road a bit, but there were still enough surprises to keep me hanging on. Time very well spent.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Same Same, but not different

Revisado: 11-02-05

If it hadn't been for Scott Brick's reading, this might have been a 2-star listen for me. Although I am typically a fan, *The Innocent* didn't do it for me. Some of the characters were one-dimensional cliches, and there were too many implausible coincidences. The protagonist seems so dopy that I didn't care that much what happened to him or his wife. I couldn't wait to get through with it to move on to something more engaging.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Breathtaking!

Revisado: 06-22-04

This is an edge-of-your seat thriller, with excellent character development. The author artfully takes you through twists and turns, and it has an ending that will suck you in (pun intended).

The parallel, yet different lives of the villain and the hero really show the results of child abuse. Similar lives, but such divergent outcomes.

Peter Coyote is an excellent narrator, and the sound effects added to the dark and forboding atmosphere that is built so convincingly. I do hope that more of Alice Blanchard's books will be made availble in audio format. They're perfect for the medium.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas